Great history @fred703..
The Bible describes Saul rising to the throne in the face of the Philistine military threat. The Philistines are known both from the Bible and from the extra-biblical sources. Egyptian inscriptions mention them as one of the so-called Sea Peoples. Apparently, they originally came from the Aegean area or from southern Anatolia.
very much so. the Philistines had the technological edge as their weapons were iron compared to the brass of the Hebrews. Iron also allowed them to make chariots, formidable weapons of war