The objective of this book has been to present the armchair archaeologist with the most recent information on the Philistines, a people who have been much maligned throughout the millennia. The study has been based on the latest archaeological developments in Philistia, as well as on historical documents from Egypt, the Aegean, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia. Together these have been used to reexamine the biblical text in order to better understand the Philistines.

We have come to understand why God's people detested the Philistines, but we also now understand that God used these "pagans" not only to test but also to preserve his people at various times throughout the Iron I and Iron II periods. An added benefit of this study has been the discovery that some of the biblical Philistines were most likely descendants of the heroes of the epic tragic tale played out on the plains of Troy. Much more could be said of ties between the Philistine plains and the plains of Troy, but it is an interesting twist of history that due to our incomplete understanding of the biblical Philistines the offspring of the noble heroes of an epic tale came to be remembered as uncultured people.

We have seen that when the Philistines arrived in their new land in Canaan, they appear to have immediately adopted from and adapted to the cultures of their new neighbors. This perspective contradicts the dictionary definition of Philistine -- a person who lacks or who is indifferent to culture. A key concept that ought to be associated with the Philistines may be assimilation, rather than the "smug conventionalism" that is the accepted definition of Philistinism (New Am. Heritage Dict. 1981). We have read, for example, how Israel's King Ahaziah sent messengers to Ekron to consult the god Baal-zebub, who had been assimilated, evidently, into the Philistine pantheon from the Canaanites. We have also read of the numerous Israelite altars found at Ekron. Continued excavations at Tel Miqne-Ekron and at other Philistine sites such as Ashkelon will no doubt help reveal just how much of the Canaanite and Israelite cultures the Philistines assimilated.

For now, the Philistines have gone the way of the ten lost tribes of Israel, but the future holds promise for more information on both lost peoples, as excavations continue in the Near East.