Kwa sababu za kivitendo, mabadiliko ya kihistoria ya istilahi na majina ya mahali mara nyingi hutangulia na kufuatia mabadiliko ya dhana. Ingawa neno la kisiasa-kijiografia Palestine linaweza kufuatiliwa hadi mwishoni mwa Enzi ya Shaba na kwa Wafilisti wa asili, kuimarika kwa dhana ya Palestine kunaweza kufuatiliwa hadi kwa Herodotus na wanahistoria wengine wa Kigiriki, wanaetnografia na wanajiografia wa Kale ya Kitamaduni. Utafiti huu unakusudia kuunganisha Palestine ya Enzi ya Shaba na Palestine ya Kale ya Kitamaduni na nyakati za kisasa, na kuchunguza etimolojia ya majina ya mahali pa Palestine – neno hilo linatokana na maneno ya Kigiriki topos (‘mahali’) na onoma (‘jina’) – pamoja na mabadiliko yake kupitia nyakati na katika maeneo mbalimbali.

For practical reasons, the historical evolution of terms and place names often precedes and follows the evolutions of concepts. Although the geo-political term Palestine can be traced to the late Bronze Age and the indigenous Philistines, the consolidation of the concept of Palestine can be traced to Herodotus and other Greek historians, ethnographers and geographers of Classical Antiquity. This study intends to link Bronze Age Palestine and Classical Antiquity Palestine with modern times and explore the etymology of Palestine toponyms – the term derives from the Greek words topos (‘place’) and onoma (‘name’) – and their changes through and across time.

Kumbukumbu ya pamoja ya Wapalestina wa kisasa na majina ya mahali vimebadilika tangu Enzi ya Mawe Mapya hadi kipindi cha kisasa, kwa kukumbatia mapokeo mengi na kuhifadhi urithi wa pamoja na wa tabaka nyingi wa ardhi hii. Katika jamii kubwa ya wakulima yenye mojawapo ya ardhi yenye rutuba zaidi katika Mwezi wenye Rutuba, majina mengi ya mahali ya Waarabu wa Palestina yalitokana na vyakula vya mimea (kama aina za maharage, dengu), miti ya matunda (mzeituni, mtini, mzabibu) na maeneo ya kijiografia ya asili (vilima, malisho, chemchemi, vijito, mabonde, vikoa na milima).

Modern Palestinian collective memory and place names have evolved from the Neolithic Age into the modern period by embracing multiple traditions and preserving the shared and multi-layered heritage of the land. In a largely peasant society with one of the most fertile lands in the Fertile Crescent, many Palestinian Arab toponyms were based on plant foods (such as varieties of beans, lentils), fruit trees (olive, fig, vine) and natural geographical sites (hills, meadows, springs, streams, wadis, valleys and mountains).

Kwa ujumla, majina ya vijiji na miji ya Palestina yalikuwa thabiti sana, lakini majina ya mikoa na wilaya yalikuwa yakibadilika.

By and large the names of Palestinian villages and towns were very stable, but names of provinces and districts were evolving.

Palestina imeonekana kwenye ramani za kwanza kabisa zinazojulikana za dunia tangu enzi za Late Antiquity, na pia kwenye "ramani ya maneno" maarufu ya Claudius Ptolemy (100–c.

Palestine is found on the earliest known world maps beginning with Late Antiquity and the famous ‘word map’ of Claudius Ptolemy (100–c.

170 BK). Bila shaka, ramani ni sayansi ya vitendo, na tangu Ptolemy alipotengeneza ramani ya dunia iliyojulikana kwa jamii ya Kihelenistiki katika karne ya 2, uchoraji wa ramani haujawahi kuwa uwakilishi 'wa lengo' wa uhalisia. Katika Zama za Kati, uchoraji wa ramani ulistawishwa na wanajiografia Waislamu kama al-Khawarizmi na kutumiwa kwa huduma ya dola ya Abbasi na kwa madhumuni ya kiutendaji kama biashara ya kimataifa ya Waislamu, urambazaji na hija. Katika nyakati za kisasa, uchoraji wa ramani na kubadilisha majina ya mahali pia vilikuwa muhimu sana katika kupanua biashara ya Ulaya na ujenzi wa himaya (Bassett 1994:

170 AD). Of course, cartography is a practical science and since Ptolemy produced a map of the world known to Hellenistic society in the 2nd century cartography has never been about ‘objective’ representation of reality. In the Middle Ages cartography was developed by Muslim geographers such as al-Khawarizmi and deployed in the service of the Abbasid state and for practical purposes such as international Muslim trade, navigation and pilgrimage. In modern times cartography and renaming were also central to expanding European trade and empire-building (Bassett 1994:

316–335).

