FoxNews.com (excerpts):  Tel El-Safi, Israel - As archaeologists continue their excavation at Gath - the Biblical home of Goliath, the giant warrior felled by the young shepherd David and his sling - they are piecing together the history of the Philistines, a people remembered chiefly as the bad guys of the Hebrew Bible.  Close to three millennia ago, the city of Gath was on the frontier between the Philistines, who occupied the Mediterranean coastal plain, and the Israelites, who controlled the inland hills.  The city's most famous resident, according to the Book of Samuel, was Goliath, famously felled by a well-slung stone.  In a square hole, several Philistine jugs nearly 3,000 years old were emerging from the soil.  One painted shard unearthed had a rust-red frame and a black spiral, a decoration common in ancient Greek art and a hint to the Philistine's origin in the Aegean.  The Philistines arrived by sea from the area of modern-day Greece around 1,200 BC.  They went on to rule major ports at Ashkelon and Ashdod, now cities in Israel and at Gaza, which are now part of the Palestinian territory known as the Gaza strip.  At Gath, they settled on a site that had been inhabited since prehistoric times.  Digs like this one show that although they adopted aspects of local culture, they did not forget their roots.  Even five centuries after their arrival, for example, they were still worshipping gods with Greek names.  Archaeologists have found that the Philistine diet leaned heavily on grass pea lentils, an Aegean staple.  Ancient bones discarded at the site show that they also ate pigs and dogs, unlike the neighboring Israelites, who deemed those animals unclean - restrictions that still exist in Jewish dietary law.  Diggers of Gath have also uncovered traces of a destruction of the city in the 9th century BC, including a ditch and embankment built around the city by a besieging army, still visible as a dark line running across the surrounding hills.  The razing of Gath at the time appears to have been the work of the Aramean king Hazael in 830 BC, an incident mentioned in the Book of Kings (Bible).  Gath fills a very important gap in our understanding of "Philistine" history, Gitin said.  In 604 BC, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded and put the Philistines' cities to the sword.  There is no remnant of them after that.  The hero Sampson, who married a Philistine woman, skirmished with them repeatedly before being betrayed and taken, blinded and bound to their temple at Gaza.  There, the story goes, he broke free and shattered two support pillars, bringing the temple down and killing everyone inside, including himself.  One intriguing find at Gath is the remains of a large structure, possibly a temple, with two pillars.  Diggers at Gath have also found shards preserving names similar to Goliath - an Indo-European name, not a Semitic one of the kind that would have been used by the local Canaanites or Israelites.  These finds show the Philistines indeed used such names and suggested that this detail too might be drawn from an accurate picture of their society.  The findings at the site support the idea that the Goliath story faithfully reflects something of the geopolitical reality of the period, Maeir said - the often violent interaction of the powerful Philistines of Gath with the kings of Jerusalem in the frontier zone between them.  
 
My Comments:  For those of you out there who believe the Bible is mythical, are you aware of the fact that the Philistines fought against Israel in Biblical times and the Palestinians are at war with Israel today?  The Philistines hated Jews and worshipped idols in Biblical times and they fought against the Jews to destroy them.  The Palestinians want to destroy Israel today.  If you read the Book of Ezekiel, to see what is prophesied in the last days before the coming of the Messiah, you can look around and see those prophesies being fulfilled today.  Yes, the Old Testament prophets foretold that once the Jews were gathered again to Israel, the surrounding nations would still be fighting the Jews today, in the last days.  If you are aware of what is going on in the Middle East today, you can see that the prophesies are being fulfilled before our eyes.  The entire chapter of Ezekiel 38 tells about how the surrounding nations will come against Israel, after it has become a nation again, and this event is forthcoming today.  Iran threatens Israel's annihilation on a continuous basis; Gaza constantly bombs Israel and the Muslims altogether want to see Israel destroyed.  You might ask why; why are all of these people against Israel?  You could also ask yourself why Hitler destroyed six million Jews.  I'll tell you why; there is absolutely no reason why anyone should constantly want to destroy all of the Jews, except for the fact that God said, "Israel is My son, even My firstborn" Exodus 4:22.  It is as simple as that.  Anyone who is a servant of Satan wants to destroy Israel - for no reason, except it is Satan's purpose to destroy the chosen people of God.  Hitler, the Muslims and all antisemitic people are all worshipping Satan; they are demon possessed and they want to annihilate God's chosen people.  Some would say that's a pretty harsh and bold statement.  It's fact, and I don't mince words.  Why should I be delicate with people throughout the world who want to kill and destroy Israel for absolutely no reason at all, except that they are God's chosen people?  They are full of the devil and I don't mind saying it!  God loves them; He wants to save them; and I say to them, God loves you!  Since Jesus died for all of our sins, we are all "Jews" by adoption, those who receive Jesus (Galatians 4:5).  Accept Jesus as your Savior and He will give you love for others and you will spend eternity with Him.  You serve a god that causes you to spew venomous hate towards people who have done nothing to you, and you want to kill them in the name of Allah, your God, and you believe you will be able to commit sex acts throughout eternity with 70 virgins for killing the Jews (this is in Muslim holy books).  Come on, does that really sound "Godly" to you?  That's how mixed up and down right demonic Islam is!  Hateful, murderous, sexually promiscuous and EVIL!  Wake up!  If you are a Muslim, Satan has been deceiving you for years and years.  If you continue to hate and want to murder God's people, you aren't going to commit sex acts with 70 virgins in heaven forever; you are going to a fiery burning hell forever, because the Bible says so (Genesis 12:3 and Matthew 5:22).  Give up this lie, hate, murder and sexual promiscuity and turn to God and He will save you and give you eternal life.  If you are reading this and you are a Muslim, or you are antisemitic and hateful, or agnostic, I would like to invite you to visit the How Can I Be Saved page of this website.  God bless you.