The Philistines – one of the so-called Sea Peoples, and mentioned in the Bible and other ancient sources – were a seafaring Indo-European people who appeared in the southern coastal area of modern-day Israel around 1,250 BC, most probably from the Aegean region. They brought to the region not just themselves but also their plants, says a team of archaeologists from Bar-Ilan University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The team, led by Prof Ehud Weiss of Bar-Ilan University, compiled and analyzed a database of plant remains extracted from Bronze and Iron Ages sites in the southern Levant, both Philistine and non-Philistine.

By analyzing this database, they concluded that the plant species the Philistines brought are all cultivars that had not been seen in the region previously.

This includes edible parts of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), the sycamore tree (Ficus sycomorus); and cumin (Cuminum cyminum).

“In the Eastern Mediterranean, the earliest cumin has been identified from Atlit-Yam (northern Israel, 6, 900 – 6, 300 BC), subsequently it was found in New Kingdom Egypt (Deir el-Medina, 18th dynasty, 1,543 – 1,292 BC) and in Mesopotamia (Tell ed-Der, 2,100 – 1,900 BCE), and re-appears in Israel only at Iron Age Philistine sites,” Prof Weiss and co-authors wrote in a paper published online in the journal Scientific Reports.

“Sycamore is an eastern African species, domesticated in Egypt and closely associated with Egypt agriculture since Predynastic times (6,000 – 3,100 BC). All parts of this tree were found in Egypt in numerous tombs in the Valley of the Kings through the Early, Middle and Late Kingdoms (3,000 – 1,000 BC) and later probably in Tell es-Sa’idiyeh, Jordan (2,900 BC). Outside Egypt, the sycamore findings include so far only timber. The earliest sycamore timber was found in Jericho (Neolithic). The next occurrence is in Beth Shean (Late Bronze Age), and from the Iron Age onwards, sycamore timber is a common find in Israel. However, the remains of its fruit (rather than wood) first appear, outside Egypt, in Philistine contexts at the site of Ashkelon, and probably represent the exploitation of locally grown trees.”

“The finding of opium poppy at Philistine Ashkelon is the second earliest evidence of opium seeds (and possible cultivation) of this plant in the Eastern Mediterranean. The earlier example came from Late Bronze Age Greece (Mycenaean Tiryns, 1,200 BC), from where some of the Philistines may have originated.”

“In previous periods, particularly the Late Bronze Age, there is evidence of trade in opium into the Eastern Mediterranean, but no signs of local cultivation. In addition the inscriptions on Sumerian clay tablets dating to the Early Bronze Age that have been previously interpreted as referring to the opium poppy, are now interpreted as referring to Punica, the pomegranate. The presence of the seeds and not of opium latex itself in a Philistine site suggests the possibility of local cultivation of the plant in Israel.”

“Thus, our result imply that cumin, sycamore fruit and the opium poppy seeds were first introduced into Israel by the Philistines, from remarkably diverse regions to the north-west and south-west of Israel,” the scientists wrote.

“Among species that are absent in Bronze Age contexts in Israel and which first appeared during the Iron Age in Philistine sites, there are two useful plants species, which occur in the wild in Israel: Coriandrum sativum (coriander, from early Iron Age Ashkelon and Ekron) and Laurus nobilis (bay tree, from late Iron Age Ashkelon).”

“Coriander is well-represented in Bronze Age contexts in the Eastern Mediterranean in sites to the north and north-west of Israel, as well as in Egypt (Tutankhamun’s tomb). Though it is found in a Neolithic site in Israel (Nahal Hemar cave, 6,000 BC), it disappears from the region and is not found during the Bronze Age, only to reappear in the Iron Age in Philistine sites.”

“Bay tree timber is known in Bronze Age Israel from two sites in the arid south – Arad and Jericho – and was apparently transported to these sites, as its natural habitat is the Mediterranean woodland. Bay tree fruit is first found in Philistine Ashkelon suggesting a possible change in plant use, from timber to fruits – and possibly also, of its leaves. These temporal changes can be attributed to changes in dietary preferences among the Philistine peoples who settled in the littoral of the southern Levant. Today, both these plants species grow in Israel in natural habitats and under cultivation.”

The fact that the exotic plants introduced by the Philistines originate from different regions accords well with the diverse geographic origin of these people.

The results of this research indicate that the 600 year presence of the Philistine culture in Israel had a major and long-term impact on local floral biodiversity.

The Philistines also left their mark on the local fauna.

In a previous study, DNA extracted from ancient pig bones from Philistine and non-Philistine sites in Israel demonstrated that European pigs were introduced by the Philistines into Israel and slowly swamped the local pig populations through inter-breeding.

As a consequence, modern wild boar in Israel today bears a European haplotype rather than a local, Near Eastern one.

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Suembikya Frumin et al. 2015. Studying Ancient Anthropogenic Impacts on Current Floral Biodiversity in the Southern Levant as reflected by the Philistine Migration. Scientific Reports 5, article number: 13308; doi: 10.1038/srep13308