316–335).

Majina ya mahali (ikiwa ni pamoja na makazi ya watu kama vijiji, miji, majiji, mitaa na nchi, pamoja na maeneo ya asili kama milima, vilima, mabonde, mito, chemchemi na wadi) yanakusudiwa "kutoa dalili kuhusu urithi wa kihistoria na kitamaduni wa maeneo na mikoa" (Kearns and Berg 2002: 284). Hata hivyo, kwa kweli majina ya mahali si marejeo ya kijiografia tu; yamejikita katika mahusiano ya madaraka na katika mapambano kuhusu ardhi na rasilimali, pamoja na utambulisho wa watu wanaoishi katika maeneo hayo (Kearns and Berg 2002).

Place names (including human settlements such as villages, towns, cities, streets and countries and natural places such as mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, springs and wadis) are meant ‘to provide clues as to the historical and cultural heritage of places and regions’ (Kearns and Berg 2002: 284). Yet in reality place names are not just spatial references; they are rooted in power relations and struggles over land and resources and the identities of the people that inhabit these places (Kearns and Berg 2002).

Migogoro kuhusu ardhi, majina ya mahali, na kupeana au kubadilisha majina kati ya watu wa asili na wakoloni walowezi ni jambo la kawaida. Mifano ni pamoja na Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Islas Malvinas (Visiwa vya Falkland), Istanbul (Constantinople), Northern Ireland (Ulster; the Six Counties), Azania (Afrika Kusini), Aotearoa (New Zealand), Palestina (Israel), na al-Quds (Jerusalem) (Masalha 2007, 2012, 2013; Benvenisti 2002; Zerubavel 1995, 1996; Yacobi 2009; Gann 1981; Nyangoni 1978; Abu El-Haj 2001; Ra‘ad 2010; Berg and Kearns 1996; Berg and Vuolteenhaho 2009; Nash 1999; Housel 2009; Kadmon 2004). Katika nyakati za kisasa, juhudi za kubadilisha majina ya maeneo ya kijiografia pia zinahusu kudai umiliki wa nchi. Mkazo huu juu ya majina ya mahali katika muktadha wa utaifa unaonyesha jinsi wasomi watawala na mamlaka za serikali wanavyotumia mchakato wa kutaja majina ya mahali kama njia ya kujenga kumbukumbu mpya ya pamoja na 'kubuni mila' (Hobsbawm and Ranger 1996), na pia kama mbinu ya kunyakua ardhi, pamoja na kurejea kiitikadi kwenye 'zama za dhahabu' zinazodhaniwa kuwa za kale au za kihadithi. Mamlaka za serikali hutumia mikakati ya kubadilisha majina ili kufuta hali halisi za kisiasa, kijamii na kitamaduni zilizotangulia, na kujenga dhana mpya za utambulisho wa kitaifa (Guyot and Seethal 2007; Nash 1999; Azaryahu and Kook 2002; Azaryahu 1996, 1997).

Struggles over land, toponyms, naming and renaming between indigenous peoples and settler-colonists are common. Examples include Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Islas Malvinas (the Falkland Islands), Istanbul (Constantinople), Northern Ireland (Ulster; the Six Counties), Azania (South Africa), Aotearoa (New Zealand), Palestine (Israel), al-Quds (Jerusalem) (Masalha 2007, 2012, 2013; Benvenisti 2002; Zerubavel 1995, 1996; Yacobi 2009; Gann 1981; Nyangoni 1978; Abu El-Haj 2001; Ra‘ad 2010; Berg and Kearns 1996; Berg and Vuolteenhaho 2009; Nash 1999; Housel 2009; Kadmon 2004). In modern times the drive to rename geographical sites is also about staking claims to a country. This focus on place names in the context of nationalism shows how hegemonic political elites and state authorities use the toponymic process as a way of constructing a new collective memory and ‘inventing traditions’ (Hobsbawm and Ranger 1996) and as a tactic of land-grabbing as well as an ideological reversion to a supposedly ancient or mythical ‘golden age’. State authorities deploy renaming strategies to erase earlier political, social and cultural realities and to construct new notions of national identity (Guyot and Seethal 2007; Nash 1999; Azaryahu and Kook 2002; Azaryahu 1996, 1997).

