Global InformationTimeline of the name Palestine information
This article presents a list of notable historical references to the name Palestine as a place name for the region of Palestine throughout history. This includes uses of the localized inflections in various languages, such as Arabic Filasṭīn and Latin Palaestina.
A possible predecessor term, Peleset, is found in five inscriptions referring to a neighboring people, starting from c. 1150 BCE during the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. The word was transliterated from hieroglyphs as P-r-s-t.
The first known mention of Peleset is at the Medinet Habu temple, which refers to the Peleset among those who fought against Egypt during Ramesses III's reign,[2] and the last known is 300 years later on Padiiset's Statue. The Assyrians called the same region "Palashtu/Palastu" or "Pilistu," beginning with Adad-nirari III in the Nimrud Slab in c. 800 BCE through to an Esarhaddon treaty more than a century later.[3][4] Neither the Egyptian nor the Assyrian sources provided clear regional boundaries for the term.[5] Whilst these inscriptions are often identified with the Biblical Pəlīštīm, i.e. Philistines,[6] the word means different things in different parts of the Bible.[7][8] The 10 uses in the Torah have undefined boundaries and no meaningful description, and the usage in two later books describing coastal cities in conflict with the Israelites – where the Septuagint instead uses the term "allophuloi" (Αλλόφυλοι, "other nations") – has been interpreted to mean "non-Israelites of the Promised Land".[9][10]
The term Palestine first appeared in the 5th century BCE when the ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote of a "district of Syria, called Palaistinê" between Phoenicia and Egypt in The Histories.[11] Herodotus provides the first historical reference clearly denoting a wider region than biblical Philistia, as he applied the term to both the coastal and the inland regions such as the Judean Mountains and the Jordan Rift Valley.[12][13][14][15] Later Greek writers such as Aristotle, Polemon and Pausanias also used the word, which was followed by Roman writers such as Ovid, Tibullus, Pomponius Mela, Pliny the Elder, Dio Chrysostom, Statius, Plutarch as well as Roman Judean writers Philo of Alexandria and Josephus.[16] There is no evidence of the name on any Hellenistic coin or inscription.[17]
In the early 2nd century CE, the Roman province called Judaea was renamed Syria Palaestina[a] (literally, "Palestinian Syria"), and also incorporated some other, smaller, territories.[18][19] This may have occured either before or after the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135.[20][21][22][23]
Around the year 390, during the Byzantine period, the imperial province of Syria Palaestina was reorganized into Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda[24] and Palaestina Salutaris.[24] Following the Muslim conquest, place names that were in use by the Byzantine administration generally continued to be used in Arabic,[3][25] and the Jund Filastin became one of the military districts within the Umayyad and Abbasid province of Bilad al-Sham.[26]
The use of the name "Palestine" became common in Early Modern English,[27] was used in English and Arabic during the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem. The term was used widely as a self-identification by Palestinians from the start of the 20th century onwards.[28] In the 20th century the name was used by the British to refer to "Mandatory Palestine," a territory from the former Ottoman Empire which had been divided in the Sykes–Picot Agreement and secured by Britain via the Mandate for Palestine obtained from the League of Nations.[29] Starting from 2013, the term was officially used in the eponymous "State of Palestine."[30] Both incorporated geographic regions from the land commonly known as Palestine, into a new state whose territory was named Palestine.
- ^ Reland 1714, pp. 37–42.
- ^ Masalha 2018, p. 56: The 3200‑year‑old documents from Ramesses III, including an inscription dated c. 1150 BC, at the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III at the Medinat Habu Temple in Luxor – one of the best‑preserved temples of Egypt – refers to the Peleset among those who fought against Ramesses III (Breasted 2001: 24; also Bruyère 1929‒1930), who reigned from 1186 to 1155 BC.
