Ancient Israel and Philistia: Settler Colonialism and Ethnocultural Interaction

Abstract

This essay, concentrating on the Iron Age I period, looks at the possibility of seeing the early Israelite and Philistine societies as two settler colonial societies formed through colonising migration. An important part of the processes of settler colonialism involves intermixing and mutual influence between colonisers and indigenes, and an analysis of these aspects will be included. Some reflection will be made on the interplay of textual and archaeological evidence in trying to construct a settler colonial model. The essay will also include reflection on broad patterns of group identity formation based on considerations of ethnicit