Between 605 and 603 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, who destroyed Jerusalem during the First Temple period, conquered Philistia. The Philistine cities were sacked and their inhabitants exiled to Babylon. The Philistines, whose original culture had been erased during the long period they had lived in Canaan, did not preserve their ethnic identity and assimilated into Babylonian society. In contrast, the exiles from Judah, who maintained their identity, merited to return to the Land of Israel.