The Philistine Warrior (56 page)

I invented the entire House of Nomion and other Philistines out of wholecloth, with the following exceptions: (1) Delai, of course; (2) Nomion and Nastes, who are found in the
Iliad
—where Nastes is called the leader of the Karians during the Trojan War; (3) the
Iliad
mentions Amphimachus as a Karian name, but I have invented the two characters whom I call Amphimachus; (4) Egyptian records identify Ramses
III
as the Pharaoh of the time of the Philistine migration into Canaan—but I have chosen to use the name “Nomion” for my Philistine King in that part of my story; (5) the identification of the Philistine name “Piram” with the Trojan name “Priam” has been suggested by scholars; but I have appropriated that name for my fictional character; (6) Beneshasira, whom I call the brother of my fictional Piram and Rusa, may have been a real person; the name is from an Egyptian list of Philistines, while the “shasira” portion of the name may equal the title “sheren,” that is, “lord”; it may also be the same as the word “Sisera” in the book of
Judges
. Sisera, of course, was the man killed by Jael, as recounted in
Judges
. I have thus linked my fictional dynasty to a possibly real Philistine, namely, Bene (sisera/shasira).

Moreover, Delai’s fictional third son, Achish, is also a link to a real historical person: the Philistine Achish who befriended the Biblical Hebrew King David. But Delai’s son cannot be
that
Achish, because her son was born some ninety years before the age of David’s friend, Achish. David’s friend would therefore have to be the son, or grandson, of Delai’s son, Achish. The identification of “Achish” with “Ekosh,” “Akashou,” and “Anchises,” has been suggested by

scholars; Anchises was the father of Aeneas in the
Iliad,
and also in Vergil’s
Aeneid
.

With the exception of Delai, Pai, and Jaita, whose names I invented, all my Philistines have genuine Philistine names, taken from Egyptian or other sources. But as characters, they are entirely fictional. For example, the name Phicol is taken from the Biblical Book of
Genesis
.
That
Phicol is said to have lived in the time of Abraham, and to have come from the land of the Philistines. Here the Book of
Genesis
is confused, however, because there were no Philistines in
Canaan
at the time of Abraham. I have simply appropriated the name for my character.

My version of the personality and deeds of Samson does not always agree with that found in the book of
Judges
. For example, the Bible does not show him as a heavy drinker. I made him a heavy drinker to help explain his character in my fictional version. I have accepted the contention of those scholars who believe that Samson broke nothing more than
wooden
pillars (or just one pillar), a pillar of such weakness that no miracle is needed to explain the collapse of the temple porch roof. I have also in general assumed that the Biblical account is an inaccurate whitewash of his character. Yet, to portray him as a drunken fanatic—though, in some ways, an almost sympathetic character—seems to me to fit in well with the personality portrayed in the Bible, even though I’ve invented the particulars.

The
Nomiad
is entirely my invention, though consistent with what little is known of Philistine origins and culture before and during the migration from the Aegean area down into
Canaan
.

IV. Yet Another Version

What I had in mind was to show what can happen when a nation disappears from history without leaving its own story, told from its own point of view. Virtually all that we know about the Philistines as they actually were, once they had migrated to
Canaan
, comes from the Bible—a set of books written by their deadliest enemies.

Could there have been another version of the story, now lost? It’s odd that no Philistine version of Philistine history in general, and of Samson and Delilah in particular, has yet been found—although,

of course, once the Philistines had disappeared as an ethnic entity, the Hebrew scribes who wrote down the Bible would have had every reason to destroy, or at least neglect to copy, such a version.

Sir James Frazer said that a Philistine version of the story of Samson and Delilah would no doubt have “Samson figuring as the unscrupulous villain…Delilah appearing as the innocent victim of his brutal violence who, by her quick wit and high courage, contrived to deliver her people from the monster.”

I thought it might be interesting to follow up on Frazer’s idea.

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