1/ At the beginning of the 12th century BC, population groups, mainly of Aegean origin, are forcibly settled in the coastal zone of southern Canaan. They probably came from the sea, having firstly participated in the failed invasion of the Sea Peoples in the Nile Delta.
2/ The warlike character of these groups contributed to their dominance over the local Canaanite population and their superiority over neighboring population groups, such as the Israelites, who gave them the ethnonym Pelistim, while the area they occupied was called Pəlešeṯ.
3/Studies have proven that their initial population amounted to a few thousand with the consequence that they mixed through intermarriage with the local Canaanite population element and gradually integrated fully into the Canaanite cultural ensemble (e.g. the consumption of pork)
4/ Around the same period, the Israelites, after several palinodes, cut themselves off from the Canaanite cultural group and created a distinct ethnic group whose main characteristic was the exclusive worship of the Canaanite god Yahweh, around which the nation of Israel rallied.
5/ In the 8th century BC the Philistines disappear from the historical events of the region, but they leave as a legacy the toponym Philistia. So, Herodotus tells us that a wider region between Phoenicia and Egypt is called Palaistinê (Συρίη ἡ Παλαιστίνη καλεομένη).
6/ The specific term passes from the Ancient Greeks to the Romans who, for their own political reasons, rename the Provincia Iudaea to Syria Palaestina (135 AD). The term Palestine remains both from the Byzantines and from the Arabs (7th century AD onwards).
7/ With the Arab conquest, the Arabization of the region begins, with modern genetic studies showing that the Palestinian Arabs have nothing to do with the Philistines who came from Southern Europe, and who nevertheless left an indelible print on this region.
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1/ The Citadel of Tiryns is one of the most impressive fortified sites of the LBA Aegean. The initial construction phase appears to have taken place around 1400 BC, but in the mid-13th century BC an extensive expansion was implemented that maximized its defensive capabilities.
2/ Huge walls were erected made of carved limestone blocks according to Cyclopean masonry, turning Tiryns into one of the best-protected sites of the Mycenaean world. Similar monumental fortification projects took place during the same period in Mycenae and Midea. 👉
👉 All three Argolic citadels added a crucial architectural-defensive tool: the Sally Port, that is, a secret passage in the walls, which allowed the defenders to make exits during a siege. However, the Sally Port of Tiryns epitomizes the perfection of this mechanism.
1/The Mycenaean texts have always aroused my great interest, for the simple reason that studying a small piece of well-fired clay, which contains only a few strange engraved symbols, allows you to see before you a real snapshot of life 4000 years ago.
#Mycenaeans #Pylos #LinearB
2/ One such case is the sealing label PY Wa 197, which was found in Room 7 of the palace of Pylos, the main storage area for local palatial documents. The sealing labels were clay balls impressed on the front of wicker archive-spaces (baskets or boxes), 👉
👉 bearing brief information about the contents of the stored tablets. It was a tool of an early form of classification of Mycenaean documents. In many cases, clay labels referred to text archives recorded on perishable materials, such as papyrus.
1/ The archaeological evidence indicates that Tiryns and Midea were inhabited during the Middle Helladic, but it seems that they were two settlements without particular importance in contrast to the settlement at Aspis of Argos, which was one of the most important MH settlements.
2/ The founding of Mycenae took place during the late MH III period and probably stemmed from the relocation of a faction that was expelled from Aspis of Argos due to social conflicts. The members of this faction were the shapers of Mycenaean civilization, as they broke with 👉
👉 the pre-existing Middle Helladic system of political and social relations, adopting a new set of rules, values and practices whose main concern was the excessive accumulation of wealth and its uncritical promotion as a means of social differentiation. 👉
1/ Klymenos was an important Mycenaean official of the kingdom of Pylos shortly before the destruction of the palace. His historical presence is mentioned on the tablets PY Aq 64 and PY An 654, while the same personal name is recorded in Knossos and Thebes. #mycenaeans
2/ In PY Aq 64 two important characteristics of Klymenos are presented. He is recorded as a morópas, that is, as a provincial nobleman who held a private plot of land, and as a koretēr, that is, as a provincial governor of the kingdom of Pylos, having important duties as the👉
👉main representative of the palatial administration in his province (distribution of raw materials, leadership of groups of workers, collection of taxes, control of local sanctuaries). In PY An 654, Klymenos is recorded as commander of an órkha, the basic military unit of Pylos.
1/ The Bible describes the Philistines as the greatest enemies of the Jewish people during the early period of the formation of the kingdom of Israel. Recent archaeogenetic studies has confirmed that the Philistines trace their origins to the Aegean.
#Philistines
2/ But could the examination of additional parameters differentiate this conclusion? Maybe should archaeogenetic data be combined with archaeological and written evidence to have a more complete view of who the Philistines ultimately were?
3/Several scholars have concluded that the Philistines are associated with the Sea Peoples and specifically with the Peleset, who appear to have participated along with other groups of sea raiders in the great sea invasion that took place in the eastern Nile Delta around 1177 BC.
1/On the western side of the Pyrenees live the most enigmatic European people, the Basques. Coming from ancient times and living in a difficult mountainous environment, they have a special culture with an ethnological and linguistic background distinct from the rest of Europeans.
2/ Their distinct identity and proximity to powerful Indo-European peoples (French, Spanish), who have attempted several times in the past to assimilate them, has forged them with the idea of constantly striving to preserve their own cultural characteristics.
3/ However, what is the origin of the Basques and what language do they speak? First of all, the Basques are an indigenous people and are considered descendants of the ancient Basque, Aquitanian and Iberian populations. Nevertheless, recent archaeogenetic studies have 👉