Philistine Culture Museum

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The Museum of Philistine Culture is an archaeological museum in Ashdod by the southern coast in Israel. The museum is dedicated to the culture of the Philistines, the ancient people who inhabited the maritime part of Israel from the 12th century BC. It is the only museum in the world completely dedicated to the Philistine people. it held our for a few hours and were impressed by the exhibits and clear explanations. Using our own smartphones we followed a free self-guided online tour in audio and text. Several languages are available and we chose English, as did the couple who accompanied us.

The Philistine people dominated the Mediterranean middle east for 6 centuries from From the 12th to 7th century BCE. Their kingdom centered in ancient Caanan with its seat of power on the southeastern Mediterranean coast in what is now the area from Ashdod Israel down through Gaza to the Egyptian desert. For hundreds of years their control and influence spread to modern Egypt, Turkey, and Greece. They conquered other peoples both on land and sea, including Mediterranean islands.

Maps and commentaries in the museum explained how the Philistine empire grew, and ultimately how it collapsed. Information about their history derived from archaeology research of other ancient cultures like Egypt and Greece as well as what was discovered about the Philistines.

There were many well presented artifacts from archaeological excavations. These included the inevitable pottery and figurines. One surprising thing we learned was that the Philistine civilisation discovered how to make pottery with clay around a thin metal core.

Besides the serious exhibits, the museum had some areas where children - or adults! - could play. For example we took a picture in which a couple of us donned foam imitations of Philistine warrior hats and posed dueling with foam swords. We also posed with pretend versions of musical instruments like a lyre and cymbals.

Another exhibit consisted of a screen with a Philistine temple image and a motion sensor. As shown in this video, a person can stand in front and move arms to push the pillars apart. As in the biblical story of Sampson, performing this manueuver accurately causes the temple to crash down.

In fact we saw fewer biblical and religious references than might have been expected. It was unclear how much relevant archaeological evidence has been discovered to fully describe their religious practices. Exhibits include sacrificial altars and religious figurines. Some commentaries about Philistine battles mention their very large warriors (e.g. Goliath in the bible) and locations such as Gath.

In addition to the main topic of Philistine history, archaeology and culture, the museum has periodic special exhibits. When we visited there was an area with artistic depictions of food typical of Israel and neighbouring countries.

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