Nadharia ya "ardhi moja, watu wawili" ambayo wanaharakati wa Kizayuni wenye msimamo wa huria huitumia kueleza historia ya Palestina ya kisasa inaonekana tupu, kutokana na utakaso wa kikabila wa Kizayuni uliofanywa katika sehemu kubwa ya Palestina mwaka 1948, na hali halisi ya sasa ya nchi hiyo ya mkoloni na mkoloniwa. Mizani isiyo sawa ya nguvu nchini Palestina imeathiri kazi za karibu wanahistoria wote "Wapya" wa Kiisraeli. Kazi hii, kinyume chake, inapinga mtazamo huu unaotegemea "utaifa wa Kizayuni" na inatetea mbinu za kufuta ukoloni. Kazi hii inasema kwamba mtazamo wa utaifa hutumika kuficha kiini cha mgogoro wa Palestina. Pia inasema kwamba katikati ya suala la Palestina kuna mgongano mkubwa usio sawa kati ya harakati ya walowezi wa kikoloni wa Ulaya yenye lengo la kuwaangamiza wenyeji, inayoungwa mkono na madola makubwa ya Magharibi (kwanza Uingereza na sasa Marekani), na wenyeji wa asili wa Palestina. Aidha, uwekaji wa majina ya mahali kwenye ramani na uchunguzi uliofadhiliwa na serikali ulikuwa kitovu cha ushindi wa kisasa wa Ulaya dhidi ya dunia, ujenzi wa himaya na miradi ya ukoloni wa walowezi, ikiwemo mradi wa Kizayuni. Wasomi mara nyingi hudhani kwamba majina ya mahali hutoa dalili za urithi wa kihistoria na wa pamoja wa maeneo na mikoa. Kazi hii inatumia nadharia ya kumbukumbu ya kijamii kuchambua siasa za kiutamaduni za uwekaji wa majina ya mahali nchini Israeli. Kwa kuchora kutoka kwenye utafiti wa Maurice Halbwachs kuhusu ujenzi wa kumbukumbu ya kijamii na Wakristo wa Vita vya Msalaba wa Kilatini na mahujaji wa Kikristo wa zama za kati, kazi inaonyesha mikakati ya kitoponimia ya Wazayuni huko Palestina: kuwekwa kwao juu ya majina ya mahali kutoka Agano la Kale na Talmud kulilenga kufuta urithi wa Kipalestina wa wenyeji na wa Kiislamu wa Kiarabu wa nchi hiyo. Katika kipindi cha kabla ya Nakba, mipango ya Kizayuni ya majina ya mahali ilitumia uchunguzi wa Magharibi wa karne ya 19 wa "majina" na "mahali" vya Agano la Kale, na kujitwalia majina ya mahali ya Kipalestina. Baada ya utakaso wa kikabila wa Palestina mwaka 1948 na misukosuko ya Nakba, dola ya Israel, ambayo sasa ilikuwa ikidhibiti asilimia 78 ya ardhi, iliharakisha mradi wake wa kubadilisha majina ya mahali na kufuata mbinu ambazo kiini chake kikuu kilikuwa ni mauaji ya kumbukumbu. Mbinu hizi za kikoloni ziliendelea hadi katika utawala wa kijeshi baada ya mwaka 1967, na bado zinaendelea kutishia kuharibu urithi mbalimbali wa kitamaduni na kihistoria wa ardhi hiyo.

In view of the Zionist ethnic cleansing of most of Palestine in 1948 and the current reality of coloniser/colonised in the country, the liberal Zionist slogan that the history of modern Palestine centres on the idea of ‘one land, two peoples’ rings hollow. The asymmetry of power in Palestine informs the works of nearly all Israeli ‘New Historians’. This work, by contrast, challenges this ‘Zionist nationalism’-based perspective and argues for decolonising methodologies; this work argues that the nationalism perspective serves to camouflage the heart of the conflict in Palestine; it argues further that at the heart of the question of Palestine is the vastly asymmetrical conflict between an eliminationist European settler-colonialist movement, backed by major Western powers (first Britain and now the US), and the indigenous people of Palestine. Furthermore, place-naming cartography and state-sponsored explorations were central to the modern European conquest of the earth, empire-building and settler-colonisation projects, the Zionist enterprise included. Scholars often assume that place names provide clues to the historical and shared heritage of places and regions. This work uses social memory theory to analyse the cultural politics of place-naming in Israel. Drawing on Maurice Halbwachs’ study of the construction of social memory by the Latin Crusaders and Christian medieval pilgrims, the work shows Zionists’ toponymic strategies in Palestine: their superimposition of Old Testament and Talmudic toponyms was designed to erase the local Palestinian and Arab Islamic heritage of the country. In the pre-Nakba period Zionist toponymic schemes utilised 19th century Western explorations of Old Testament ‘names’ and ‘places’ and appropriated Palestinian toponyms. Following the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 and the ruptures of the Nakba, the Israeli state, now in control of 78 per cent of the land, accelerated its toponymic project and pursued methods whose main features were memoricide. Continuing into the post-1967 occupation, these colonial methods continue to threaten the destruction of the diverse cultural and historic heritage of the land.

