Samson captured by the Philistines, Guercino, 1619. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC-SAIn modern times, the term “philistine” has generally been used by cultured or elite groups to describe an ignorant or uncultured person. The Philistines were, in fact, people from the Aegean region, perhaps Crete. They arrived on the shores of the south-eastern Mediterranean around 1200 BC, in an area later to be called Palestine. A cultured people, they were specialists in iron-making, advanced weaponry, olive oil, beer and wine production and a distinctive style of pottery. So how did they come to be associated with poor taste and ignorance?An ancient conflictIn ancient times, Philistia or the Land of the Philistines, extended from the city-state of Ashdod in the north to that of Gaza in the south, but with no fixed border to the east. Within this area were the three other principal cities of the Philistines – Ascalon (Ashkelon), Gath and Ekron. Philistine pottery from the 12th century BC including a drinking bowl and wine bottle. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA As the Philistines expanded eastwards, they came into contact and conflict with the Israelites, then inhabiting the highlands of southern Canaan and beginning to forge their identity as the people of Israel. According to the Old Testament, the Israelites’ conflict with the Philistines ended in the 10th century BC, when King David attacked and defeated them. In reality, conflict between the Philistines and Israel continued until the beginning of the 6th century BC. In around 600 BC, meanwhile, Babylonian armies under King Nebuchadrezzar II invaded Philistia and the Philistines were exiled to Babylon in Mesopotamia. The Philistines lost their cultural identity in Mesopotamia, but the Jews retained theirs and were to return to Jerusalem from 538 BC onwards.Today’s Palestinians are partly descended from the original Canaanites and Israelites, along with other settler populations, who were eventually to adopt the Arabic language and Islamic culture. There is no evidence they are descendants of the Philistines.Philistines in the BibleIn the Old Testament, the Philistines were depicted as “the other” – the barbarians literally on the border of their Israelite neighbours. Yet the Philistines were the dominant economic, military and political force in the region for most of this time.The phrase “the Philistines are upon us” derives from the story of Samson and Delilah in the Old Testament. According to this, Samson – an indestructible strongman inclined to slaughter people with the jawbone of an ass – was a leader of the people of Israel with a weakness for Philistine women. Eventually, he fell in love with a woman called Delilah. She was probably a Philistine, but did not betray Samson out of any sense of patriotism. For 1,100 pieces of silver, Delilah agreed to a request from the Philistines to find out the source of Samson’s strength. It was, he eventually told her, his hair. Samson and Delilah, by Guercino. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY While he was sleeping, Delilah had a man shave off Samson’s hair. His strength left him. To test whether he had told her the truth, Delilah cried out, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” The Philistines were able to seize Samson, gouge his eyes out and imprison him. Eventually, while he was chained to the pillars of a temple, his hair regrew and his strength was restored. Samson then pulled down the temple of the god Dagon, upon which his temple rested, killing himself and 3,000 Philistines.The other biblical story of the Philistines with which we are familiar is that of David and Goliath.Israel was again at war with the Philistines. As a lad, David killed the 3-metre tall Goliath with a slingshot, the stone striking Goliath in the forehead. David cut Goliath’s head off with his sword and took it to Jerusalem. The army of the Philistines fled. Eventually, David would become the second King of Israel. David with head of Goliath, Caravaggio. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-NC-SA The stories of Samson and David were central to the overall story that various people who had settled in Israel were beginning to construct of their own identity from around 1200 BC. It was a story of the Exodus from Egypt, of a revelation at Mount Sinai, of wanderings in the wilderness and finally, of an entrance as a people into the Promised Land. This story unified them over other groups within the land they had entered, especially the Canaanites and the Philistines.The ‘other’The use of “philistine” as a metaphor for the uncultured originated in the German university town of Jena in the 17th century. The townspeople were considered “philister” or boorish by the university students. It was a term harking back to disparaging depictions of the Philistines in the Old Testament.The term “philistine” became something of a commonplace insult in the 19th century after it was adopted by the English cultural critic Matthew Arnold. In his 1867 book Culture and Anarchy, Arnold contrasted the elite, cultured few with the consumerist philistines of the middle class:On the side of beauty and taste, vulgarity; on the side of morals and feeling, coarseness; on the side of mind and spirit, unintelligence, – this is Philistinism.Arnold’s understanding of the term has flowed into the present day. That said, some people are now questioning its use, given what we now know about the civilisation of the Philistines. Nevertheless, the dictionary definition of “philistines” as those who neither care about nor understand good art, music, or literature remains predominant.Philip C. Almond does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.