Seed from biblical home of Goliath sheds light on Philistine rituals

(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,…

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(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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The post Seed from biblical home of Goliath sheds light on Philistine rituals appeared first on WND.