Palestine

In ancient times, the eastern Mediterranean coastal region lying south of Syria and north of the Egyptian-controlled Sinai Peninsula, an area fought over and conquered by many Mesopotamian and other Near Eastern rulers. Usually Palestine was considered to include the mostly fertile lands situated between the sea and the Jordan River as well as the more arid ones stretching eastward from the river. The term Palestine derives from the name of one of its peoples, the Philistines, famous opponents of the Hebrews in the Bible. The Egyptians called the Philistines the Peleset, and the Hebrews called them the Paleseth.

Palestine has been inhabited since Stone Age times. Parts of it belonged to the great curved swath of territory that modern scholars call the Fertile Crescent, where agriculture originated. One of Palestine’s earliest towns, Jericho, existed before 9000 b. c., and many other prosperous settlements appeared in the region over the millennia that followed. The early inhabitants are generally referred to as Canaanites, after Canaan, the area lying immediately west of the Jordan.

It was probably inevitable that Palestine would become both coveted and invaded by many and diverse peoples. In ancient times the region occupied a highly strategic position, sandwiched between the populous and urbanized areas of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Syria, whose rulers were often economic and military rivals. For the Egyptians, Palestine was a stepping stone to Syria; conversely, for the Mesopotamian kings Palestine was the corridor leading to both Egypt and the “great sea.” Thus, although numerous independent city-states and kingdoms flourished in the region over the course of the centuries, Palestine was periodically and at times hotly contested by the great powers of the day.

Among the small Palestinian kingdoms of the late second and early first millennia b. c. were the southernmost Phoenician states, notably Tyre, on the coast of what is now Lebanon; the land of the Philistines, centered in the south near Gaza; and the Hebrew kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In the eighth century b. c. the Assyrians conquered Israel. And in 586 b. c. the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar overran Judah. Only a few decades later, however, the Persians captured and absorbed Palestine, which remained under the Persian yoke until Alexander the Great conquered Persia in the late fourth century b. c. Following Alexander’s death, the Seleucid Empire, centered in Mesopotamia, and the Egyptian Ptolemaic realm vied for control of Palestine. Finally, in 63 b. c., the enterprising and aggressive Romans appeared on the scene and not long afterward the region became the Roman province of Judaea.

See Also: Fertile Crescent; Israel; Jericho; Judah; Phoenicians; Syria