Philip the Good 1396-1467

Philip was a great lover of pomp and luxury and a friend of letters, being the patron of Georges Chastelain, Olivier de la Marche and Antoine de la Salle, and the founder of the col lection of mss. known as the "Bibliotheque de Bourgogne" (now at Brussels), and also of the university of Dole (1421). He ad ministered his estates wisely; promoted commerce and industry, particularly in Flanders ; and left his son a well-lined treasury. He was thrice married: in 1409 to Michelle (d. 1422), daughter of Charles VI. of France; in 1424 to Bonne of Artois (d. 1425); and in 1429 to Isabel (d. 1472), daughter of John I., king of Portugal, when he founded the order of the Golden Fleece. He was succeeded by Charles, afterwards known as Charles the Bold, his only surviving son by Isabel. (R. P.; X.) PHILISTINES. "Philistine" was the general name for the people of Philistia (Ass. Palatu, Eg. p-r-s-t), a district embracing the rich lowlands on the Mediterranean coast from the neighbourhood of Jaffa (Joppa) to the Egyptian desert south of Gaza. On the subsequent extension of the name in its Greek form, Palaestina, see PALESTINE.

According to biblical tradition the Philistines are the remnant of Caphtor (Jer. xlvii. 4, Amos ix. 7), and the Caphtorim drove out the aboriginal Avvim from Gaza and district, as the Horites and Rephaim were displaced by Edom and Ammon (Deut. 23). These Caphtarim, as well as Ludim (Lydians) and other petty peoples, apparently of the Delta, are once reckoned to Egypt (Gen. x. 14). By Caphtor the Septuagint has sometimes under stood Cappadocia, which indeed may be valid for its age, but the name is to be identified with the Egyptian K(a)ptar, which in later Ptolemaic times seems to mean Phoenicia, although the earlier Keftiu connoted Crete, and possibly "the south Anatolian coast as far as Cilicia" (Hall). The Cherethites, associated with the Philistine district (I Sam. xxx. 14, 16, Ezek. xxv. 16, Zeph.

5 seq.), are sometimes recognized by the Septuagint as Cretans, and, with the Pelethites, they form part of the royal bodyguard of Judaean kings (2 Sam. viii. 18, xv. 18, xx. 7, I Ki. i. 38, 44; in 2 Sam. xx. 23 the Hebrew text has Carites).

The earliest occurrence of the name "Philistines" outside the Old Testament is in Egypt, where the Purasati (Pulesati) are one of a great confederation from north Syria, Asia Minor and the Levant, which threatened Egypt in the 2oth dynasty. They are not among the hordes enumerated earlier by Rameses II. or Merneptah, but in the eighth year of Rameses III. (c. 1194 B.c.) ; the Purasati (Pulesati) take part in a widespread movement on land and sea. The Syrian States were overwhelmed and the advance upon Egypt seemed irresistible. Rameses, however, col lected a large fleet and an army of native troops and mercenaries and claimed decisive victories. The Egyptian monuments depict the flight of the enemy. The sequel of the events is not known, though about a century later the Zakaray are found at Dor, and treat with scant respect the suzerainty of Egypt.

The Egyptian monuments represent the Purasati with a very distinctive feather head-dress resembling that of the Lycians and Mycenaeans. Their general physiognomy is hardly Cilician or Hittite, but European, especially Greek. They fought with a broad-sword and carried a round shield. On archaeological grounds the Purasati were not Mycenaeans from Crete, despite tradition, but rather from Asia Minor (Lycia, Caria), though they may have passed some time in Crete.

Palestine and the West.

The Philistines appear in the Old Testament as a Semitic or at least a Semitized people. Both the language and the religion were Semitic. The male god Dagon has his partner Astarte (qq.v.), and Baal-zebub, a famous oracle of Ekron (2 Ki. i.) resembles the local "baals" of Palestine. Philistia seems to be completely Hellenized after the Persian age ; but it is not certain that Greek culture pervaded all classes; foreign in fluence probably always made itself felt upon the coast-towns. The use of the term 6.XXOckXot in Maccabaean and later writings (cf. the contemptuous hatred of Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus 1. 26, and the author of Jubilees xxiv. 3o sqq.) expresses the conditions of the Greek age and the Maccabaean wars. The Mediterranean coast-land was always exposed to incursions of aliens; Carians appear as royal and temple guards at Jerusalem (2 Ki. xi. 4), and old Greek traditions tell of a Carian sea-power and relations be tween Philistia and Greek lands. Even the presence of Carians and Ionians in the time of Psammetichus I. may be assumed, and as these are planted at Defneh it is noteworthy that this place is also closely associated with a Jewish colony (viz., Tahpanhes,

Jer. xliii., seq.). In fact, Palestinian intercourse with the West is fairly continuous; and excavation at Beth-shan, Gezer, and other sites, has shown many important indications of Western influence, so that some authorities even recognize a "Philistine" pottery.

