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This article is about the geographical area known as Palestine. For other uses, see Palestine (disambiguation).
A 2003 satellite image of the region, with national borders shown in light gray.
Palestine (from Greek: Παλαιστίνη; Latin: Palaestina; Hebrew: ארץ־ישראל Eretz Yisrael, formerly also פלשתינה Palestina; Arabic: فلسطين Filasṭīn, Falasṭīn, Filisṭīn) is one of several names for the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River and various adjoining lands.
The name Palestine refers to a region of the eastern Mediterranean coast from the sea to the Jordan valley and from the southern Negev desert to the Galilee lake region in the north. Palestine is included between two lines drawn from the Mediterranean eastward—the lower from the southeast corner of the Mediterranean through the southern end of the Dead Sea, and the upper from Tyre to the southern foot of Mount Hermon. Palestine has certain natural boundaries to justify its historical individuality Jewish Encyclopedia [1]. Palestine embraces the current state of Israel and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Other English names for this region include Canaan, Land of Israel, and Holy Land.
The name and the borders of what is currently called Palestine have varied throughout history.
Ancient Egyptian texts called the entire Levantine coastal area along the Mediterranean Sea between modern Egypt and Turkey R-t-n-u (conventionally Retjenu). Retjenu was subdivided into three regions and the southern region, Djahy, shared approximately the same boundaries as Canaan, or modern-day Israel and the Palestinian territories, though including also Syria.Sir Alan Gardiner, Egypt of the Pharaohs,Clarendon Press, Oxford (1961) 1964 pp.131, 199, 285, n.1
Early archeological textual reference to the territory of Palestine is found in the Merneptah Stele, dated c. 1200 BCE, containing a recount of Egyptian king Merneptah\'s victories in the land of Canaan, mentioning townships such as Gezer, Ashkelon and Yanoam, along with Israel, which is mentioned using a hieroglyphic determinative that indicates a nomad people, rather than a state.Redmount, op.cit., p. 97
In the Biblical account, the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah ruled from Jerusalem a vast territory extending far west and north of Palestine for some 120 years. Archaeological evidence for this period is very rare, however, and its implications much disputed.Thomas L. Thompson (1999). The Mythic Past:How Writers Create the Past. Basic Books. ISBN 0465006493. Israel Finkelstein and Neil Ascher Silberman (2000). The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts. Bible and Interpretation. Retrieved on 2007-05-14.
The Philistines dwelt in cities and controlled much of the coast, and the term \'Palestine\' is cognate with the word Philistine,Greek Παλαιστινη from Φυλιστινος/Φυλιστιειμ, see e.g. Josephus, Antiquities I.136; cf. The Septuagint rendering of Genesis, X.13. That area was known in Greek sources from the mid 5th century BCE as Palaistina. When the Romans defeated the Jewish rebellion of 67-70 CE, and merged the province of Judea with Galilee, Samaria and Idumaea, the name Palaestina was applied to the newly formed larger unit.
The ethnic affiliation of the Philistines is not clear. The Philistine names preserved on inscriptions appear to \'contradict the notion that they were Greek-speakers\'.M.L. West, The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1997 p. 38 n148 Some scholars argue however that they were a non-Semitic group, with roots in Southern Greece dating back to the period of early Mycenaean civilization.Killebrew, 2005, p. 231. A link to the Anatolian people speaking the Palaic language, on mere phonological similitude, seems difficult as hypothesis but not that impossible. Inhabiting a smaller area on the southern coast called Philistia, whose borders approximate the modern Gaza Strip, Philistia comprised a confederation of five city states: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod on the coast and Ekron, and Gath inland.Carl S. Ehrlich "Philistines" The Oxford Guide to People and Places of the Bible. Ed. Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan. Oxford University Press, 2001.
Egyptian texts of the temple at Medinet Habu, record a people called the P-r-s-t (conventionally Peleset), one of the Sea Peoples who invaded Egypt in Ramesses III\'s reign. This is considered very likely to be a reference to the Philistines. The Hebrew name Peleshet (פלשת Pəléshseth), usually translated as Philistia in English, is used in the Bible to denote their southern coastal region.[citation needed]
The Assyrian emperor Sargon II called the region the Palashtu in his Annals. By the time of Assyrian rule in 722 BCE, the Philistines had become \'part and parcel of the local population\',Shahin (2005), p. 6[specify]The Philistines. Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. and prospered under Assyrian rule during the seventh century despite occasional rebellions against their overlords. In 604 BCE, when Assyrian troops commanded by the Babylonian empire carried off significant numbers of the population into slavery, the distinctly Philistine character of the coastal cities dwindled away,"Philistines" A Dictionary of the Bible. W. R. F. Browning. Oxford University Press, 1997. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. and the history of the Philistine people effectively ended.