Majina ya maeneo ya Palestina ya kihistoria yanatokana na vyanzo mbalimbali, vikiwemo Kifoinike, Kifilisti, Kiaramu, Kigiriki, Kiebrania na Kiarabu. Majina hayo yanawakilisha utambulisho wa kitamaduni wa Palestina wenye tabaka nyingi. Umuhimu wa kijamii na kitamaduni wa kumbukumbu ya majina ya maeneo, pamoja na jinsi maeneo na istilahi zinavyoandikwa kijiografia katika maandiko ya kihistoria, unaonekana katika historia nyingi za Palestina ya zama za kale, za kati na za kisasa. Mfano mmoja wa kawaida ni orodha ya jina la Palestina ya kale katika Histories (au The History, 1987) ya Herodotus, iliyoandikwa kati ya miaka ya 450 na 420 KK.

The toponyms of historic Palestine derive from a wide range of sources, including Phoenician, Philistine, Aramaic, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic – toponyms which are representative of the multi-layered cultural identity of Palestine. The social and cultural importance of toponymic memory and geographical rendering of sites and terms in historical writing is evident in many histories from antiquity, medieval and modern Palestine. One classical example is the listing of the name of ancient Palestine in Histories (or The History, 1987) by Herodotus, written from the 450s to the 420s BC.

Inaaminika kwamba Herodotus alitembelea Palestina katika muongo wa tano wa karne ya 5 KK. Kama ilivyokuwa katika mapokeo ya kitamaduni ya uandishi wa historia wa Kigiriki na Kirumi, kazi ya Herodotus iliweka thamani kubwa zaidi juu ya ushahidi wa mdomo kwa historia ya wakati huo (Robinson, C. 2003: 26). Herodotus alikuwa mwanahistoria wa kwanza kutaja eneo la kijiografia aliloliita Palaistinê (Παλαιστίνη), ambalo lilikuwa pana zaidi kuliko Filistia ya kale. Yeye hutaja Palestina au ‘Syria’, au kwa urahisi ‘Palaistinê’, mara tano, akimaanisha eneo linalojumuisha sehemu tofauti kati ya Foinike na Misri (Rainey 2001; Jacobson 1999). Herodotus pia anataja mji wa Ascalon (Kiakadi: Isqalluna; Kigiriki: Ascalon; Kiarabu: ‘Asqalan; Kilatini: Ascalonia; Kiebrania: Ashkelon), bandari kubwa ya kale ambayo tarehe yake inarudi nyuma hadi Enzi ya Mawe Mapya. Wakati wa Herodotus Palestina ilikuwa na ushirikina wa miungu mingi kwa kina, na kwa sababu hiyo, tofauti na masimulizi ya kimitholojia ya Biblia, Herodotus hataji Wayahudi wala imani ya Mungu mmoja, bali anaelezea Ascalon kuwa na hekalu la Aphrodite na mapokeo yake ya miungu mingi. Ingawa Historia ya Herodotus sasa inachukuliwa kuwa kazi ya msingi ya historia katika fasihi ya Magharibi, na ni rekodi muhimu ya mapokeo ya kale, siasa, jiografia na migongano ya mamlaka mbalimbali zilizojulikana Ugiriki, Asia ya Magharibi na Afrika Kaskazini, linapokuja suala la Palestina na kumbukumbu za majina ya mahali, maandishi ya Kikristo ya Magharibi hayategemei Historia ya Herodotus bali masimulizi ya kimitholojia ya Biblia.

