Philistines

thumb|313x313px|The Philistines are generally identified with the "Peleset" appearing in ancient Egyptian records. This depiction of a Peleset warrior at [[Medinet Habu has also led to hypotheses that they were originally among the invading Sea Peoples, who contributed to the Late Bronze Age collapse.]] thumb|Map of Philistia (red) in the 9th century BC. The Philistines appear in the [[Hebrew Bible for their numerous armed conflicts with neighbouring Israel and Judah.]]

The Philistines (; LXX ; ) were an ancient people who lived along the southern coast of Canaan during the Iron Age. Their territory was organized into a confederation of city-states known collectively as Philistia. They spoke the Philistine language, which is poorly attested, with debate ongoing among scholars as to whether the Philistines originally spoke an Indo-European language that gradually synthesized with the local Canaanite dialect continuum of the Northwest Semitic languages.