In the 5th century BCE, the Greek historian and geographer Herodotus wrote in Greek of a \'district of Syria, called Palaistinê,\'from which Latin: Palaestina and Palestine are derived,Palestine and Israel David M. Jacobson Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 313 (Feb., 1999), pp. 65-74The Southern and Eastern Borders of Abar-Nahara Steven S. Tuell Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 284 (Nov., 1991), pp. 51-57 Herodotus\' Description of the East Mediterranean Coast Anson F. Rainey Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 321 (Feb., 2001), pp. 57-63. Syria, at that time, referred rather imprecisely to the region north to south from Asia Minor to Sinai, and west to east from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. The boundaries of the \'district\' described by Herodotus are even more imprecise, as is the ethnic nature of its people; sometimes it denotes the coast north of Mount Carmel, and elsewhere it seems to extend down all the coast from Phoenicia to Egypt, and as far east as the Jordan River.Herodotus, The Histories Bk.7.89 Josephus used the name Παλαιστινη generally for the smaller coastal area anciently inhabited by the Philistines, which most of his contemporaries prefer to call Philistia.e.g. Antiquities 1.136. Ptolemy also used the term. In Latin, Pliny mentions a region of Syria that was "formerly called Palaestina" among the areas of the Eastern Mediterranean.cf. Pliny, Natural History V.66 and 68. Philo uses the terms Palaestina and Canaan interchangeably, noting that the region\'s Jewish population is larger than that of any other single country.Palestine and Israel David M. Jacobson Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 313 (Feb., 1999), pp. 65-74
During the Roman period, the Iudaea Province (including Samaria) comprised much of modern Palestine, although the Galilee and other northern areas remained administratively distinct. Later, following the Jewish rebellions in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, Rome united the entire Levant in a new province bearing its Greco-Latin name, Syria-Palaestina.Lehmann, Clayton Miles (May-September 1998). Palestine: History: 135–337: Syria Palaestina and the Tetrarchy. The On-line Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces. University of South Dakota. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.Palestine and Israel Jacobson, David M. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 313 (February 1999), pp. 65-74
During the Byzantine Period, this entire region (including Syria, Palestine, Samaria, and Galilee) was renamed Palaestina and then subdivided into Diocese I and II. The Byzantines also renamed an area of land including the Negev, Sinai, and the west coast of the Arabian Peninsula as Palaestina Salutoris, sometimes called Palaestina III. Since the Byzantine Period, the Byzantine borders of Palaestina (I and II) have served as a name for the geographic area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
The Holy Land, or Palestine, showing not only the Ancient Kingdoms of Judah and Israel in which the 12 Tribes have been distinguished, but also their placement in different periods as indicated in the Holy Scriptures. Tobias Conrad Lotter, Geographer. Augsburg, Germany, 1759
The Hebrew Bible calls the region Canaan (כּנען) (Numbers 34:1–12), while the part of it occupied by Israelites is designated Israel (Yisrael). The name "Land of the Hebrews" (ארץ העברים, Eretz Ha-Ivrim) is also found, as well as several poetical names: "land flowing with milk and honey", "land that [God] swore to your fathers to assign to you", "Holy Land", "Land of the Lord", and the "Promised Land".[citation needed]
The Land of Canaan is given a precise description in (Numbers 34:1) as including all of Lebanon, as well (Joshua 13:5). The wide area appears to have been the home of several small nations such as the Canaanites, Hebrews, Hittites, Amorrhites, Pherezites, Hevites and Jebusites.
According to Hebrew tradition, the land of Canaan is part of the land given to the descendants of Abraham, which extends from the Nile to the Euphrates River (Genesis 15:18). This land is said to include an area called Aram Naharaim, which includes Ur Kasdim in modern Turkey, where Abraham\'s father was born.
In Exodus 13:17, "And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt."
The events of the Four Gospels of the Christian Bible take place entirely in Palestine.
In the Qur\'an, the term الأرض المقدسة ("Holy Land", Al-Ard Al-Muqaddasah) is mentioned at least seven times, once when Moses proclaims to the Children of Israel: "O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin." (Surah 5:21)
A dwelling unearthed at Tell es-Sultan.
Human remains found at El-\'Ubeidiya, 2 miles (3 km) south of Lake Tiberias date back as early as 500,000 years ago.Shahin (2005), p. 3Galilee, Sea of. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 12, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online The discovery of the Palestine Man in the Zuttiyeh Cave in Wadi Al-Amud near Safad in 1925 provided some clues to human development in the area.Shahin (2005), p. 3Human Evolution and Neanderthal Man. Antiquity Journal. Amud. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 12, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online
In the caves of Shuqba in Ramallah and Wadi Khareitun in Bethlehem, stone, wood and animal bone tools were found and attributed to the Natufian culture (c. 12800–10300 BCE). Other remains from this era have been found at Tel Abu Hureura, Ein Mallaha, Beidha and Jericho.Belfer-Cohen and Bar-Yosef, 2000, pp. 19–38.
Between 10000 and 5000 BCE, agricultural communities were established. Evidence of such settlements were found at Tell es-Sultan, Jericho and include mud-brick rounded and square dwellings, pottery shards, and fragments of woven fabrics.Shahin (2005), page 4Stearns, 2001, p. 13.Harris, 1996, p. 253.
