Palestine 1909

The world is well aware of the history of Israel and Palestine, marked by ongoing wars, decades of occupation, mass-scale genocides, and conflicts that seem to have no foreseeable solution. The two territories have been constantly under the influence of invading forces, leading to significant changes in their geography.

Canaan, along with its neighboring regions, is considered the origin of the Levant nations that formed in the 2nd millennium BC. According to a sketched map by Mathew Carey in 1820, the following tribes existed in the Levant region, spanning across present-day Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and parts of Syria.

• Amalekites
• Philistines
• Hittites
• Sinites
• Jebusites
• Edom
• Moabites
• Amorites
• Arvadites
• Zemarites
• Hivites
• Girgashi
• Ammonites
• Sidonians
• Arkites
• Hamathites

The map also delineates Palestine as the land of the Philistines, who are described as people originating from Egypt. After displacing the Avites, they settled along the borders of the Mediterranean and became so significant that their name was eventually applied to the entire region, even though they only occupied a relatively small part of it. The Philistines are said to be descended from Casluhim and Caphtorim, both ancient Egyptian tribes, and are identified as the descendants of Misraim, the son of Ham. They arrived from Egypt and established their presence in the country. Regarding the Israelites, the map specifies various locations as follows: 

• Succoth (suggested to be Wadi Tumilat, Nile Delta)
• Borders of the Red Sea
• Wilderness of Sin (lying between Elim and Mount Sinai, Egypt) 
• Rephidim (suggested to be Wadi Feiran, in Sinai, Egypt)
• Sinai (in Egypt)
• Kadesh-Barnea (around southern Israel, Palestine and Jordan)
• Rimmon-Parez (suggested as Wadi May'ayn, in Sinai, Egypt)
• Wilderness of Zin or Kadesh or Meribah
• Mount Hor
• Zalmonah
• Abarim (near Mount Nebo, Jordan)
• Plains of Moab (Lower Jordan Valley)

In the era preceding Christ, this region witnessed the emergence of several kingdoms that were later divided and incorporated into larger empires. The Kingdom of Israel, formed after the unification of twelve tribes, including Simeon, Judah, Benjamin, Reuben, Gad, Manasseh, Issachar, Zebulon, Asher, Naphtali, Dan, and Ephraim, marked the initial kingdom between 1047 to 930 BC. Notably, tribes like the Philistines, Edom or Idumaea, Ammonites, Trachonitis or Ituria, were not part of this unification.

Canaan is believed to have witnessed the first recorded military conflict in the 15th century BC, between Egyptian forces and numerous Canaanite vassal states under the King of Kadesh.

Saul, the first king of Israel, faced difficulties against the Philistines, but it was through the assignment of David, a humble shepherd and musician, that the Philistines were first conquered by the Israelites. The animosity between Israel and the Philistines originated during the Exodus, as the Lord had promised that the ancient Kingdom of Israel would include the tribe of Philistines, a promise the Philistines resisted, according to the Old Testament.

A recent article by the Biblical Archaeology Society (April 2023) posits that the Philistines originated from Crete in Greece and migrated to the coast of Syria, later raiding their way to the northern Nile Delta region of Egypt. The Philistine confederation, around the 12th century BC, destroyed numerous cities across Greece, Turkey, Syria, Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine. This led to the first joint attack on the Philistines by Egypt and its allies.

It's also asserted that Palestinians and Philistines are distinct groups with no historical connection. The Romans referred to the Kingdom of Judea as 'Syria Palestina,' a name that persisted over the centuries. Speculations surround the origins of this name, with some attributing it to Roman animosity towards the Jews, while others believe it had existed for centuries, possibly associated with the invading Philistine tribes.

After David's reign, successive kings struggled to control the Philistines, leading to constant pressures and conflicts. The destruction of the Kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BC marked a new chapter in the Palestine region under the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Subsequent centuries saw Judeans under Neo-Babylonian rule, followed by the Hasmonean dynasty, which navigated through various larger empires, including the Seleucids, Romans, and Parthians. The region also experienced mass-scale exodus and exile of Judeans under the rule of different empires such as the Palmyrenes, Byzantines, and Islamic empires like the Umayyads, Abbasids, Tulunids, Ikhshidids, and Fatimids, until the Seljuks in the 11th century AD.

The establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1099 AD during the Crusade Wars covered much of present-day Israel and Palestine, but it fell in 1187, reappearing in 1192 until 1291. Subsequent rulers included the Mamelukes, who were later overrun by the Ottomans, marking a 623-year reign from 1299 to 1922. However, the Ottoman period for Palestinians was challenging, with no single administrative unit as 'Palestine' or 'Israel.'

During the Ottoman era, the region was divided into Vilayets, including Arabia Petraea, Jerusalem, Beirut, and Lebanon, with Israel distributed among these Vilayets and Syria. The exodus of Jews, initiated by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC, persisted until the 20th century, marked by persecutions during the Christian and Islamic eras. It was only in the 20th century that the Muslim world ordered the exodus of Jews, leading to the formation of the British Mandate of Palestine.

The various names given to the region by empires - Palaistine, Syria Palaestina, Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda, Palaestina Tertia, among others - reflect its historical complexity. The modern conflict in the mid-20th century, resulting in the displacement of Arabic Muslims from Palestine, is the root cause of the ongoing tensions. Unlike conflicts before the 20th century, which were largely Eurocentric and focused on exodus and elimination, the contemporary conflict involves Arab-Jew interactions. The map illustrates the division of the Palestine region during the Ottoman era into various Vilayets.