IS THE PHILISTINE PARADIGM STILL VIABLE?
Israel Finkelstein

The Philistine paradigm had dominated archaeological and historical research since the work of R.A.S. Macalister a century ago, and more so since it was formulated in a more detailed way by William Foxwell Albright and Albrecht Alt in the 1930s and 1940s. According to this paradigm, the Philistines invaded Canaan by sea and land in large numbers and were stopped by Ramses III, who managed to settle them in the Egytpian strongholds in the southern coastal plain. When Egypt pulled out from Canaan the Philistines took over these territories and established a powerful system of five cities - the biblical Pentapolis.
Recent studies and accumulation of new data on old excavations call for a reevaluation of the world of Philistia and the Philistines in the Iron I. The new data are so revolutionary that one needs to ask: Is the Philistine Paradigm still viable?
The paper will briefly relate to six issues:

1. Additional data pertaining to the debate on the date of the settlement of the Philistines.
2. The demographic aspect: was there a large-scale Philistine invasion of Canaan?
3. Were the Iron I Philistines a maritime power?
4. Were the Iron I Philistine cities fortified?
5. Did the Philistines cities constitute a system of five peer-polities?
6. Can we equate the Iron I Philistines with the biblical Philistines?