REUTERS
Biblical bad guys the ancient Philistines came from Europe, DNA shows
by Rinat Harash and Ari Rabinovitch
July 3, 2019

The ancient Philistines, the Biblical villains whose origins have puzzled scholars for decades, came to the Middle East from southern Europe more than 3,000 years ago, new DNA testing has shown. The genetic findings came from skeletons unearthed by archaeologists in Israel in 2016, including the bones of infants buried beneath Philistine houses, archaeologists said in a paper published on Wednesday. The much-maligned group is regularly depicted as the enemy of the Israelites in Biblical texts. READ MORE