REDATING THE 'PHILISTINE SWORD' AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM: A CASE STUDY IN TYPOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY

Summary. The famous sword exhibited in the British Museum is to date still the sole example known of the Sea People's weapons. Although its archaeological context is not known and its dating is purely typological, it is still accepted among scholars as a Shardanian weapon also used by the Philistines, from Beth-Dagon, near Jaffa. The aim of this article is to examine these 'facts' in the light of a combined typological and technological study.