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 Le ...

See also:

Names of the Levant, Names of the Levant - Retjenu, Names of the Levant - Canaan, Names of the Levant - Phœnicia, Names of the Levant - Israel, Names of the Levant - Assyria and Syria, Names of the Levant - Philistia and Palestine, Names of the Levant - ash-Sham, Names of the Levant - Levant, Names of the Levant - Outremer, Names of the Levant - Holy Land, Names of the Levant - Near East/ Ancient Near East

Read more here: » Names of the Levant: Encyclopedia II - Names of the Levant - Philistia and Palestine

Levant is an imprecise geographical term historically referring to a large area in the Middle East south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east. The Levant does not include the Caucasus Mountains, any part of the Arabian Peninsula proper, or Anatolia — although at times Cilicia may be included. The Sinai Peninsula may also be included, but may be excluded as a marginal area forming a land bridge between the Levant and northern Egypt. ...

Read more here: » Levant: Encyclopedia - Levant

The first cities started developing in southern Mesopotamia during the 4th millennium BC. With these ties of religion began to replace ties of kinship as the basis for society. Each city had a patron god, worshipped in a massive central temple called a ziggurat, and was ruled by a priest-king (ishakku). Society became more segmented and specialized and capable of coordinated projects like irrigation and warfare. Along with cities came a number of advances in technology. By around the 31st century BC, writing, the wheel, ...

See also:

History of the Levant, History of the Levant - The Stone age, History of the Levant - The Bronze age, History of the Levant - The Iron age, History of the Levant - The Classical empires, History of the Levant - The Islamic era, History of the Levant - The Ottoman period and the 20th century

Read more here: » History of the Levant: Encyclopedia II - History of the Levant - The Bronze age

The first cities started developing in southern Mesopotamia during the 4th millennium BC. With these ties of religion began to replace ties of kinship as the basis for society. Each city had a patron god, worshipped in a massive central temple called a ziggurat, and was ruled by a priest-king (ishakku). Society became more segmented and specialized and capable of coordinated projects like irrigation and warfare. Along with cities came a number of advances in technology. By around the 31st century BC, writing, the wheel, ...

See also:

History of the Levant, History of the Levant - The Stone age, History of the Levant - The Bronze age, History of the Levant - The Iron age, History of the Levant - The Classical empires, History of the Levant - The Islamic era, History of the Levant - The Ottoman Period and the 20th Century

Read more here: » History of the Levant: Encyclopedia II - History of the Levant - The Bronze age

From 492-449 BC the Persians made a series of unsuccessful attempts to conquer Greece. The civilisation that had developed there since the end of the bronze age was organised along entirely different lines than those of the Middle East, consisting of numerous small City-States fielding citizen militias. Nonetheless they banded together and proved quite capable of dealing with the massive armies of their foe. By the fourth century BC Persia had fallen into decline. The campaigns of Xenophon illustrated how very vulnerable it had become ...

See also:

History of the Levant, History of the Levant - The Stone age, History of the Levant - The Bronze age, History of the Levant - The Iron age, History of the Levant - The Classical empires, History of the Levant - The Islamic era, History of the Levant - The Ottoman period and the 20th century

Read more here: » History of the Levant: Encyclopedia II - History of the Levant - The Classical empires

The destruction at the end of the bronze age left a number of tiny kingdoms and City-states behind. A few Hittite centres remained in northern Syria, along with some Phoenician ports in Canaan that escaped destruction and developed into great commercial powers. In the 12th century BC most of the interior, as well as Babylonia, was overrun by Arameans, while the shoreline around today's Gaza Strip fell to the Philistines. By the late 11th-early 10th century BC, Canaan had been conquered by the Hebrews, also known as Israelites who united under one king, David. David made Jerusalem the capital of the Kingdom of Israel ...

See also:

History of the Levant, History of the Levant - The Stone age, History of the Levant - The Bronze age, History of the Levant - The Iron age, History of the Levant - The Classical empires, History of the Levant - The Islamic era, History of the Levant - The Ottoman period and the 20th century

Read more here: » History of the Levant: Encyclopedia II - History of the Levant - The Iron age

From 492-449 BC the Persians made a series of unsuccessful attempts to conquer Greece. The civilisation that had developed there since the end of the bronze age was organised along entirely different lines than those of the Middle East, consisting of numerous small City-States fielding citizen militias. Nonetheless they banded together and proved quite capable of dealing with the massive armies of their foe. By the fourth century BC Persia had fallen into decline. The campaigns of Xenophon illustrated how very vulnerable it had become ...

See also:

History of the Levant, History of the Levant - The Stone age, History of the Levant - The Bronze age, History of the Levant - The Iron age, History of the Levant - The Classical empires, History of the Levant - The Islamic era, History of the Levant - The Ottoman Period and the 20th Century

Read more here: » History of the Levant: Encyclopedia II - History of the Levant - The Classical empires

The destruction at the end of the bronze age left a number of tiny kingdoms and City-states behind. A few Hittite centres remained in northern Syria, along with some Phoenician ports in Canaan that escaped destruction and now developed into great commercial powers. Southern Palestine initially fell to the Philistines, but by the late 11th-early 10th century BC had been conquered by the Hebrews. And most of the in ...

See also:

History of the Levant, History of the Levant - The Stone age, History of the Levant - The Bronze age, History of the Levant - The Iron age, History of the Levant - The Classical empires, History of the Levant - The Islamic era, History of the Levant - The Ottoman Period and the 20th Century

Read more here: » History of the Levant: Encyclopedia II - History of the Levant - The Iron age

The Holy Land is a somewhat neutral term used in Judeo-Christian tradition to refer to the holy sites of the Levant — especially Shiloh, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth — but is also often used to refer to the Levant (and historical Canaan) as a whole. Note that this term in Islam refers not only to the Levant, but to the Arabian region of Hijaz where the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah are located. See also Names of Jerusalem. ...

See also:

Names of the Levant, Names of the Levant - Retjenu, Names of the Levant - Canaan, Names of the Levant - Phœnicia, Names of the Levant - Israel, Names of the Levant - Assyria and Syria, Names of the Levant - Philistia and Palestine, Names of the Levant - ash-Sham, Names of the Levant - Levant, Names of the Levant - Outremer, Names of the Levant - Holy Land, Names of the Levant - Near East/ Ancient Near East

Read more here: » Names of the Levant: Encyclopedia II - Names of the Levant - Holy Land