Endnote 16 – The Philistines Enter Canaan

On the north wall of the first court of the Medinet Habu temple is an account of a campaign to Syria describing the handling of captives. In actual fact, this campaign probably never took place since it is not recorded in Papyrus Harris I. In all likelihood, the texts were copied from originals of the reign of Ramesses II. Nevertheless, they reflect the normal treatment of captured enemies in the time of Ramesses III:

“Collect the captives whom the valor of Pharaoh, life, prosperity, health, has taken, and place them [in] the offices in the house of Amon-Re … I have carried them away: the males thereof to fill thy storehouse; their women to be subjects of thy temple” (in James Henry Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt [Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1906], vol. 4, p. 71).

As in the previous examples cited, the captives were transported to Egypt and pressed into bondage.