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The Philistines in Transition: A History from ca. 1000-730 B.C.E., by Carl S. Ehrlich. Studies in the History and Culture of the Ancient Near East 10. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1996. Pp. xii + 235. $72.25.
The title of an this volume implies a focus on the history of the Philistines in their "transitional" period. While many components of the book are well researched and provide a good summary of the important issues, the book's organization is a random assortment of small topics related in some way to the Philistines, though not necessarily from the period implied by the title. There is no methodological scheme tying the topics addressed or their analysis together, and this deficit is highlighted by the fact that there is neither an introduction nor conclusion to the book.
"By Way of an Introduction" is the opening section of the first chapter, "Philistia and the Philistines," which contains the closest statement for a raison d'etre in the book. Here the author claims that the study is devoted to the "dark ages" between the Philistines' alleged defeat at the hands of David and their conquest by Tiglath-pileser III (Ehrlich's terminology). The author apparently justifies the haphazardness of the book by noting that as a result of the paucity of sources and their varied nature, a history of the Philistines in the later Iron Age can only be a series of episodes. Unfortunately, there is no methodological statement legitimating the specific "episodes" included.
The first chapter proceeds with an analysis of the Philistines in the Iron Age I. This is a good introduction to the archaeology of the Philistines in their initial period of occupation and to the issues currently under debate. While this represents the present state of affairs, there is no analysis of the issues other than noting what they are and the opinions of the various scholars involved. Ehrlich seldom provides his own view or summation. In fact, he concludes discussion of most topics by noting that the issue is still open. The conclusion of the chapter does not clarify the actual contents of the chapter or the points made that...