Herodotus is believed to have visited Palestine in the fifth decade of the 5th century BC. Like the classical tradition of Greek and Roman historiography, Herodotus’ work put the greatest value on oral testimony for contemporary history (Robinson, C. 2003: 26). Herodotus was the first historian to denote a geographical region he called Palaistinê (Παλαιστίνη), which was far wider than ancient Philistia. He refers to Palestine or ‘Syria’, or simply ‘Palaistinê’, five times, meaning an area encompassing the distinct region between Phoenicia and Egypt (Rainey 2001; Jacobson 1999). Herodotus also mentions the city of Ascalon (Akkadian: Isqalluna; Greek: Ascalon; Arabic: ‘Asqalan; Latin: Ascalonia; Hebrew: Ashkelon), a great ancient seaport city which dates back to the Neolithic Age. At the time of Herodotus Palestine was deeply polytheistic and consequently, in contrast to the myth-narratives of the Bible, Herodotus does not mention Jews or monotheism but describes Ascalan as having a temple for Aphrodite and its polytheistic tradition. Although Herodotus’ Histories is now considered a founding work of history in Western literature, and serves as a key record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography and clashes of various powers that were known in Greece, Western Asia and North Africa, when it comes to Palestine and toponymic memory Western Christian writing relies not on Herodotus’ Histories but on the myth-narratives of the Bible.

Cha kushangaza, hata hivyo, jina la Kigiriki la Palestina na Ascalan lilihifadhiwa katika mapokeo ya wenyeji wa Kiarabu wa Palestina, na pia na wanahistoria wa Kiarabu wa zama za kati, wanajiografia na wasafiri, na 'Ascalon' ilijulikana kwa Waarabu wa Palestina tangu karne ya 7 kama 'Asqalan'.

Interestingly, however, the Greek toponym for Palestine and Ascalan were preserved in indigenous Palestinian Arab tradition and by medieval Arab historians, geographers and travellers, and ‘Ascalon’ became known to the Palestinian Arabs from the 7th century as ‘Asqalan’.

Msisitizo wa kazi hii uko kwa wenyeji (wa mtu binafsi na wa jamii kwa pamoja).

The emphasis of this work is on the indigenous (individual and collective)

uwezo wa watu wa Palestina wa kutumia kwa hiari yao, kuchukua na kubadilisha, kuunda na kuleta mabadiliko katika mvuto wa nje na mazingira yao wenyewe.

agency and the ability of the peoples of Palestine to borrow, adapt, shape and transform outside influences and their own environment.

Kwa hiyo, matumizi ya juujuu ya neno ‘Ugiriki-zaidi’ (Hellenisation) huko Palestina ni tatizo. Matumizi haya yasiyo na uchambuzi yanadharau nguvu na uwezo wa wenyeji na yanasisitiza mno upande wa Kiyunani wa uhusiano huo kama chanzo kikuu cha mamlaka na uhalali. Hata hivyo, dalili za ‘Ugiriki-zaidi wa majina ya mahali’ (toponymical Hellenisation) katika majina ya miji ya Palestina zinaonekana wazi. Ugiriki-zaidi huu wa majina ya miji ya Palestina ulianza na ushindi wa Aleksanda Mkuu mwishoni mwa miaka ya 330 KK na ukaendelea kwa karne kadhaa. Ulikuwa ukiambatana kwa kiwango kikubwa na ukuaji na maendeleo ya kiuchumi, ikiwemo mipango miji na uanzishwaji wa miji yenye ngome imara. Umbali, biashara ya kikanda, na ‘Ugiriki-zaidi wa kitamaduni’ wa taratibu ulikuwa na athari fulani huko Palestina, na athari hizo zilionekana zaidi katika vituo vya mijini na miji mikubwa. Mbali na athari za Ugiriki-zaidi kwenye miji ya kihistoria ya Gaza, Ashkelon, Yerusalemu na Yafa, mchakato unaoendelea wa kupewa majina ya Kiyunani na kubadilishwa kwa majina ya miji ya Palestina uliathiri Scythopolis (Beisan), Ptolemais (Akka/Acre), Diospolis (Lydda), Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin), Sepphoris (Diocaesaraea/Saffuriyah), Nicopolis (Emmaus), Petra (Kigiriki: jabali; Kiaramu: Raqmu; Kiarabu: al-Batra), Philadelphia (‘Amman), Antipatris (Surdi fonts/Binar Bashi), Flavia Neapolis (Nablus) na Sebastos (Sabastiyah). Sebastia (Kigiriki: Sevastee) leo ni kijiji kikubwa cha Kipalestina, kilichoko takriban kilomita 12 kaskazini-magharibi mwa mji wa Nablus. Ilijengwa upya mwaka wa 63