Along the Jericho-Dead Sea-Bir es-Saba-Gaza-Sinai route, a culture originating in Syria, marked by the use of copper and stone tools, brought new migrant groups to the region contributing to an increasingly urban fabric.Rosen, 1997, pp. 159–161.Neil Asher Silberman, Thomas E. Levy, Bonnie L. Wisthoff, Ron E. Tappy, John L. Meloy "Near East" The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Brian M. Fagan, ed., Oxford University Press 1996.
By the early Bronze Age (3000–2200 BCE) independent Canaanite city-states situated in plains and coastal regions and surrounded by mud-brick defensive walls were established and most of these cities relied on nearby agricultural hamlets for their food needs.Canaan. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 12, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Archaeological finds from the early Canaanite era have been found at Tel Megiddo, Jericho, Tel al-Far\'a (Gaza), Bisan, and Ai (Deir Dibwan/Ramallah District), Tel an Nasbe (al-Bireh) and Jib (Jerusalem).
The Canaanite city-states held trade and diplomatic relations with Egypt and Syria. Parts of the Canaanite urban civilization were destroyed around 2300 BCE, though there is no consensus as to why. Incursions by nomads from the east of the Jordan River who settled in the hills followed soon thereafter.Mills, 1990, p. 439.
In the Middle Bronze Age (2200–1500 BCE), Canaan was influenced by the surrounding civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, and Syria. Diverse commercial ties and an agriculturally based economy led to the development of new pottery forms, the cultivation of grapes, and the extensive use of bronze.Palestine: Middle Bronze Age. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. Burial customs from this time seemed to be influenced by a belief in the afterlife.Ember & Peregrine, 2002, p. 103.
Political, commercial and military events during the Late Bronze Age period (1450–1350 BCE) were recorded by ambassadors and Canaanite proxy rulers for Egypt in 379 cuneiform tablets known as the Amarna Letters.William H. Propp "Amarna Letters" The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan, eds. Oxford University Press Inc. 1993. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.
By c. 1190 BCE, the Philistines arrived and mingled with the local population, losing their separate identity over several generations.Shahin (2005), p. 6Carl S. Ehrlich "Philistines" The Oxford Guide to People and Places of the Bible. Ed. Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.
Pottery remains found in Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gat, Ekron and Gaza decorated with stylized birds provided the first archaeological evidence for Philistine settlement in the region. The Philistines are credited with introducing iron weapons and chariots to the local population.Philistine. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 12, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online
Developments in Palestine between 1250 and 900 BCE have been the focus of debate between those who accept the Old Testament version on the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes, and those who reject it.Gyémánt, Ladislau (2003). "Historiographic Views on the Settlement of the Jewish Tribes in Canaan" 1/2003. Sacra Scripta. Niels Peter Lemche, of the Copenhagen School of Biblical Studies, submits that the picture of ancient Israel "is contrary to any image of ancient Palestinian society that can be established on the basis of ancient sources from Palestine or referring to Palestine and that there is no way this image in the Bible can be reconciled with the historical past of the region."Niels Peter Lemche. On the Problems of Reconstructing Pre-Hellenistic Israelite (Palestinian) History. Journal of Hebrew Scriptures. Retrieved on 2007-05-10.
Others point to David\'s Palace,A magazine story of the site\'s discovery is available here: Eilat Mazar: Uncovering King David\'s PalaceErlanger, Steven. "King David\'s Palace Is Found, Archaeologist Says", The New York Times, 2005-08-05. Retrieved on 2007-05-24. A San Diego Union Tribune article on the discovery: [2] the sacrificial site at ShechemMatthew Sturgis, It ain\'t necessarily so, ISBN 0-7472-4510-X and the Merneptah Stele,Carol A. Redmount, \'Bitter Lives: Israel in and out of Egypt\' in The Oxford History of the Biblical Word, ed: Michael D. Coogan, (Oxford University Press: 1999)Stager, Lawrence E., "Forging an Identity: The Emergence of Ancient Israel" in Michael Coogan ed. The Oxford History of the Biblical World, Oxford University Press, 2001. p.92M. G. Hasel, "Israel in the Merneptah Stela", BASOR 296, 1994, pp.54 & 56, n.12. and Mesha SteleBaruch Margalit, "Studies in NWSemitic Inscriptions", Ugarit-Forschungen 26, p. 275Time (magazine), December 18, 1995.For a full but technical discussion, see Lawrence J. Mykytiuk, _Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200–539 BCE_, Academia Biblica series, no. 12 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2004), pp. 265–277. among others, as providing some archaeological evidence of a nation that bears a resemblance to the Biblical Israel.[citation needed]
Map of the southern Levant, c.830s BCE. Kingdom of Judah Kingdom of Israel Philistine city-states Phoenician states Kingdom of Ammon Kingdom of Edom Kingdom of Aram-Damascus Aramean tribes Arubu tribes Nabatu tribes Assyrian Empire Kingdom of Moab
Though the Biblical tradition holds that the Israelites arrived in Canaan from Egypt, archaeology provides strong evidence that they emerged from among the local population existent there at the time; these events are generally dated to between the 13th and 12th centuries BCE.Gyémánt, Ladislau (2003). "Historiographic Views on the Settlement of the Jewish Tribes in Canaan" 1/2003. Sacra Scripta. Archaeological evidence indicates that the late 13th, the 12th and the early 11th centuries BCE witnessed the foundation of perhaps hundreds of insignificant, unprotected village settlements, many in the mountains of Palestine. From around the 11th century BCE, there was a reduction in the number of villages, though this was counterbalanced by the rise of certain settlements to the status of fortified townships.
According to Biblical tradition, the United Kingdom of Israel was established by the Israelite tribes with Saul as its first king in 1020 BCE.Facts about Israel:History. Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affaits. Retrieved on 2007-05-10. In 1000 BCE, Jerusalem was made the capital of King David\'s kingdom and it is believed that the First Temple was constructed in this period by King Solomon. By 930 BCE, the united kingdom split to form the northern Kingdom of Israel, and the southern Kingdom of Judah. These kingdoms co-existed with several more kingdoms in the greater Palestine area, including Philistine town states on the Southwestern Mediterranean coast, Edom, to the South of Judah, and Moab and Amon to the East of the river Jordan.Bienkowski, op.cit.
There was an at least partial Egyptian withdrawal from Palestine in this period, though it is likely that Bet Shean was an Egyptian garrison as late as the beginning of the 10th century BCE. The socio-political system was characterized by local patrons fighting other local patrons, lasting until around the mid-9th century BCE when some local chieftains were able to create large political structures that exceeded the boundaries of those present in the Late Bronze Age.
Archaeological findings from this era include, among others, the Mesha Stele, from c. 850 BCE, which recounts the conquering of Moab, located East of the Dead Sea, by king Omri, and the successful revolt of Moabian king Mesha against Omri\'s son, presumably King Ahab; and the Kurkh Monolith, dated c. 835 BCE, describing King Shalmaneser III of Assyria\'s Battle of Qarqar, where he fought alongside the contingents of several kings, among them King Ahab and King Gindibu.
Between 722 and 720 BCE, the northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrian Empire and the Israelite tribes - thereafter known as the Lost Tribes - were exiled. The most important finding from the southern Kingdom of Judah is the Siloam Inscription, dated c. 700 BCE, which celebrates the successful encounter of diggers, digging from both sides of the Jerusalem wall to create the Hezekiah water tunnel and water pool, mentioned in the Bible, in 2Kings 20:20.[citation needed] In 586 BCE, Judah was conquered by the Babylonians and Jerusalem and the First Temple destroyed. Most of the surviving Jews, and much of the other local population, were deported to Babylonia."Babylon" A Dictionary of the Bible. W. R. F. Browning. Oxford University Press, 1997. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.
After the Persian Empire was established, Jews were allowed to return to what their holy books had termed the Land of Israel, and having been granted some autonomy by the Persian administration, it was during this period that the Second Temple in Jerusalem was built.Diana Edelman (November 2005). Redating the Building of the Second Temple. Sebastia, near Nablus, was the northernmost province of the Persian administration in Palestine, and its southern borders were drawn at Hebron.Palestine. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 12, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Some of the local population served as soldiers and lay people in the Persian administration, while others continued to agriculture. In 400 BCE, the Nabataeans made inroads into southern Palestine and built a separate civilization in the Negev that lasted until 160 BCE.Avdat: A Nabatean City in the Negev. Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
Roman Iudaea Province in the 1st century CE as based on Robert W. Funk\'s The Acts of Jesus, Michael Grant\'s\'s Jesus: An Historian\'s Review of the Gospels and John P. Meier\'s A Marginal Jew.
The Persian Empire fell to Greek forces of the Macedonian general Alexander the Great.Shahin (2005), p. 7Hellenistic Greece:Alexander the Great. Washington State University (1996). Retrieved on 2007-08-11. After his death, with the absence of heirs, his conquests were divided amongst his generals, while the region of the Jews ("Judah" or Judea as it became known) was first part of the Ptolemaic dynasty and then part of the Seleucid Empire.Pastor, 1997, p. 41.
The landscape during this period was markedly changed by extensive growth and development that included urban planning and the establishment of well-built fortified cities. Hellenistic pottery was produced that absorbed Philistine traditions. Trade and commerce flourished, particularly in the most Hellenized areas, such as Ascalon, Jaffa,Palestine. Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-08-14. Jerusalem,Julie Galambush (2006). The Reluctant Parting: How the New Testament\'s Jewish Writers Created a Christian Book. HarperCollins.ca. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. Gaza,Dick Doughty (September-October 1994). Gaza:Contested Crossroads. SaudiAramcoWorld. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. and ancient Nablus (Tell Balatah).Tell Balatah (Shechem or Ancient Nablus). World Monuments Watch:100 Most Endangered Sites 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-20.
The Jewish population in Judea was allowed limited autonomy in religion and administration.Hayes & Mandell, 1998, p. 41.
