Names of the Levant: Encyclopedia II - Names of the Levant - Philistia and Palestine

Names of the Levant - Philistia and Palestine

• Philistia
  • Canaanite פלשת p·l·š·t
  • Tiberian Hebrew פְּלֶשֶׁת / פְּלָשֶׁת Pəléšeṯ / Pəlāšeṯ
  • Standard Hebrew פְּלֶשֶׁת / פְּלָשֶׁת Pəléšet / Pəlášet
• Palestine
  • Greek Παλαιστινα, Palaistina
  • Latin Palæstina
  • Arabic فلسطين Filasṭīn
  • Standard Hebrew פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה Palestina†
  • Standard Hebrew פִלַסְטִין Filastin†

Palestine derives from Philistia and its Philistine people, first recorded by the ancient Egyptians as a member of the invading Sea Peoples or Peleset. Though originally applied only to the southwest coast where the Philistines lived, later Herodotus called the whole area "Syria Palaistina". The Romans used it to refer to the southern part of the region, and the name was carried on as a province name by the Byzantines and Arabs. However, after Greek times it usually reserved for only the southern portion of the Levant.

†As a side note, Standard Hebrew has two names for Palestine, both of which are different from the Hebrew name for ancient Philistia. The first name Palestina was used by Hebrew speakers in the British Mandate of Palestine; it is spelled like the name for Philistia but with three more letters added to the end and a Latin pronunciation given. The second name Filastin is a direct loan from the Arabic form, and is used today specifically to refer to the modern Palestinians and to political aspirations for a Palestinian state.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Philistia and Palestine", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki