Tell el-Far'ah (South): Egyptian Residency and Anthropoid Coffins
Petrie's 'Beth-pelet', with Egyptian-style clay coffins and a governor's house on the Philistine frontier
Found 1928 — Sir Flinders Petrie and E. McDonald (1928–1930); Rudolph Cohen (1977); Gunnar Lehmann, Ben-Gurion University with Claremont and Rostock (1998–2002)
Where Tell el-Far'ah (South), Nahal Besor, western Negev (Israel)
Dates from c. 1300–1050 BCE (residency and coffin tombs) · Late Bronze IIB – Iron Age I · Egyptian rule, Philistine arrival, period of the Judges
Now at Coffins and finds in the Rockefeller Museum (Jerusalem), the Institute of Archaeology UCL and the British Museum; the site is an open mound
How Tell el-Far'ah (South): Egyptian Residency and Anthropoid Coffins was found
Petrie dug the cemeteries around the mound on the Besor stream and a large mudbrick 'Residency' on the tell. Tombs 552 and 562 in Cemetery 500 held clay anthropoid coffins with moulded faces, Philistine pottery and Egyptian scarabs — the mixed graves of 12th-century soldiers or officials. Lehmann's team re-examined the Residency and Iron Age town; a Canaanite alphabetic ostracon reading 'to our lord' was found in the later work.
What it is
A large mound above the Besor with a Middle Bronze rampart, a Late Bronze Egyptian-plan residency (mudbrick on baked-brick footings, an Egyptian technique), and cemeteries of rock-cut chamber tombs. Several tombs contained slipper-shaped clay coffins with human faces on the lids, like those at Beth Shean and Deir el-Balah.
Why it matters for the Bible
The coffins were once called 'Philistine' because Philistine pottery lay beside them, and they were used to argue the Philistines served as Egyptian mercenaries. Most scholars now see them as Egyptian or Egyptianized burials with Philistine goods — still a vivid picture of the mixed Egyptian–Philistine–Canaanite frontier that Israel's Judges faced. Petrie's identification with Beth-pelet is no longer accepted; Sharuhen (Albright) and Ziklag have both been proposed.
The Hebrew word: peh-leesh-TEEM
פְּלִשְׁתִּים
פְּלִשְׁתִּים is pronounced peh-leesh-TEEM and means Philistines (Strong's H6430).
Places
- Beth-pelet — בֵּית פֶּלֶט (bayt PEH-let) — house of escape
- Sharuhen — שָׁרוּחֶן (shah-roo-CHEN) — uncertain
Events
Philistine settlement on the coast · Egyptian garrisons in Canaan at the end of the Bronze Age
Tell el-Far'ah (South): Egyptian Residency and Anthropoid Coffins in Scripture
Joshua 15:27 Beth-pelet in the Negev of Judah — Petrie's name for the site, now doubted.
Nehemiah 11:26 One of only 2 verses that name Beth-pelet.
Questions people ask
What is Tell el-Far'ah (South): Egyptian Residency and Anthropoid Coffins?
A large mound above the Besor with a Middle Bronze rampart, a Late Bronze Egyptian-plan residency (mudbrick on baked-brick footings, an Egyptian technique), and cemeteries of rock-cut chamber tombs. Several tombs contained slipper-shaped clay coffins with human faces on the lids, like those at Beth Shean and Deir el-Balah.
When was Tell el-Far'ah (South): Egyptian Residency and Anthropoid Coffins discovered?
It was found in 1928 by Sir Flinders Petrie and E. McDonald (1928–1930); Rudolph Cohen (1977); Gunnar Lehmann, Ben-Gurion University with Claremont and Rostock (1998–2002), at Tell el-Far'ah (South), Nahal Besor, western Negev.
Where is Tell el-Far'ah (South): Egyptian Residency and Anthropoid Coffins today?
Coffins and finds in the Rockefeller Museum (Jerusalem), the Institute of Archaeology UCL and the British Museum; the site is an open mound.
Which Bible verses does Tell el-Far'ah (South): Egyptian Residency and Anthropoid Coffins relate to?
Joshua 15:27, Nehemiah 11:26.
Is Tell el-Far'ah (South): Egyptian Residency and Anthropoid Coffins authentic?
The excavations are secure. Both the biblical identification and the 'Philistine' label for the coffins are debated; the coffins are now usually read as Egyptian-style burials.
Related discoveries
- תִּרְצָהTirzah (Tell el-Far'ah North): Omri's First CapitalDe Vaux's excavation of Israel's second capital, with a building project abandoned when Omri moved to Samaria
- צִקְלַגTel Sera' (Tell esh-Shari'a): Ziklag CandidateAn Egyptian governor's residence and hieratic tax receipts in the town many identify as David's Ziklag
- עַזָּהGaza: Tell el-Ajjul and Its Gold HoardsPetrie's Bronze Age city at the mouth of Wadi Ghazzeh, the richest gold find in Canaan
- אַשּׁוּרTell Jemmeh: Assyrian Vaulted BuildingA Philistine border town that became an Assyrian base, with the earliest true mudbrick vaults in the Land
- יַבְנֶהYavneh 'Temple Hill' Favissa: Philistine Cult StandsA single pit with over a hundred clay shrine-stands from Philistine Jabneh
- כָּתַבProto-Sinaitic Inscriptions, Serabit el-KhadimSemitic workers in Sinai writing the world's first alphabet
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'Tell el-Far'ah (South)'
- Lehmann, G. et al., 'Tell el-Far'ah (South) Cemetery 200 Revisited' (2019)
- Petrie, W. M. F., Beth-Pelet I (1930); Macdonald, Starkey & Harding, Beth-Pelet II (1932)
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