The anointing of Saul as king, at the end of the 11th century BCE, was a turning point in the relations between the Philistines and the Israelites. The tribes of Israel united together, the kingdom grew in military and organizational strength, and constituted an equal opponent to the Philistines. The battles between the Israelites and the Philistines, as recorded in the First Book of Samuel, describe conflicts over territory in the Land of Israel, primarily on the border between the kingdoms. In the end, the Philistines were routed by the Israelites and returned to borders of a reduced Philistia until they were conquered by the Babylonians.