Bible Locations

Caphtor was the original homeland of the Philistines. Amos 9:7 says God brought "the Philistines from Caphtor," and Jeremiah 47:4 calls them "the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor." Deuteronomy 2:23 says the Caphtorites came from Caphtor and destroyed the Avvites, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, and settled in their place. Most scholars identify Caphtor with the island of Crete, possibly including other parts of the Aegean. Egyptian texts call it Keftiu, and Akkadian texts from Mari and Ugarit call it Kaptara, describing it as a place of fine crafts. Paintings in Egyptian tombs show Keftiu people bringing gifts. This fits archaeology, since early Philistine pottery looks like Aegean Greek pottery. A 2019 DNA study of burials at Ashkelon found that early Philistines had ancestry from southern Europe, supporting the Bible's account of their origin overseas.