How Did the Philistines Enter Canaan? A Rejoinder

The following rejoinder does not make easy reading; but a careful study of it will be well repaid. Both the original article by Bryant Wood and this rejoinder by Itamar Singer attempt to assess a large mass of archaeological and textual evidence to determine a major historical event–the Philistine entry and occupation of Canaan. Scholars are clearly divided between two contesting historical reconstructions. Which is correct is perhaps not as important as how they reason, how they attempt to develop arguments from a large number of archaeological excavations and several obscure textual references. If nothing else, the reader will gain an appreciation of just how difficult the ancient historian’s task is.—Ed.