Why Get DNA from Cemetery of 200 Philistines?

Last updated on: August 6, 2017 at 10:44 pm by Kermit Zarley

Why Get DNA from Cemetery of 200 Philistines? 2017-08-06T22:44:43-07:00 Kermit Zarley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

It was just announced yesterday that an archaeological team discovered a 3,000 year old cemetery in Askelon National Park in Israel that contains the skeletons of 200 Philistines. (Askelon was a major Philistine city with an important harbor on the Mediterranean coast.) This discovery was made by the Leon Levy Expedition at Ashkelon. It is a team of archaeologists from Harvard University, Boston College, Wheaton College in Illinois, and Troy College in Alabama. This elite group, led by archaeologist Dr. Lawrence Stager of Harvard, just finished their thirty-year dig of the site. Dr. Daniel Master had later joined Stager as co-director. I have been following this work since 2011.

But this team did not find the 200 Philistine skeletons until three years ago. It’s because they had to dig down ten feet to find them. During the era of the Roman Empire, a vineyard had been built on top of this cemetery. In archaeological digs, people meticulously excavate dirt with spoons to sift through it and analyze their findings. The whole process usually takes several, if not many, years. So, it took them twenty-seven years to get down to these skeletons.

But why did the team delay announcement of this discovery of Philistine skeletons for three years? It’s because Orthodox Israeli Jews often demonstrate at archaeological sites if skeletons have been found in Israel. They claim it is against their halakah laws to dig up, and thus to disturb, Jewish bodily remains because they think it could have a negative effect on God’s future resurrection of them. But these remains were Philistine, not Jews. Nevertheless, the archaeological team delayed their announcement until now to avoid any possible deterrence caused by the Jewish Orthodox community in Israel.

I have been waiting for about thirty years for a significant discovery of Philistine remains. Why? I wrote a book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict entitled Palestine Is Coming: The Revival of Ancient Philistia. It was published in 1990. (I post often about this conflict and how it relates to the proposal in my book for solving this conflict.) In this book, I provide some history about the ancient Philistines and suggest there is a significant genetic link between them and modern Palestinians. A few years after this book was published, I became more convinced of such a genetic link. Thus, I have believed if some Philistine skeletons were ever discovered that were not too corrupted, so that it would be possible to extract DNA from them, this DNA could be compared to the DNA of a mix of present Palestinian people, and the result might affirm that Palestinians do indeed have a stronger genetic link to the ancient Philistines than to any other people group.

Why did I think of this? I specialize in the study of biblical prophecies. In my book, Palestine Is Coming, I show that there are at least two prophecies of the Hebrew prophets–Isaiah (11.14) and Zechariah (9.6)–which indicate that “Philistines” and their nation “Philistia” will exist in the latter days prior to the end of this present age. Here is a quotation of this book from p. 187 in which the first sentence appears in bold for emphasis, “Just as the Bible predicted the reestablishment of Israel, it also indicates the revival of other ancient countries in the Middle East, one of these being Philistia. Perhaps as many as seven prophetic scriptures in the Hebrew Bible indicate a rebirth of Israel’s ancient arch rival–Philistia. Two passages which clearly signify the reestablishment of Philistia are Isaiah 11.14 and Zechariah 9.5-8.

Also, I have nine articles on my website kermitzarley.com that I have published there over the past fifteen years that represent updates to the proposal in my book compared to events that have happened in the region. Here is an excerpt from one of those articles entitled “Time Changes Things” etc., that was published in 2013. It begins with its subhead, “Comparing DNA from Philistine Skeletons with that of Palestinians. Archaeologists have discovered Philistine corpses. I would like to see DNA of these corpses compared with DNA of modern Palestinians to see if they have any significant genetic link to ancient Philistines. If that happens, and there is a noticeable genetic link between these peoples, that would give Palestinians more of a right to claim ‘the land of the Philistines’ as their ancestral land.”

So, I interpret from these prophecies that Palestinians will establish their own state someday in the coastal plain as a very expanded Gaza Strip that will approximate “the land of the Philistines” or “Philistia” that we read in the Bible. And I also interpret that Israel will annex all of the West Bank in exchange for forfeiting land north and east of the Gaza Strip that has been part of modern Israel since its inception, but was part of Philistia during antiquity.

In recent years there have been other discoveries of Philistine skeletons, but they provided too small of a sample to draw any conclusions about the origin of the Philistines, which has been the primary goal of such discoveries. Some members of the Leon Levy Expedition team are now working with DNA samples extracted from these Philistine skeletons discovered at Ashkelon. I think DNA from them should be compared with DNA of present Palestinians to see if there is a reasonable match. If this is done and there is a match, that will create even more excitement about this very important archaeological discovery of so many Philistine remains.

Current Events

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Ashkelon National Park

Previous Post

July 3, 2016

Egypt--Forfeit the North Sinai to Create a Palestinian State

Next Post

July 13, 2016 Golf Digest Cites my "Let There Be Light" Post

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Angels Billy Graham Blog Description Book Reviews Christian Living Christianity Christology Church History Current Events Deity of Christ? Disarmament Eschatology Evangelicalism Ezekiel 38-39 Film Reviews God Golf Gospel Harmonization Health History Holy Spirit Incarnation? Interview Islam Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Jesus Last Empire Literary Announcements Major Championship Winners Masters Monotheism My Books New Testament Old Testament Politics Primitive Weapons Ryder Cup Science Society of Biblical Literature The Bible The Restitution of Jesus Christ Trinitarianism Trinity? Uncategorized Unconditional Love? War on Terrorism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: 3 John commends Diotrephes for his hospitality and love for the brethren.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE

Books by This Author Books by Kermit Zarley Blog

See All Titles »