An independent Jewish kingdom under the Hasmonean Dynasty existed from 140–37 BCE. In the second century BCE fascination in Jerusalem for Greek culture resulted in a movement to break down the separation of Jew and Gentile and some people even tried to disguise the marks of their circumcision.Johnston, 2004, p. 186. Disputes between the leaders of the reform movement, Jason and Menelaus, eventually led to civil war and the intervention of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Subsequent persecution of the Jews led to the Maccabean Revolt under the leadership of the Hasmoneans, and the construction of a native Jewish kingship under the Hasmonean Dynasty. After approximately a century of independence disputes between the Hasmonean rivals Aristobulus and Hyrcanus led to control of the kingdom by the Roman army of Pompey. The territory then became first a Roman client kingdom under Hyrcanus and then, in 70CE, a Roman Province administered by the governor of Syria.Chancey, 2005, p. 44.
Palestine in the Time of Christ as rendered by as B.W. Johnson (1891) in The People\'s New Testament.
Though General Pompey arrived in 63 BCE, Roman rule was solidified when Herod, whose dynasty was of Idumean ancestry, was appointed as king.Herod. Concise Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. Urban planning under the Romans was characterized by cities designed around the Forum - the central intersection of two main streets - the Cardo, running north-south and the Decumanus running east-west.Introducing Young People to the Protection of Heritage Sites and Historic Cities. UNESCO (2003). Retrieved on 2007-08-14. Cities were connected by an extensive road network developed for economic and military purposes. Among the most notable archaeological remnants from this era are Herodium (Tel al-Fureidis) to the south of BethlehemHERODIUM (Jebel Fureidis) Jordan/Israel. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. and Caesarea.publisher=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
Around the time associated with the birth of Jesus, Roman Palestine was in a state of disarray and direct Roman rule was re-established.Judaea-Palestine. UNRV History: Roman Empire. Retrieved on 2007-08-14. The early Christians were oppressed and while most inhabitants became Romanized, others, particularly Jews, found Roman rule to be unbearable.
As a result of the First Jewish-Roman War (66-73), Titus sacked Jerusalem destroying the Second Temple, leaving only supporting walls, including the Western Wall. In 135, following the fall of a Jewish revolt led by Bar Kokhba in 132–135, the Roman emperor Hadrian attempted the expulsion of Jews from Judea. His attempt was as unsuccessful as were most of Rome\'s many attempts to alter the demography of the Empire; this is demonstrated by the continued existence of the rabbinical academy of Lydda in Judea, and in any case large Jewish populations remained in Samaria and the Galilee. Tiberias became the headquarters of exiled Jewish patriarchs. The Romans joined the province of Judea (which already included Samaria) together with Galilee to form a new province, called by the familiar name of Syria Palaestina.
The Emperor Hadrian (132 CE) renamed Jerusalem "Aelia Capitolina" and built temples there to honor Jupiter. Christianity was practiced in secret and the Hellenization of Palestine continued under Septimius Severus (193–211 CE). New pagan cities were founded in Judea at Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin), Diopolis (Lydd), and Nicopolis (Emmaus).
5th century CE: Byzantine Diocese of Palaestina I (Philistia, Judea and Samaria) and Palaestina II (Galilee and Perea)
Emperor Constantine\'s conversion to Christianity around 330 CE made Christianity the official religion of Palaestina.Shahin (2005), page 8Shaye I.D. Cohen. Legitimization Under Constantine. PBS. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. After his mother Empress Helena identified the spot she believed to be where Christ was crucified, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built in Jerusalem. The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Ascension in Jerusalem were also built during Constantine\'s reign.
Palestine thus became a center for pilgrims and ascetic life for men and women from all over the world. Many monasteries were built including the Saint George Monastery in Wadi al-Qelt, Deir Qarantal and Deir Hijle near Jericho, and Deir Mar Saba and Deir Theodosius east of Bethlehem.
In 352 CE, a Jewish revolt against Byzantine rule in Tiberias and other parts of the Galilee was brutally suppressed.
In approximately 390 CE, Palaestina was further organised into three units: Palaestina Prima, Secunda, and Tertia (First, Second, and Third Palestine).Thomas A. Idniopulos (1998). Weathered by Miracles: A History of Palestine From Bonaparte and Muhammad Ali to Ben-Gurion and the Mufti. Retrieved on 2007-08-11. Palaestina Prima consisted of Judea, Samaria, the coast, and Peraea with the governor residing in Caesarea. Palaestina Secunda consisted of the Galilee, the lower Jezreel Valley, the regions east of Galilee, and the western part of the former Decapolis with the seat of government at Scythopolis. Palaestina Tertia included the Negev, southern Jordan — once part of Arabia — and most of Sinai with Petra as the usual residence of the governor. Palestina Tertia was also known as Palaestina Salutaris.Roman Arabia. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
In 536 CE, Justinian I promoted the governor at Caesarea to proconsul (anthypatos), giving him authority over the two remaining consulars. Justinian believed that the elevation of the governor was appropriate because he was responsible for "the province in which our Lord Jesus Christ... appeared on earth".Kenneth G. Holum "Palestine" The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Ed. Alexander P. Kazhdan. Oxford University Press 1991. This was also the principal factor explaining why Palestine prospered under the Christian Empire. The cities of Palestine, such as Caesarea Maritima, Jerusalem, Scythopolis, Neapolis, and Gaza reached their peak population in the late Roman period and produced notable Christian scholars in the disciplines of rhetoric, historiography, Eusebian ecclesiastical history, classicizing history and hagiography.
