Samson, the mighty judge, came from the tribe of Dan. He and his tribe had a love-hate relationship with the Philistines.
At the time, the Philistines were Israel’s mortal enemies as they waged an ongoing war against each other for control of Canaan. It is uncanny to see the resemblance between Samson and such mythical Greek heroes as Hercules.
The tribe of Dan is particularly fascinating from an archeological and historical perspective. When we first encounter the tribe, they live near the coast of Israel, and eventually they wind up moving to the northern Galilee, where they conquer and settle in the town of Laish, now known as Tel Dan.
Tel Dan is the location of one of Israel’s longest ongoing excavations, which was headed by the legendary archeologist Abraham Biran. At Tel Dan, Biran made some amazing discoveries.
One of the most spectacular discoveries was a fully preserved Canaanite gate dating to the Middle Bronze Age (circa 2000-1550 BCE). But for biblical scholars, the most exciting discovery at Tel Dan was a carved inscription found in 1993 that mentioned the “House of David.” It would play a key role in the debate between the so-called minimalists and maximalists.
It was the minimalists who said that the biblical books were composed much later than the events that they discussed. The historicity of some of these events was even denied by the minimalists. They even questioned the existence of some important biblical personages such as David. The discovery of the Tel Dan stela was a major blow to their assertions.
Tel Dan had some fascinating discoveries relating to the Mycenaeans. The Mycenaeans were the inhabitants of Greece in the Late Bronze Age. They have also been associated with Homer’s host at the siege of Troy. Interestingly, a major Mycenaean tomb from the Late Bronze Age was discovered at Tel Dan by Biran. What makes this so fascinating is that the last phase of Mycenaean pottery in the Bronze Age is identical to the first phase of Philistine ceramics in Israel.
Even more interesting is the connection of the tribe of Dan with the Philistines. For not only have the Philistines been connected to the Mycenaean Greeks culturally through their pottery, but there is also a linguistic connection. Another name for the Mycenaeans at Troy is the Danoi. The connection to Dan here is obvious.
Furthermore, both groups are associated with ships and sailing. The Bible makes reference to Dan’s nautical links. The Philistines are also shown sailing on ships as they attempted to invade Egypt by sea in the wall reliefs of Pharaoh Ramses III at his mortuary temple at Medinet Habu, which is dated to the early part of the 12th-century BCE.
There are a number of inferences that can be drawn from this information. First, ancient Israel is not as homogeneous a group as some of us may think. It also speaks to our Mediterranean heritage and the implications that it has for our traditions. Last, it links us to the rich traditions that Homer so vividly portrayed in the Iliad and Odyssey and points to tantalizing possibilities for future study.
