The theory that the Sea Peoples of Acre included Greek-speaking tribes of the period has been developed even further to postulate that the Philistines originated in either western Anatolia or the Greek peninsula to Ptolemais from the Macedonian Ptolemy Soter. The earliest mention of the Sea Peoples proper is in an inscription of the Egyptian king Merneptah, whose rule is usually dated from 1213 BC to 1204 BC.

Denyen are one of the groups associated with the Sea Peoples, raiders associated with the Eastern Mediterranean Dark Ages. Etymologically they are thought by some to be related to the Greek Danua, mentioned by Homer, and the Hebrew Tribe of Dan. The historic Philistines; the "Sea Peoples" is the term used in ancient Egyptian records of a race of ship-faring raiders who drifted into the eastern shores of the Mediterranean and attempted to enter Egyptian territory during the late 19th dynasty, and especially yeare 5 of Rameses III of the 20th Dynasty, 1180 to 1150 BCE.

A Sea People appear in another set of records problematically dated around the early 12th century BC. Ammurapi, the last king of Ugarit (c.1191 BC - 1182 BC) received a letter from the Hittite king Suppliluliuma II warning him about the "Shikalayu who live on boats" who are perhaps the same people as the Shekelesh mentioned in Merneptah's list. They are spoken of in the Book of Amos as originating in Caphtor. Later, in the 7th century BCE, Jeremiah makes the same association with Caphtor. Scholars variously identify the land of Caphtor with Cyprus and Crete and other locations in the eastern Mediterranean.

From 1180 BC, the Sea Peoples, and migrating tribes such as the Phrygians, crossing the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, overran Anatolia, destroying a number of states and cities, among which was Hattusa, the Hittite capital. The Philistines lost their independence to Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria by 736 BC, and revolts in following years were all crushed. Later, Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon eventually conquered all of Syria and the land of Canaan, and the Philistine cities became part of the Neo-Babylonian empire. Subsequently the cities were under the control of Persians, Greeks, and Romans, and "Philistia" was governed as a territory. In these theories, the group of 5 sea peoples mentioned together is identified as the 5 groups with coastal lands during the era of Solomon. The Egyptian king Ramses III gives the names of the tribes of the Sea People when allied as including: The Peleset are the Philistines, The Tjeker are the Tribe of Manasseh, The Shekelesh the Tribe of Issachar, The Shekelesh the Tribe of Issachar, The Weshesh the Tribe of Asher.

The Sea Peoples inhabited the southern coast of Canaan around the time of the arrival of the Israelites, the name of the region of Palestine comes, via Greek and Latin, from the Philistines; of Palestine and Aelia Capitolina. Though the Philistines adopted local Canaanite culture and language before leaving any written texts, an Indo-European origin has been suggested for a handful of known Philistine words. Their maritime knowledge presumably would have made them important to the Phoenicians.

The Philistine cities were ruled by seranim, "lords", who acted together for the common good, though to what extent they had a sense of a "nation" is not clear without literary sources. After their defeat by the Israelite King David, kings replaced the seranim, governing from various cities. Some of these kings were called Abimelech. The historic Philistines inhabited the southern coast of Canaan around the time of the arrival of the Israelites, their territory being named Philistia in later contexts. The biblical stories of Samson, Samuel, Saul and David include accounts of Philistine-Israelite conflicts. The Philistines long held a monopoly on iron smithing a skill they possibly acquired during conquests in Anatolia and the biblical description of Goliath's armor is consistent with this iron-smithing technology.

The Philistines occupied the five cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath, along the coastal strip of southwestern Canaan, that belonged to Egypt up to the closing days of the Nineteenth Dynasty (ended 1185 BC). The Philistines lost their independence to Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria by 736 BC. Later, Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon eventually conquered all of Syria and the Kingdom of Judah, and the former Philistine cities became part of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. All traces of the Philistines as a people or ethnic group disappear in early cultural links with the Mycenean world in mainland Greece.