BASOR 298 Abstracts
The Philistines and Acculturation: Culture Change and Ethnic Continuity in the Iron Age
BRYAN JACK STONE
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
6 Divinity Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
Harvard University
Acculturation influenced the development of Philistine culture for its entire 600-year history. Using an anthropological approach to examine archaeological and textual data, this article develops a model of the process of Philistine acculturation, which eventually led to the "Levantization " of Philistine culture. It concludes that the commonly held assumptions that the Philistines "lost their cultural core" or assimilated into Canaanite society are unjustified. The Philistines absorbed many outside cultural influences, but they modified those influences to suit their own needs and retained a distinct cultural and political identity throughout the Iron Age. The case of Philistine acculturation provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how archaeologists working in Syria-Palestine can contribute to, and benefitfrom, anthropological research while addressing historical problems.
A Note on Iotabê and Several Other Islands in the Red Sea
PHILIP MAYERSON
Department of Classics
New York University
New York, NY 10003
The location of Iotabê, an island in the Red Sea that served as a port of trade, remains in doubt. According to historical sources, it changed handsfour times between 473 and 534 C.E. without a word of an amphibious operation. Several other ports of trade, on islands in the Red Sea that were in close proximity to the mainland, may offer a clue to the location of Iotabê.