- ^ a b Sharon, 1988, p. 4.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Eberhard Schrader wrote in his seminal "Keilinschriften und Geschichtsforschung" ("KGF", in English "Cuneiform inscriptions and Historical Research") that the Assyrian term "Pilistu" referred to "the East" in general. See KGF p123-124 and Tiglath Pileser III by Abraham Samuel Anspacher, p48
- ^ Killebrew 2005, p. 202.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Brettwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Jacobson65bwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Drews49was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Drews51was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Rainey 2001, pp. 57–63
• Jacobson 2001: As early as the Histories of Herodotus, written in the second half of the fifth century B.C.E., the term Palaistinê is used to describe not just the geographical area where the Philistines lived, but the entire area between Phoenicia and Egypt—in other words, the Land of Israel.
• Jacobson 1999: The first known occurrence of the Greek word Palaistine is in the Histories of Herodotus, ... Palaistinê Syria, or simply Palaistinê, is applied to what may be identified as the southern part of Syria, comprising the region between Phoenicia and Egypt. - ^
• Martin Sicker (1999). Reshaping Palestine: From Muhammad Ali to the British Mandate, 1831–1922. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-275-96639-3.: “The name later appears in the Persian Wars of the Greek historian Herodotus in the form of an adjective describing "the Philistine Syria," which presumably was intended to include all of Cis-Jordan."
• James Rennell (1800). The Geographical System of Herodotus Examined and Explained: By a Comparison with Those of Other Ancient Authors, and with Modern Geography ... W. Bulmer. pp. 245–.: “Herodotus, as we have said, had visited Palestine, if not Phoenicia also. The city of Jerusalem he names Cadytis, doubtless meant for the Arabian name Al Kads, the holy : in effect, a translation of the other. He says, Thalia, 5, " that it is a city belonging to the Syrians of Palestine; and in his opinion, equal to Sardis."”
• Gösta Werner Ahlström; Gary Orin Rollefson; Diana Vikander Edelman (1993). The History of Ancient Palestine from the Palaeolithic Period to Alexander's Conquest. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-85075-367-4.: “The Greek historian Herodotus (1.105, 3.5) called Cisjordan the Palestinian Syria or sometimes only Palaestina. Thus, there is a tradition from at least the fifth century BCE for the use of this name”
• Isidore Singer; Cyrus Adler (1925). The Jewish encyclopedia: a descriptive record of the history, religion, literature, and customs of the Jewish people from the earliest times to the present day. Funk and Wagnalls.: “As early as Herodotus, who is followed by other classical writers, as Ptolemy and Pliny, the phrase Συρίε ἡ Παλαιστίνη (Syrian Palestine, Palestine of Syria) denotes both the littoral and the neighboring inland region (Judea and Palestine), as well as the entire interior as far as the Arabian desert”
• Nur Masalha, The Concept of Palestine: The Conception Of Palestine from the Late Bronze Age to the Modern Period, Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies, Volume 15 Issue 2, Page 143-202: “Herodotus uses the name accordingly and Aristotle, for example, used the term in a way that includes the regions of Transjordan, or 'Eastern Palestine', beyond the Jordan Rift Valley. Herodotus' conception of Palaistine included the Galilee and applied to Palestine in the wider sense.” - ^ Jacobson 1999: "The first known occurrence of the Greek word Palaistine is in the Histories of Herodotus, written near the mid-fifth century B.C. Palaistine Syria, or simply Palaistine, is applied to what may be identified as the southern part of Syria, comprising the region between Phoenicia and Egypt. Although some of Herodotus' references to Palestine are compatible with a narrow definition of the coastal strip of the Land of Israel, it is clear that Herodotus does call the "whole land by the name of the coastal strip."..."It is believed that Herodotus visited Palestine in the fifth decade of the fifth century B.C."..."In the earliest Classical literature references to Palestine generally applied to the Land of Israel in the wider sense."
- ^ Feldman 1990, p. 1: When Herodotus in the fifth century B.C.E. mentions Palestine he refers only to the coastal area, so called because it had been inhabited by the Philistines; or he is speaking loosely, since the only part of the area that he had visited was apparently along the coast.
