The Philistines are often claimed as having been one of the Sea Peoples described in the Egyptian records and frequently linked with the Peleset, one of the alliance. The idea seems to have originated with Jean-François Champollion, the renowned Egyptologist, who was probably the first to identify the Philistines with the Sea Peoples. His views had general acceptance, but the inevitable dissenting voices have made this is another controversial area for historians and archaeologists to squabble over.

    Even more contentious are the views of Jürgen Spanuth who claims that what he calls the North Sea Peoples took control of what had been the coastal land of what was to become Lebanon and Palestine and were then known as the Philistines. He claims that these Philistines later integrated with the Canaanites to become the highly successful Phoenicians.