Caphtor

Caphtor was the original homeland of the Philistines, according to both Deuteronomy 2:23 and Amos 9:7, where God reminds Israel that he brought the Philistines from Caphtor just as he brought Israel from Egypt. Jeremiah 47:4 likewise refers to the Philistines as "the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor." The identification of Caphtor is debated but most commonly understood as Crete or the Aegean island world, consistent with the archaeological evidence linking the Philistines (the "Sea Peoples") to an Aegean migration in the twelfth century B.C. Some scholars identify Caphtor with the Egyptian toponym Keftiu, which denoted the Aegean region. The Cherethites, associated with the Philistines, are also connected to Crete.