To the Ruler Of The Two Lands,
Ra-Mes-Su,
they were one of many Peoples Of The Sea.
Destroyed upon the Delta-marsh,
the pharaoh threw
back eastward th’beaten Pareseti.
Pregnant lay the levant-land
of th’Eastern Place
Where The Sun Is Skyward-Birthed,
bounded ‘bout by slopes
of the mountain, waves
of the sea; by desert-earth.
Wanderers by foot,
pastoralic
they nomadic’ly moved,
known by some as the People
Of Peleshet;
known by others as the Palastu.
Settling to the north
of Tell el-Ajjul,
they produced a pentapolis ‘n thrived.
Fierce beacon of it all
was that coastal jewel –
Gaza, by all of Canaan prized!
Image credit – Baldwin
william altoft 