The Philistines and their five cities

After the upheavals that ended the Bronze Age, newcomers linked to the Aegean world settle the coastal plain south of Jaffa. Excavations at Ashkelon, Ashdod and Ekron show imported pottery of Mycenaean type, pig bones, and hearths unknown in Canaanite towns — and, in the layers above, a gradual merging with local ways. Their league is made up of five cities: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath, each with its own lord. The Tanakh remembers them as the chief rivals of the tribes of Israel in the days of the Judges and the first kings; from their name comes the land's later name as well.