Figural motifs on Philistine pottery and their connections to the Aegean world, Cyprus and coastal Anatolia

In the beginning of the 12th century B.C.E., elements of a new material culture appear in the southern coastal plain of Canaan. These elements are attributed to the Philistines, who are thought to have migrated to the region from somewhere within the greater Aegean world, or, alternatively, Cyprus, or the Anatolian coast. However, their specific place of origin within the Mediterranean littoral has remained elusive. This study investigates the origin of the Philistines by analyzing the two types of painted figural decorations that appear on Philistine pottery—the bird and fish motifs. The source of inspiration for the Philistine figural motifs might suggest the possible origin of the immigrants and the derivation of their material culture. Additional aspects of the Philistine bird and fish motifs, such as their relationship to the Nilotic landscape and their significance in the Philistine ceramic repertoire, are also examined. The survey sample consists of approximately 150 birds and fish in the Philistine 1 (monochrome) and Philistine 2 (bichrome) pottery styles from the 12th and 11th centuries B.C.E. These examples were stylistically compared to some 650 birds and fish on Late Minoan and Late Helladic pictorial pottery, as well as on Aegean-style pottery from Cyprus and coastal Anatolia from the 14th to the 12th centuries B.C.E. The results of the comparative analysis show that the majority of elements comprising the Philistine birds and fish, such as the birds\u27 triglyph body-fill and chevron wing as well as idiosyncratic features of the fishes\u27 gill-lines and head, can be traced back to the Aegean world. Particularly revealing was that a number of features indicated inspiration from Cretan prototypes, while inspiration from Cyprus is not well represented. The findings support the notion that the Philistines migrated from multiple regions within the Aegean world, including Crete, and that Cyprus and Anatolia, though perhaps playing a certain role in the process, were not among the primary places of the origin of the Philistines