Consequently, the superficial use of the term ‘Hellenisation’ in Palestine is problematic. This uncritical use marginalises the indigenous agency and over-emphasises the Hellenistic side of the relationship as the primary source of power and legitimacy. However, aspects of the ‘toponymical Hellenisation’ of Palestinian urban place names are evident. Toponymical ‘Hellenisation’ of urban Palestine, which began with the conquest by Alexander the Great in the late 330s BC and developed over several centuries, was markedly accompanied by extensive economic growth and development that included urban planning and the establishment of well-built fortified cities. Distance and regional trade and gradual ‘cultural Hellenisation’ had some impact on Palestine and this was felt in the urban centres and major cities. In addition to the impact of Hellenisation on the historic cities of Gaza, ‘Asqalon, Jerusalem and Jaffa, ongoing Hellenisation of place names and renaming of Palestinian cities affected Scythopolis (Beisan), Ptolemais (Akka/Acre), Diospolis (Lydda), Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin), Sepphoris (Diocaesaraea/Saffuriyah), Nicopolis (Emmaus), Petra (Greek: rock; Aramaic: Raqmu; Arabic: al-Batra), Philadelphia (‘Amman), Antipatris (Surdi fonts/Binar Bashi), Flavia Neapolis (Nablus) and Sebastos (Sabastiyah). Sebastia (Greek: Sevastee) is today a large Palestinian village, located some 12 kilometres north-west of the city of Nablus. Rebuilt in 63

BC, jina lake linatokana na Sebastos ('mtukufu'), neno la Kigiriki sawa na neno la Kilatini Augustus, jina lililochaguliwa kwa heshima ya Maliki Augustus. Kwa karne nyingi, mji huu ulikuwa makao ya askofu, kwanza katika Palaestina Prima chini ya Dola la Byzantine, kisha katika mkoa wa Jund Filastin chini ya Uislamu, na tena askofu wa Kilatini katika Ufalme wa Kifaranja wa Yerusalemu.

BC, its name derives from Sebastos (‘venerable’), the Greek equivalent of the Latin Augustus, a name chosen in honour of Emperor Augustus. For many centuries, the town was the seat of a bishop, first in Palaestina Prima under the Byzantine Empire, then in the province of Jund Filastin under Islam and again a Latin bishop in the Frankish Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Mapokeo ya awali ya Kiorthodoksi ya Palestina ya Sebastia yalirejeshwa baada ya kushindwa kwa Wapiganaji wa Msalaba wa Kilatini, na yaliendelea chini ya Uislamu hadi zama za kisasa. Tangu mwaka 2005, mtu mashuhuri wa umma wa Kiarabu wa Palestina, Atallah Hanna (Theodosios), mwenye kujitolea kwa nguvu kwa utambulisho wa kitaifa wa Waarabu wa Palestina, amekuwa Askofu Mkuu wa Sebastia katika Patriarkia ya Kiorthodoksi ya Kigiriki ya Yerusalemu, cheo cha kidini kinachobeba mwendelezo na kumbukumbu za kijamii za majina ya mahali zilizo na mizizi mirefu katika Palestina ya kihistoria.

The original Palestine Orthodox tradition of Sebastia was restored after the defeat of the Latin Crusaders and continued under Islam into the modern era. Since 2005 a leading Palestinian Arab public figure, Atallah Hanna (Theodosios), with a strong commitment to Palestinian Arab national identity, has been the Archbishop Sebastia in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, a religious title which embodies the continuities and the deeply rooted toponymic social memories of historic Palestine.

Kuhusu jina la mji wa Palestina wa Nablus, linatokana na jina la Kigiriki-Kirumi Flavia Neapolis (Νεάπολις) – yaani 'mji mpya wa Mfalme Flavius' – ambao ulipewa na Mfalme wa Kirumi Vespasian mnamo mwaka 72.

