storage building dating to ca. 1200 BCE was destroyed, and after this destruction, the local Canaanite inhabitants rebuilt the site. It was only after this Canaanite phase that Philistine pottery appeared at Ekron, though, most importantly, there was no destruction upon the arrival of the Philistine material culture and the transition was peaceful. The same can be said for Aphek where an Egyptian garrison was destroyed, likely in an act of warfare at the end of the 13th century, which was followed by a local Canaanite phase, which was then followed by the peaceful introduction of Philistine pottery. The lack of destruction by the Sea Peoples in the southern Levant should not be surprising as Canaan was never mentioned in any text describing the Sea Peoples as a target of destruction or attack by the Sea Peoples. Other sites such as Tell Keisan, Acco, Tell Abu Hawam, Tel Dor, Tel Mevorak, Tel Zeror, Tel Michal, Tel Gerisa, and Tel Batash, have no evidence of a destruction ca. 1200 BCE. By Iron Age II, the Philistines had formed an ethnic state centered around a pentapolis consisting of Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath, and Gaza (generally known as Philistia). Whether or not historians are inclined to accept the historicity of the old canonical books of the Hebrew nation, their writers describe a series of conflicts between the Philistines and the Israelites during the period of the Judges, and, allegedly, the Philistines exercised lordship over Israel in the days of Saul and Samuel the prophet, forbidding the Israelites from making iron implements of war. According to their chronicles, the Philistines were eventually subjugated by David, before regaining independence in the wake of the United Monarchy's dissolution, after which there are only sparse references to them. The accuracy of these narratives is questioned by many scholars. The Philistines seemed to have generally retained their autonomy, barring a few periods of partial Israelite and Judahite suzerainty, up until the era of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. In the mid-8th century BC, Tiglath-Pileser III marched into the southern Levant, conquering Aram-Damascus, and occupying the remaining kingdoms in the area, including Philistia. Decades later, Egypt began agitating its neighbors to rebel against Assyrian occupation. A revolt in Israel was devastatingly crushed by 722 BC, resulting in the kingdom's total destruction. In 712 BC, a Philistine named Iamani ascended to the throne of Ashdod, and organized another failed uprising against Assyria