The Philistine Inscription 4.5 from Ashkelon (Israel)

Abstract

The origin and the nature of the Philistines is an enigma for the contemporary historical studies. They appear to have first settled the Aegean area and then, as a Sea People, around 1200 B.C. to have invaded and settled the south part of present Israel. The recent Harvard Leon Levy Expedition excavations in the area of the port of the ancient Philistine Ashkelon recovered 18 jar handles and one inscribed ostracon made from local clay. The ostracon, classified as RN 9794, hosts the inscription 4.5 that is particularly illuminating about the origin and nature of the Philistines. The analysis of all the possible 27 spellings of the inscription reveals one of them which, compared with the present surviving Slavic languages, appears to have the specific meaning of: People come in, we see, or in loose translation: Come and see. The inscription and the considerations developed in this article indicate that the Philistines of the ancient Ashkelon, or the Philistines in general, was a Proto-Slavic tribe or people which spoke a non-survived Proto-Slavic language, which settled in the south part of present Israel in the Iron Age, i.e. well before the VII century A.D. generally accepted period of the Slavs arrival in Eastern Europe.