As for the name of the Palestinian city Nablus, it derives from Greco- Roman name Flavia Neapolis (Νεάπολις) – the ‘new city of the Emperor Flavius’ – which was given to it by the Roman Emperor Vespasian in 72

AD. Hivyo Nablus inashiriki jina lake na mji wa Naples wa Italia. Flavia Neapolis ilianzishwa karibu na Tell Balatah, mahali panapopatikana mabaki ya mji wa kale wa Palestina wa Shechmu, unaotambuliwa kwa mapokeo kuwa ni mji wa Kisamaria wa Schechem. Eneo la Balatah ni miongoni mwa maeneo ya kale kabisa huko Palestina, na wanaakiolojia wanakadiria kuwa minara na majengo yaliyoko eneoni yalianza takriban miaka 4000 iliyopita, katika Enzi ya Shaba ya Chalcolithic na Enzi ya Shaba. Leo Tell Balatah imeorodheshwa na UNESCO kuwa sehemu ya Orodha ya Maeneo ya Urithi wa Utamaduni na Asili yenye Thamani Kuu ya Ulimwengu Wote inayowezekana huko Palestina. Miji ya kale na ya kisasa ya Palestina imeunganishwa kwa karibu si tu kwa kumbukumbu za majina ya mahali. Ushahidi wa kiakiolojia unaonyesha mwendelezo wa kihistoria, mivurugiko, kufufuka upya na mabadiliko endelevu ya vituo vya mijini vya Palestina tangu Enzi ya Mapema ya Shaba hadi kipindi cha kisasa.

AD. Thus Nablus shares its name with the Italian city of Naples. Flavia Neapolis had been founded near Tell Balatah, the site of the remains of an ancient Palestinian city Shechmu, traditionally identified with the Samaritan city of Schechem. The site of Balatah is one of the most ancient localities in Palestine and archaeologists estimate that the towers and buildings at the site date back 4000 years to the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages. Today Tell Balatah is listed by UNESCO as part of the Inventory of Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites of Potential Outstanding Universal Value in Palestine. Ancient and modern Palestinian cities are closely related not only in terms of toponymic memories. Archaeological evidence shows the historical continuities, interruptions, revival and continuous transformation of the urban centres of Palestine from the Early Bronze Age to the modern period:

Data za kiakiolojia hututoa zaidi ya masimulizi hayo ya vita na kutuwezesha kupata picha ya maisha halisi katika Palestina ya kipindi cha Hellenistic. Uwasilishaji wa mabaki ya usanifu wa kipindi hicho, mabadiliko katika mifumo ya makazi, na aina mbalimbali za tamaduni za nyenzo, hutusaidia kuelewa jinsi wakazi wa sehemu mbalimbali za nchi walivyoishi na jinsi maisha yao yalivyobadilika katika kipindi cha karne hizi za kihistoria. Mtindo wa maisha wenye amani, unaozidi kuwa na utajiri na wa kimataifa, unajitokeza kutoka kwenye vumbi linaloficha lililosababishwa na mwelekeo wa wanahistoria kwenye vita.

Archaeological data take us beneath and beyond such recitation [of military battles] to gain a glimpse of what life was actually like in Hellenistic Palestine. A presentation of the period’s architectural remains, changes in its settlement patterns, and the variety of its material cultures helps us understand how the inhabitants of various parts of the country lived and how their lives changed during the course of these momentous centuries. Peaceful and increasingly wealthy and cosmopolitan lifestyles emerge from the obscuring dust of the historian’s preoccupation with battles. (Berlin 1997: Abstract)

