Seed from biblical home of Goliath sheds light on Philistine rituals
A scene from 'David' at Sight & Sound Theaters. (Video screenshot)
(JNS) -- A team of Israeli archaeologists and archaeobotanists have overseen the reconstruction of plants used in three-thousand-year-old Philistine rituals at the central Israel site identified as the home of the biblical Goliath, providing a unique window into this ancient civilization.
The study which follows more than a quarter century of excavations at Tell es-Safi, named as the biblical Gath of the Philistines and the home of Goliath, “challenges previous understanding of Philistine ritual practices and offers a fresh perspective on their cultural practices and the connections between Philistine culture and broader Mediterranean religious traditions,” said Professor Ehud Weiss, director of the Archaeobotany Laboratory at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, in a statement on Monday.
Philistine culture, which flourished during the Iron Age (ca. 1200-604 BCE), profoundly affected the southern Levant’s cultural history, agronomy and dietary customs.
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