Byzantine administration of Palestine was temporarily suspended during the Persian occupation of 614–28, and then permanently after the Muslims arrived in 634 CE, defeating the empire\'s forces decisively at the Battle of Yarmouk in 636 CE. Jerusalem capitulated in 638 CE and Caesarea between 640 CE and 642 CE.
An 1890 map of Palestine as described by medieval Arab geographers, with Jund Filastin administrative area
In 638 CE, Caliph Omar Ibn al-Khattab and Safforonius, the Byzantine governor of Jerusalem, signed Al-Uhda al-\'Omariyya (The Umariyya Covenant), an agreement that stipulated the rights and obligations of all non-Muslims in Palestine.Shahin (2005), page 8 Jews were permitted to return to Palestine for the first time since the 500-year ban enacted by the Romans and maintained by Byzantine rulers.Shahin (2005), page 10
Omar Ibn al-Khattab was the first conqueror of Jerusalem to enter the city on foot, and when visiting the site that now houses the Haram al-Sharif, he declared it a sacred place of prayer.CALIPH UMAR\'S ADDRESS AFTER JERUSALEMThe Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City By Dore Gold, pg. 97 Cities that accepted the new rulers, as recorded in registrars from the time, were: Jerusalem, Nablus, Jenin, Acre, Tiberias, Bisan, Caesarea, Lajjun, Lydd, Jaffa, Imwas, Beit Jibrin, Gaza, Rafah, Hebron, Yubna, Haifa, Safad and Ashkelon.
Under Umayyad rule, the Byzantine province of Palaestina Prima became the administrative and military sub-province (jund) of Filastin - the Arabic name for Palestine from that point forward.Walid Khalidi (1984). Before Their Diaspora. Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington DC, 27 - 28. It formed part of the larger province of ash-Sham (Arabic for Greater Syria).Haim Gerber (Fall 2003). ""Zionism, Orientalism, and the Palestinians"" Vol. 33, No. 1: 23-41. Journal of Palestine Studies. Jund Filastin (Arabic جند فلسطين, literally "the army of Palestine") was a region extending from the Sinai to the plain of Acre. Major towns included Rafah, Caesarea, Gaza, Jaffa, Nablus and Jericho.James Parkes. Palestine Under the Caliphs. MidEastWeb. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. Jund al-Urdunn (literally "the army of Jordan") was a region to the north and east of Filastin which included the cities of Acre, Bisan and Tiberias.
In 691, Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ordered that the Dome of the Rock be built on the site where the Islamic prophet Muhammad is believed by Muslims to have begun his nocturnal journey to heaven, on the Temple Mount. About a decade afterward, Caliph Al-Walid I had the Al-Aqsa Mosque built.Rizwi Faizer (1998). The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem. Rizwi\'s Bibliography for Medieval Islam. Retrieved on 2007-07-14.
It was under Umayyad rule that Christians and Jews were granted the official title of "Peoples of the Book" to underline the common monotheistic roots they shared with Islam.Ahl al-Kitab. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 12, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online
The Baghdad-based Abbasid Caliphs renovated and visited the holy shrines and sanctuaries in JerusalemGhada Hashem Talhami (February 2000). "The Modern History of Islamic Jerusalem: Academic Myths and Propaganda" Volume VII, No. 2. Middle East Policy Council. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. and continued to build up Ramle.Yaacov Lev (2007). "The Ethics and Practice of Islamic Medieval Charity" 5, Issue 2: 603 - 618. History Compass. Coastal areas were fortified and developed and port cities like Acre, Haifa, Caesarea, Arsuf, Jaffa and Ashkelon received monies from the state treasury.Shahin (2005), p. 11[citation needed]
A trade fair took place in Jerusalem every year on September 15 where merchants from Pisa, Genoa, Venice and Marseilles converged to acquire spices, soaps, silks, olive oil, sugar and glassware in exchange for European products.[citation needed] European Christian pilgrims visited and made generous donations to Christian holy places in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.[citation needed] Harun al-Rashid (786-809) established the Christian Pilgrims\' Inn in Jerusalem, fulfilling Umar\'s pledge to Bishop Sophronious to allow freedom of religion and access to Jerusalem for Christian pilgrims.M. Cherif Bassiouni (2004). Islamic Civilization: An Overview. Middle East Institute: The George Camp Keiser Library. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
From their base in Tunisia, the Fatimids, who claimed to be descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima, conquered Palestine by way of Egypt in 969 CE.Egypt: The Fatimid Period 969 - 1771. Arab Net (2002). Retrieved on 2007-08-14. Jerusalem, Nablus, and Askalan were expanded and renovated under their rule.[citation needed]
After the 10th century, the division into Junds began to break down. In 1071, the Isfahan-based Seljuk Turks captured Jerusalem only to hand it back in 1098.
