One of the most famous biblical scenes - the battle between David and Goliath - is full of blank spots. For example, why does the Bible describe in detail the appearance of this mighty warrior, but is silent about the origin of his people - the Philistines? And how plausible are those events in general? Historians and archaeologists can provide answers to these questions.
Three-meter warrior
It is not for nothing that the name Goliath has been given to something very big from time immemorial - from a ship's torpedo to a fictional comic book character. And the whole point is in the biblical description of this warrior: the story of his battle with the young David, the future king of Israel, begins with a detailed description of the gigantic dimensions of Goliath.
“He is six cubits and an inch tall (2.9 meters. - Ed.). A brazen helmet on his head; and he was dressed in scaly armor, and the weight of his armor was five thousand shekels of copper (about 60 kilograms. - Ed.); brass knee pads on his feet, and a brass shield behind his shoulders,”the Scripture says.
A three-meter warrior (science, meanwhile, does not know people taller than 2.8 meters) in attire heavier than those of medieval knights - sounds fantastic. And this gives skeptics a reason to argue that the story of the battle of David with Goliath is a fiction from beginning to end. However, things are not so simple.
Biblical hyperbole
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Bible scholars note that in a number of the books of which it is composed, there are various kinds of literary techniques designed to increase the impact on the reader. So in the case of the battle of David with Goliath, the compiler of the Book of Kings, where this story is told, deliberately went to exaggeration in describing the appearance of a mighty warrior, admits Archpriest Konstantin Polskov, Associate Professor of the Department of Biblical Studies at the Theological Faculty of the Orthodox St. Tikhon University
Perhaps the striking opposition was the reason for the popularity of this story, in which everything was for a reason. At that time (and this is about the 9th century BC), the Israelites fought with the Philistines who came to Canaan (now Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan are located on this territory) from nowhere. The troops of the two peoples met “in Succoth in Judea,” but none of them dared to attack first. Then Goliath came out to the Israelites and challenged their warrior to a duel. And with one condition: if he wins, the Jews will become the slaves of the Philistines.
The battle of the troops of Ramses III with the peoples of the sea in the Delta. Drawing of a bas-relief from Medinet Abu.
As the Bible says, everyone was afraid of him. In addition to David, the servants of the Israeli king Saul.
“And Saul clothed David in his clothes, and put a brazen helmet on his head, and put armor on him. And David girded himself with his sword over his clothes and began to walk, for he was not accustomed (to such weapons); then David said to Saul: I can't walk in this, I'm not used to it. And David took it all off himself. And he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the stream, and put them in the shepherd's bag that was with him; and with a bag and a sling in his hand, he set out against the Philistine, - the last moments before the decisive battle are described in great detail, as if to strengthen the expectation of a denouement.
Painting by Caravaggio David with the head of Goliath.
People of the Sea
It was the form of the duel - a duel between the two bravest and strongest warriors - that led scientists to believe that the battle described in the Bible could really take place. In a similar way, the heroes of the Iliad fought in a duel: the Trojan prince Paris, who had kidnapped Helen the Beautiful, and her husband, the ruler of Sparta Menelaus. This, as scientists note, is a ubiquitous practice for the Middle East of the Bronze Age (three thousand years ago).
For several years, archaeologists have been excavating at Tel es-Shafi in Israel. It was there that one of the five cities built by the Philistines was located - Gath, where the legendary Goliath lived.
Last year, a piece of pottery was found here with an inscription that has not yet been deciphered. The fact is that science does not know for certain where the Philistines came to Canaan, what were their customs and language. After all, the shard found is only the second example of the writing of this people. The first - also a shard - was found there in 2005. However, these inscriptions strongly resemble the Semitic language. Hence the version was born that the Philistines borrowed writing from the Jews.
A shard of a bowl from Tel es-Shafi with the inscription Goliath.
Surprisingly, each of these Philistine words is spelled similar to the name Goliath. “Scientists believe that this word is of non-Semitic origin. It is very similar to the name of the Lydian king Alliat, who ruled, according to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, from 619 to 560 BC,”notes the specialist in the history of languages Marianne Vernet.
That is, the Philistines could have come to the Promised Land from Lydia - the western part of modern Turkey. However, this point of view is not shared by all researchers.
“The Bible does not specify where the Philistines came from. But from other sources (approximately XII century BC) it is known that they were called “the people of the sea” - most likely, the Mediterranean,”emphasizes, in turn, the biblical scholar Andrei Desnitsky.
Philistine soldiers taken prisoner by Pharaoh Ramses III.
The "Sea Peoples" fought, for example, with the troops of Pharaoh Ramses III. In around 1170 BC, they tried to invade Egypt, as evidenced by the bas-reliefs on the walls of the temple in Medinet Abu. Pharaoh, according to the temple inscriptions, managed to repel their attack, and the conquerors retreated to the area of the modern city of Gaza.
The same Egyptian testimonies give a small clue - the "peoples of the sea" originally lived in a certain "land of Kefto". And the Bible mentions the island of Kereti. Both names are believed by historians to mean Crete.
Medinet Abu.
Unexpected discovery
But the evidence left by the Egyptians did not give an exhaustive answer to the main question: where did the Philistines, the "people of the sea" come from. In 1985, archaeologists began large-scale excavations in the area of Israel's Ashkelon, located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. There, according to testimonies left by the Assyrians and Egyptians, was one of the main Philistine cities. Only 30 years later, scientists have found a clue to the mystery of their origin.
Researchers have found numerous fragments of red and black pottery. This color, according to scientists, is characteristic of the Cretan-Mycenaean culture. That is, the Philistines, most likely, are relatives of the conquerors of Troy.
And in the same Ashkelon three years ago, a mass grave of the Philistines was found - 145 male, female and children's skeletons. After examining the bones, scientists came to unexpected conclusions.
Excavations of the Philistine cemetery in Ashkelon.
“Despite the fact that the words 'Philistines' and 'Palestinians' sound similar, there is no connection between these peoples. Three thousand years ago, the Philistines wiped out the Babylonian troops from the face of the earth,”archaeologist Daniel Master told reporters.
True, as scientists note, the sizes of the found male skeletons are much smaller than those attributed to Goliath. On the one hand, this may indicate that the appearance of the warrior was very different from the description in the Bible. At the same time, this may also indicate that Goliath really stood out against the background of his fellow tribesmen - it was not in vain that even Jewish warriors known for their bravery were afraid of him.
In any case, the latest discoveries of archaeologists provide more and more arguments in favor of the version that Goliath is not a legendary character at all.
Anton Skripunov