Philistine: Cart and Children
We are pretty well informed about the appearance of the Philistines by a relief of pharaoh Ramesses III in Medinet Habu. This relief depicts his victory against the Sea Peoples—although, in reality, his military campaign was not all that glorious. Many of the Philistines came, via the land route through Syria, on carts pulled by oxen. Ramesses III stopped them on their way to Egypt, but could not defeat them. He rather had them settle in the southern coastal plain of Palestine. The picture shows the Philistines with their characteristic feather headdress on the cart (left), whilst the Egyptians and the soldiers (with the ball on the helmet) battle against Philistine children (right).
Josh 13:2–3; Judg 3:3, 3:31; 14:1–4; 15:5, 15:9, 15:11, 15:20; 16:5, 16:8, 16:23, 16:27; 1 Sam 4–6
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