Under the European rule, fortifications, castles, towers and fortified villages were built, rebuilt and renovated across Palestine largely in rural areas.David Nicolle (July 2005). Crusader Castles in the Holy Land 1192-1302. Osprey. ISBN 9781841768274. A notable urban remnant of the Crusader architecture of this era is found in Acre\'s old city.Projects:The Old City of Akko (Acre). Israeli Antiquities Authority. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
In July 1187, the Cairo-based Kurdish General Saladin commanded his troops to victory in the Battle of Hattin.Kenneth Setton, ed. A History of the Crusades, vol. I. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1958Shahin (2005), page 12. Saladin went on to take Jerusalem. An agreement granting special status to the Crusaders allowed them to continue to stay in Palestine and In 1229, Frederick II negotiated a 10-year treaty that placed Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem once again under Crusader rule.
In 1270, Sultan Baibars expelled the Crusaders from most of the country, though they maintained a base at Acre until 1291. Thereafter, any remaining Europeans either went home or merged with the local population.[citation needed]
Palestine formed a part of the Damascus Wilayah (district) under the rule of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and was divided into three smaller Sanjaks (subdivisions) with capitals in Jerusalem, Gaza, and Safad.[citation needed] Celebrated by Arab and Muslim writers of the time as the "blessed land of the Prophets and Islam\'s revered leaders," Muslim sanctuaries were "rediscovered" and received many pilgrims.Walid Khalidi (1984). Before Their Diaspora. Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington DC, 28 - 29.
While the first half of the Mamluk era (1270-1382) saw the construction of many schools, lodgings for travellers (khans) and the renovation of mosques neglected or destroyed during the Crusader period, the second half (1382-1517) was a period of decline as the Mamluks were engaged in battles with the Mongols in areas outside Palestine.[http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/ihame/Sec11.htm Islam and Islamic History in Arabia and The Middle East: The Mongols and the Mamluks]. Islamicity. Retrieved on 2007-08-14.
In 1486, hostilities broke out between the Mamluks and the Ottoman Turks in a battle for control over western Asia. The Mamluk armies were eventually defeated by the forces of the Ottoman Sultan, Selim I, and lost control of Palestine after the 1516 battle of Marj Dabiq.Chase, 2003, pp. 104-105.
Territory of the Ottoman Empire in 1683
After the Ottoman conquest, the name "Palestine" disappeared as the official name of an administrative unit, as the Turks often called their (sub)provinces after the capital. Following its 1516 incorporation in the Ottoman Empire, it was part of the vilayet (province) of Damascus-Syria until 1660. It then became part of the vilayet of Saida (Sidon), briefly interrupted by the 7 March 1799 - July 1799 French occupation of Jaffa, Haifa, and Caesarea. During the siege of Acre in 1799, Napoleon prepared a proclamation declaring a Jewish state in Palestine.
The Founder of Modern Egypt - A Study of Muhammad \'Ali by Henry Dodwell
Palmerston and the Levant Crisis, 1832 M. Vereté The Journal of Modern History > Vol. 24, No. 2 (Jun., 1952), pp. 143-151
On 10 May 1832 the territories of modern Syria, Jordan, lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Territories were conquered and annexed by Muhammad Ali\'s expansionist Egypt (nominally still Ottoman) in the 1831 Egyptian-Ottoman War. Britain sent the navy to shell Beirut and an Anglo-Ottoman expeditionary force landed, causing local uprisings against the Egyptian occupiers. A British naval squadron anchored off Alexandria. The Egyptian army retreated to Egypt. Muhammad Ali signed the Treaty of 1841. Britain returned control of the Levant to the Ottomans.
In the reorganisation of 1873, which established the administrative boundaries that remained in place until 1914, Palestine was split between three major administrative units. The northern part, above a line connecting Jaffa to north Jericho and the Jordan, was assigned to the vilayet of Beirut, subdivided into the sanjaks (districts) of Acre, Beirut and Nablus. The southern part, from Jaffa downwards, was part of the special district of Jerusalem. Its southern boundaries were unclear but petered out in the eastern Sinai Peninsula and northern Negev Desert. Most of the central and southern Negev was assigned to the vilayet of Hijaz, which also included the Sinai Peninsula and the western part of Arabia.Gideon Biger, The Boundaries of Modern Palestine, 1840-1947, pp. 13-15. Routledge, 2004. ISBN 0714656542
Nonetheless, the old name remained in popular and semi-official use. Many examples of its usage in the 16th and 17th centuries have survived.Gerber, 1998. During the 19th century, the Ottoman Government employed the term Arz-i Filistin (the \'Land of Palestine\') in official correspondence, meaning for all intents and purposes the area to the west of the River Jordan which became \'Palestine\' under the British in 1922".Mandel, 1976, p. xx. However, the Ottomans regarded "Palestine" as an abstract description of a general region but not as a specific administrative unit with clearly defined borders. This meant that they did not consistently apply the name to a clearly defined area. Ottoman court records, for instance, used the term to describe a geographical area that did not include the sanjaks of Jerusalem, Hebron and Nablus, although these had certainly been part of historical Palestine.Judith Mendelsohn Rood, Sacred Law in the Holy City, p. 46. Brill Publishers, 2004.Bernard Lewis, "Palestine: On the History and Geography of a Name", International History Review 11 (1980): 1-12 Amongst the educated Arab public, Filastin was a common concept, referring either to the whole of Palestine or to the Jerusalem sanjak alonePorath, 1974, pp. 8-9. or just to the area around Ramle.Haim Gerber (1998) referring to fatwas by two Hanafite Syrian jurists.
