Introduction

Sigrid Deger-Jalkotzy"

The Research Program “Synchronisation of Civilisations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millennium B. C.” (SCIEM 2000) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences also includes a project named “End of the Mycenaean Culture”. It concentrates on the chronology and synchronisms of the period which in the Aegean followed after the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces. In archaeological terms this period of the 12th and early 11th centuries B. C. is called LH III C. The schedule of the “End of the Mycenaean Culture” project also comprises several international workshops on the chronology of LH III C, as well as on synchronisms of the cultural developments and the history of the various regions of the Aegean.

For the year of 2003 a workshop had been planned on the character, origin and chronological setting of the Aegean impact on the cultures of Cyprus and the Levant in the 12th century B. C. Like the Greek mainland and the Aegean islands these regions had been afflicted by destruction and abandonment of sites around the turn of the 13th to the 12th century B. C. In Cyprus the subsequent cultural phase of Late Cypriote (LC) III A was marked by various novelties which exhibited a distinct Aegean character. This is particularly true of LC III A pottery styles. Civilisations of the 12th century B. C. in the Levant and the Philistine culture in particular also seem to have been influenced by elements that were of Mycenaean or Aegean origin. Whether or not population movements from the Aegean had been responsible for the introduction of these novel cultural features in Cyprus and the Levant has been the subject of a longstanding and controversial scholarly discussion.

It soon became clear to Manfred Bietak and myself that many scholars figuring on the invitation list for the 2003 “End of the Mycenaean Culture” workshop on cultural and chronological correlations between the Aegean, Cyprus and the Levant 12th century B. C. had also been asked to participate at the 2003 EuroConference of SCIEM 2000. We therefore agreed that the two events be combined. In place of the workshop planned for the “End of the Mycenaean Culture” project a separate section of the EuroConference was dedicated to the subject of “Mycenaeans and Philistines in the Levant”.639 This section brought together 21 participants and may thus be regarded as a workshop in its own right.640

The final session of the “Mycenaean and Philistines” section was dedicated to a lengthy discussion of questions which had been brought up during the conference and appeared to require a closer introspection. Particular attention was paid to the following issues:

The nature of the Philistine culture

It was generally agreed that the Philistine civilisation integrated Cypriot, Cretan and Mycenaean elements, as well as the heritage of indigenous cultures. It was also marked by Egyptian influence. However, the participants of the “Mycenaean and Philistines” section found it difficult to characterise the multifarious nature of the Philistine culture by means of a fitting terminology. Descriptions such as “hybrid”, “eclectic” or “cultural agglomeration” were put forward. None, however, appeared as satisfactory.