History.—The Philistines form a confederation of five cities (Ashdod, Ascalon [Ashkelon], Ekron, Gath and Gaza), which re mained unconquered by the Israelites (Josh. xiii. 2 seq., Judges iii. 3; contrast Josh. xv. xix. 43). The institution of the Hebrew monarchy (c. 1025 B.C.) follows upon periods of Phi listine oppression (Judges iii. 31, x. 7, II, xiii. I, 5; see SAMSON; ELI; SAMUEL; SAUL ; DAVID). Their subjugation is ascribed to Samuel (I Sam. vii. 13), Saul (xiv. 47), and David (2 Sam. viii. They evidently recovered their independence, and twice within a short time the northern Israelites laid siege to the border fortress of Gibbethon (I Ki. xv. 27, xvi. 15). The interrelations of the south Palestinian peoples follows from the unchangeable geographical conditions, and Judah always depended upon its relations with the Philistines on the west and with the Edomites and Arabian tribes on the south-east. "Philistia," with Edom and Beth-Omri (i.e., the Israelite kingdom), paid tribute to the As syrian king, Adad-Nirari III. (c. 802 B.c.). The omission of Judah is noteworthy. In the later Assyrian period Philistia was mixed up in pro- and anti-Assyrian intrigues, and suffered from Tiglath-pileser (734), Sargon (72o) and Sennacherib (700). In the 7th century Gaza, Ascalon, Ashdod and Ekron were Assyrian vassals, together with Judah, Moab and Edom—in all, 22 kings of the "Hittites." Herodotus mentions the Scythian invasion and sack of the temple of Aphrodite Urania (Astarte) at Ascalon, also the prolonged siege of Ashdod by Psammetichus, and the occu pation of Kadytis (? Gaza) by Necho. But the Babylonian em pire followed upon traditional lines and thrust back Egypt, and Nabonidus (553 B.c.) claims his vassals as far as Gaza. The Per sians took over the realm of their predecessors, and Gaza grew in importance as a seat of international commerce. Nehemiah speaks not of Philistines, but of Ashdodites (iv. 7), speaking an "Ashdodite" dialect (xiii. 24) ; just as Strabo regards the Jews, the Idumaeans, the Gazans and the Ashdodites as four cognate peoples having the common characteristic of combining agricul ture with commerce. In southern Philistia, at least, Arabian im migration became more pronounced. In the time of Cambyses Arabs were settled at Jenysos south of Gaza (Herod. iii. 5), and when Alexander marched upon Egypt, Gaza with its army of Arabs and Persians offered a strenuous resistance. On the his tory of the district see further GAZA; JEWS; MACCABEES ; PALES TINE.

Traditions of the Philistines.

The Philistines were promi nent in popular tradition, and the story of Isaac and the Phi listine Abimelech (Gen. xxvi., cf . xxi. 32) is of great interest for its unbiased picture of enmity, alliance and covenant. But a paral lel story (xx.) is without this Philistine background. Similarly, one account of the Israelite invasion conceived a conquest of earlier giant inhabitants (Anakim), who survived in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod ( Josh. xi. 21 seq., contrast xiii. 3), but were driven out from Hebron by Caleb (Josh. xv. 14, cf. Num. xiii. 22, 28). The Philistines themselves are called the remnant of the Ana,151m (Jer. xlvii. 5, so the Septuagint), or as Caphtorim replace the earlier Avvim (Deut. ii. 23, see Josh. xiii. 3). Samuel's great de feat of the Philistines leads to "peace between Israel and the Amorites" (I Sam. vii. 14); and the migration of the Danites is placed after Samson's conflicts with the Philistines (Judges xviii. seq.), or is due to the pressure of Amorites (i. 34). Even in David's fights with the Philistines in Judah, Jerusalem is Jebusite, neighbouring non-Israelite cities are Hivite or Amorite (Josh. ix. 7, 2 Sam. xxi. 2), and his strange adversaries find a close parallel in the semi-mythical sons of Anak (2 Sam. xxi. 16, 18, 20, 22). In another tradition, however, David is on intimate relations with a Philistine king, Achish (or Abimelech, Ps. xxxiv.), cf. Isaac, p. 735. Traditions agree that the Israelites had to fight for their freedom, but antagonism between Philistines and Israelites was not persistent.

See further H. R. Hall, Camb. Anc. Hist., iii. ch. xii. (with bibli ography) ; and the articles on "Philistines" in Reallexikon d. Vorge schichte (illustr. by Gallin) and Ency. Bib. (G. F. Moore). (S. A. C.)