Ottoman rule over the eastern Mediterranean lasted until World War I when the Ottomans sided with Germany and the Central Powers. During World War I, the Ottomans were driven from much of the region by the United Kingdom during the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.
Palestine in British map 1924 the map now in the National Library of Scotland
In European usage up to World War I, "Palestine" was used informally for a region that extended in the north-south direction typically from Raphia (south-east of Gaza) to the Litani River (now in Lebanon). The western boundary was the sea, and the eastern boundary was the poorly-defined place where the Syrian desert began. In various European sources, the eastern boundary was placed anywhere from the Jordan River to slightly east of Amman. The Negev Desert was not included.[Biger]
Under the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916, it was envisioned that most of Palestine, when freed from Ottoman control, would become an international zone not under direct French or British colonial control. Shortly thereafter, British foreign minister Arthur Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which laid plans for a Jewish homeland to be established in Palestine eventually.
The British-led Egyptian Expeditionary Force, commanded by Edmund Allenby, captured Jerusalem on 9 December, 1917 and occupied the whole of the Levant following the defeat of Turkish forces in Palestine at the Battle of Megiddo in September 1918 and the capitulation of Turkey on 31 October.Hughes, 1999, p. 17; p. 97.
Palestine and Transjordan were incorporated (under different legal and administrative arrangements) into the Mandate for Palestine issued by the League of Nations to Great Britain on 29 September, 1923
The British Mandate enacted English, Hebrew and Arabic as its three official languages. The land designated by the mandate was called Palestine in English, Falastin (فلسطين) in Arabic, and in Hebrew Palestina or Eretz Yisrael ((פלשתינה (א"י).
In April 1920 the Allied Supreme Council (the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan) met at Sanremo and formal decisions were taken on the allocation of mandate territories. The United Kingdom accepted a mandate for Palestine, but the boundaries of the mandate and the conditions under which it was to be held were not decided. The Zionist Organization\'s representative at Sanremo, Chaim Weizmann, subsequently reported to his colleagues in London:
There are still important details outstanding, such as the actual terms of the mandate and the question of the boundaries in Palestine. There is the delimitation of the boundary between French Syria and Palestine, which will constitute the northern frontier and the eastern line of demarcation, adjoining Arab Syria. The latter is not likely to be fixed until the Emir Feisal attends the Peace Conference, probably in Paris.\'Zionist Aspirations: Dr Weizmann on the Future of Palestine\', The Times, Saturday, 8 May, 1920; p. 15.
In July 1920, the French drove Faisal bin Husayn from Damascus ending his already negligible control over the region of Transjordan, where local chiefs traditionally resisted any central authority. The sheikhs, who had earlier pledged their loyalty to the Sharif of Mecca, asked the British to undertake the region\'s administration. Herbert Samuel asked for the extension of the Palestine government\'s authority to Transjordan, but at meetings in Cairo and Jerusalem between Winston Churchill and Emir Abdullah in March 1921 it was agreed that Abdullah would administer the territory (initially for six months only) on behalf of the Palestine administration. In the summer of 1921 Transjordan was included within the Mandate, but excluded from the provisions for a Jewish National Home.Gelber, 1997, pp. 6-15. On 24 July, 1922 the League of Nations approved the terms of the British Mandate over Palestine and Transjordan. On 16 September the League formally approved a memorandum from Lord Balfour confirming the exemption of Transjordan from the clauses of the mandate concerning the creation of a Jewish national home and from the mandate\'s responsibility to facilitate Jewish immigration and land settlement.Sicker, 1999, p. 164. With Transjordan coming under the administration of the British Mandate, the mandate\'s collective territory became constituted of 23% Palestine and 77% Transjordan. Transjordan was a very sparsely populated region (specially in comparison with Palestine proper) due to its relatively limited resources and largely desert environment.
The award of the mandates was delayed as a result of the United States\' suspicions regarding Britain\'s colonial ambitions and similar reservations held by Italy about France\'s intentions. France in turn refused to reach a settlement over Palestine until its own mandate in Syria became final. According to Louis:
Together with the American protests against the issuance of mandates these triangular quarrels between the Italians, French, and British explain why the A mandates did not come into force until nearly four years after the signing of the Peace Treaty.... The British documents clearly reveal that Balfour\'s patient and skillful diplomacy contributed greatly to the final issuance of the A mandates for Syria and Palestine on September 29, 1923.Louis, 1969, p. 90.
Even before the Mandate came into legal effect in 1923 (text), British terminology sometimes used \'"Palestine" for the part west of the Jordan River and "Trans-Jordan" (or Transjordania) for the part east of the Jordan R
