The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Philistines
(fl´stnz, fls´–) (KEY) , inhabitants of Philistia, a non-Semitic people who came to Palestine from the Aegean (probably Crete), in the 12th cent. B.C. Their control of iron supplies and their tight political organization of cities made them a rival of the people of Israel for centuries. Philistine has come to mean an uncultured, materialistic person.
l´
nz, f
