DAN - BRUTAL CONQUEST

SAMSON AND THE PHILISTINES - TIME TO GO

The Promised Land

When they entered the Promised Land, Joshua allocated an area of land to the tribe of Dan (one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel). It was the fertile farmland around Timnah, and up as far as Joppa.

It was a promise, not a reality. Well-organized and battle-ready Philistines already lived there, and were far too strongly established to let intruders into their rich coastal territory.

These Philistines were one-time nomads of the sea who had decided to settle down. In many ways they were like the Vikings, who ravaged the coast of northwestern Europe and eventually settled there. As well as being tough, the Philistines had superior metal technology, and would not give the Hebrews access to it: 

'No smith was found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines were afraid that the Hebrews would make swords or spears. So all Israelites had to go down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles sharpened.... '   (1Samuel 13:19-22)

But the tribe of Dan had hardened, tough men of their own - men who would not give up without a fight. They were experts at guerrilla warfare, the method used by fighters who are outnumbered and outgunned, as the Hebrews were.

Philistine Warrior

One of them was Samson, whose astonishing strength and ingenuity helped him kill large numbers of Philistines - see THE STORY OF SAMSON.

Samson is like Achilles in the 'Iliad' - his feud with the Philistines started with a dispute over a woman, just as Achilles' with Agamemnon during the Trojan War. Some scholars have even suggested a connection between the tribe of Dan and the 'Danaoi', a name for Greeks in the 'Iliad'.

But one strongman cannot win a war alone. Eventually the tribe of Dan faced the facts: it must give up its attempt to settle the Philistine heartland and look for an alternative place in the Upper Jordan Valley - where the pickings were easier. 

BRUTAL CONQUEST

Building with mud bricks

Unwelcome in Philistine territory, the tribe of Dan decided to upgrade. They trekked north and captured the established Canaanite city of Laish. The city had massive walls and ramparts so thick that houses were built inside. Its gates and walls (see right) had withstood many an assault.

It was an extraordinary coup. Dan was the most important city in the north, rich and plump as a bantam hen - it lay on the main trade route between Galilee and Damascus.

It also had special meaning for the Hebrews. Hundreds of years before, Abraham had come to the city to rescue his kidnapped nephew, Lot (Genesis 14:14).

The people of Laish did not give up their city without a fight, but it seems to have been fairly one-sided, and shows the ruthless nature of the tribe of Dan

'.....they observed the people who were there living securely, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and unsuspecting, lacking nothing on earth, and possessing wealth. Furthermore, they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealing with Aram....' (in other words, without any powerful allies). 
'The Danites.... came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, put them to the sword, and burned down the city. There was no deliverer.' (Judges 18:7, 27-28)

Ancient Pottery

The tribe of Dan brought its culture with it.  Archaeological excavations show storage jars of the northern type, similar to jars in Galilee and Phoenicia, lying alongside typical 'collared-rim' jars from the central hill country - original home of the Danites. 

The Danites did very nicely in their newly acquired city - so nicely, in fact, that they did not want to be bothered with trouble in the outside world.

Ancient Canaanite weapons