- ^ Tuell 1991: Herodotus considered Abar-Nahara (his "fifth province") a maritime province. That this would be true of Cyprus and Phoenicia is self-evident. However, Herodotus claims the same distinction for Syri he Palaistine kaleomenj ("the part of Syria called Palestine," or "Palestinian Syria"). Hence, in both 3.5 and 3.91, as we have seen, he describes Palestine as a coastal strip. ... Herodotus apparently considered Palestine a coastal region. Hence, his description of the satrapy of Abar Nahara, which consisted largely of Phoenicia and Palestinian Syria, as a strip of coastland is consistent with his view concerning the nature of Palestine expressed elsewhere.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Robinsonwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cohen, Getzel M. (2006). "A Geographic Overview". In Cohen, Getzel M. (ed.). The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa (1st ed.). University of California Press. pp. 21–70. ISBN 978-0-520-24148-0. JSTOR 10.1525/j.ctt1pnd22.5.
Nevertheless, it is important to note that despite its appearance in various literary texts of and pertaining to the Hellenistic period, the term "Palestine" is not found on any extant Hellenistic coin or inscription. In other words, there is no attestation for its use in an official context in the Hellenistic period. Even in the early Roman period its use was not especially widespread. For example, Philo and Josephus generally used "Judaea" rather than "Palestine" to refer to the area.48 Furthermore, "Palestine" is nowhere attested in the New Testament. "Palestine" did not come into official use until the early second century a.d., when the emperor Hadrian decided to rename the province of Judaea; for its new name he chose "Syria Palaestina."49 The new name took hold. It is found thereafter in inscriptions, on coins, and in numerous literary texts.50 Thus Arrian (7.9.8, Indica 43.1) and Appian (Syr. 50), who lived in the second century a.d., and Cassius Dio (e.g., 38.38.4, 39.56.6), who lived in the third, referred to the region as "Palestine." And in the rabbinic literature "Palestine" was used as the name of the Roman province adjacent to Phoenicia and Arabia (e.g., Bereshith Rabbah 90.6)
- ^ Trevor Bryce, 2009, The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia
- ^ Roland de Vaux, 1978, The Early History of Israel, Page 2: "After the revolt of Bar Cochba in 135, the Roman province of Judaea was renamed Palestinian Syria."
- ^ Isaac, Benjamin (2015-12-22). "Judaea-Palaestina". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.3500. ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5. Retrieved 2022-07-08.
After the Bar Kokhba war, in the reign of Hadrian, the Roman province of Judaea was re-named Syria-Palaestina. Thus an appellation referring to an ethnic element associated with Jews was replaced by the purely geographic one: Syria-Palaestina.
- ^ Lehmann, Clayton Miles (Summer 1998). "Palestine: History: 135–337: Syria Palaestina and the Tetrarchy". The On-line Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces. University of South Dakota. Archived from the original on 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
In the aftermath of the Bar Cochba Revolt, the Romans excluded Jews from a large area around Aelia Capitolina, which Gentiles only inhabited. The province now hosted two legions and many auxiliary units, two colonies, and--to complete the disassociation with Judaea--a new name, Syria Palaestina.
- ^ Roland de Vaux, 1978, The Early History of Israel, Page 2: "After the revolt of Bar Cochba in 135 CE, the Roman province of Judaea was renamed Palestinian Syria."
- ^ Moše Šārôn / Moshe Sharon, 1988, Pillars of Smoke and Fire: The Holy Land in History and Thought
- ^ a b Kaegi, 1995, p. 41.
- ^ Marshall Cavendish, 2007, p. 559.
- ^ Avni, Gideon (2014). "Shifting Paradigms for the Byzantine–Islamic Transition". The Byzantine-Islamic Transition in Palestine: An Archaeological Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199684335.
- ^ Gudrun Krämer (2008) A History of Palestine: From the Ottoman Conquest to the Founding of the State of Israel Translated by Gudrun Krämer and Graham Harman Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-11897-3 p.16
- ^ Beška & Foster 2021, p. 1-7: The word “Palestinian” gained acceptance as a description of Palestine’s Arabic speakers during the first decade and a half of the 20th century.
- ^ "The British Mandate over Palestine". Cotf.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-12.
- ^ "'State Of Palestine' Name Change Ordered By Palestinian Authority President Abbas". HuffPost. January 7, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-01-07.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).