I’ve always been troubled by the Philistine hemorrhoids. The Hebrew word is ‘opalim (Mylpe). That was supposedly their affliction when they captured the Ark of the Covenant and placed it before a statue of their god Dagon.

The story is told about the Ark (sometimes called the Ark of God) when it was resting at Shiloh, cared for by Eli the priest, before it was ultimately brought to Jerusalem by King David. The Israelites had engaged their enemies the Philistines in battle at Ebenezer.^a The battle went badly for the Israelites, and Eli’s sons allowed the Ark to be brought from Shiloh to the battlefield at Ebenezer as a paladin in the hope that this would turn the tide of battle. Instead, the Philistines captured the Ark (1Samuel 5–6).

Footnote Articles

Shiloh Yields Some, but Not All, of Its Secrets, by Israel Finkelstein
BAR 12:01, January/February 1986.

An Israelite Village from the Days of the Judges, by Moshe Kochavi, with Aaron Demsky
BAR 04:03, September/October 1978.

DNA Analysis Sheds New Light on Oldest Profession at Ashkelon, by Patricia Smith and Lawrence E. Stager
BAR 23:04, July/August 1997.

The Fury of Babylon: Ashkelon and the Archaeology of Destruction, by Lawrence E. Stager
BAR 22:01, January/February 1996.

Eroticism and Infanticide at Ashkelon, by Lawrence E. Stager
BAR 17:04, July/August 1991.

Why Were Hundreds of Dogs Buried at Ashkelon? by Lawrence E. Stager
BAR 17:03, May/June 1991.

When Canaanites and Philistines Ruled Ashkelon, by Lawrence E. Stager
BAR 17:02, March/April 1991.

Excavating Philistine Gath: Have We Found Goliath’s Hometown? by Carl S. Ehrlich and Aren M. Maeir
BAR 27:06, November/December 2001.

Additional Reading from the BAS Library

Invasions of the Sea Peoples, by William H. Stiebing, Jr.
AO 4:05, Sep/Oct 2001

What We Know About the Philistines, by Trude Dothan
BAR 8:04, Jul/Aug 1982