The Philistines were not native to Canaan. They were part of a broader migration of "Sea Peoples" from the Aegean world — possibly from Crete (biblical Caphtor), Greece, or the western coast of Anatolia — who swept across the eastern Mediterranean around 1200 BC in one of the great migrations of the ancient world. Egyptian records from Ramesses III describe a catastrophic invasion of Sea Peoples who destroyed Hatti (the Hittites), Ugarit, and other major Bronze Age civilizations before being defeated by Egypt at the Battle of the Delta. Those who survived settled along the coastal plain of Canaan, establishing the five cities of Philistia.
Genesis 10:14 traces Philistim (the Philistines) to Casluhim, a son of Mizraim (Egypt), placing them in Ham's genealogical line — consistent with their Egyptian connection and their eventual settlement in the southwestern part of what had been Egyptian territory. Deuteronomy 2:23 and Amos 9:7 both refer to the Philistines coming from Caphtor (Crete), which aligns with archaeological evidence of Mycenaean-style pottery found in early Philistine sites.
The five cities of Philistia — Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron — each had a "lord" (Hebrew: seren), and the five lords formed a kind of city-state federation that cooperated in times of war. The Ark of the Covenant, captured at the Battle of Aphek (1 Samuel 4), was passed from city to city as plague followed it, demonstrating both the power of Israel's God and the fear the Philistines had of Him even while refusing to surrender to Him. Gath was the home of Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4) and later of Achish, the Philistine king who gave refuge to David during his flight from Saul.
The Philistines represented a persistent military and cultural threat to Israel throughout the period of the Judges and into the monarchy. Samson's exploits were entirely in Philistine territory. Samuel defeated them at Ebenezer. Saul died fighting them at Mount Gilboa. David subdued them but never fully eliminated them. The Assyrians eventually absorbed Philistia into their empire, and the Babylonians destroyed the Philistine cities. By the Roman period, they had ceased to exist as a distinct people — but the Roman name for the region, Palaestina, derived from "Philistia," would endure into the modern era as one of history's more ironic footnotes.