Wasomi wa mijini wa Palestina na maeneo ya mijini yaliyostawi yalichangia pakubwa katika kuunda wazo la mapema la Palestina. Kilatini na Kigiriki cha Koine vilikuwa lugha kuu za Dola ya Byzantium hadi karne ya 6; Kilatini kiliendelea kuwa lugha rasmi ya serikali katika karne ya 6, ilhali lugha iliyoenea zaidi kwa wafanyabiashara, wakulima, mabaharia na raia wa kawaida huko Palestina ilikuwa Kigiriki. Pia, Kiaramu – kilichohusiana kwa karibu na Kiarabu – kilikuwa lugha iliyoenea miongoni mwa wakulima wa Palestina (wengi wao wakiwa Wakristo) ambao ndio walikuwa idadi kubwa ya watu nchini. Kwa vitendo, Kigiriki na Kilatini ndizo zilikuwa lugha kuu za wasomi wa mijini wa Palestina ya Byzantium, zikiathiri elimu, biashara, utawala, nyaraka rasmi, sanaa na usanifu majengo, pamoja na majina muhimu ya mahali kote Palestina na Mashariki ya Mediterania. Hata hivyo, Kigiriki kiligeuka kuwa lugha ya mawasiliano (lingua franca) ya Palestina ya Byzantium ya mwishoni, muda mfupi kabla ya kuja kwa Uislamu. Kwa hiyo, kuhellenishwa kwa majina ya mahali pa Palestina hakukuwa jambo la kawaida katika Kipindi cha Marehemu cha Kale. Mfano maarufu wa uhellenishaji kutoka Kipindi cha Marehemu cha Kale ni kazi ya mwanahistoria na mtafsiri Myahudi wa Kiroma wa karne ya 1, Josephus (Titus Flavius Josephus 37‒takriban 100 BK), aliyezungumza Kiaramu na Kigiriki na aliyekuwa raia wa Roma. Yeye na mwandishi Myahudi wa Kigiriki-Kiroma Philo wa Aleksandria walitumia jina la mahali Palestina (Robinson, E. 1865: 15). Josephus aliamini katika upatano wa Uyahudi na fikra za Kigiriki-Kiroma, mara nyingi ukijulikana kama Uyahudi wa Kihellenistiki.11 Alitaja majina ya mahali ya Palestina ya hapa kwa hapa na kuyafanya yajulikane kwa hadhira za Kigiriki-Kiroma. Katika kazi zake Vita vya Wayahudi (1981) na Mambo ya Kale ya Wayahudi (2004), ambazo zinajumuisha nyenzo kuhusu watu binafsi, makundi, desturi na majina ya mahali, Josephus karibu kamwe hawataji waandishi Wayahudi wenye mamlaka ya Torati kuwa 'waandishi'; badala yake huwaita wanafalsafa na wazee. Vivyo hivyo, Josephus hutaja 'madhehebu' ya Kiyahudi (neno lenye mzigo wa maana) kuwa falsafa au shule. Neno alilotumia kuelezea Transjordan, Peraea ('nchi iliyo ng'ambo'), halionekani katika Biblia; ‘Amman ya leo inatajwa kwa jina lake la Kigiriki, Philadelphia. Waislamu wa zama za kati na Wapalestina wa leo walihifadhi majina ya asili ya Kigiriki na Kirumi kama Nablus (Kigiriki: Neapolis, Νεάπολις), Palestine, Qaysariah12 (Caesarea; Kigiriki: Καισάρεια), lakini si Philadelphia. Kazi ya Eusebius ya karne ya 4 kuhusu jiografia ya Palestina, Onomasticon: On the Place Names in Divine Scripture (Notley na Safrai 2004; Eusebius 1971), inataja ‘Amman: hii sasa ni Philadelphia'.

Palestine’s educated urban elites and thriving urban spaces played an important part in shaping the early idea of Palestine. Both Latin and Koine Greek were the dominant languages of the Byzantine Empire until the 6th century; Latin remained the official language of the government in the 6th century, whereas the prevalent language of merchants, farmers, seamen and ordinary citizens in Palestine was Greek. Also, Aramaic – closely related to Arabic – was a prevalent language among the (predominantly Christian) Palestinian peasantry which constituted the majority of population in the country. In practice, Greek and Latin were the prevalent languages of the educated urban elites of Byzantine Palestine, affecting education, trade, administration, official documents, art and architecture and key place names throughout Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean. Greek, however, became the lingua franca of late Byzantine Palestine, shortly before the advent of Islam. Consequently, the Hellenisation of Palestinian toponyms was not uncommon in Late Antiquity. A well-known example of Hellenisation from Late Antiquity is the work of the 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and translator Josephus (Titus Flavius Josephus 37‒c. 100 AD) who spoke Aramaic and Greek and who became a Roman citizen. Both he and Greco-Roman Jewish writer Philo of Alexandria used the toponym Palestine (Robinson, E. 1865: 15). Josephus believed in the compatibility of Judaism and Greco- Roman thought, often referred to as Hellenistic Judaism.11 He listed local Palestinian toponyms and rendered them familiar to Greco-Roman audiences. In his works The Jewish War (1981) and the Antiquities of the Jews (2004) which include material about individuals, groups, customs and place names, Josephus almost never refers to Torah-authority Jewish scribes as ‘scribes’; instead he refers to them as sophists and elders. Similarly, Josephus refers to Jewish ‘sects’ (a loaded term) as philosophies or schools. The term he used to refer to Transjordan, Peraea (‘the country beyond’), is not found in the Bible, modern ‘Amman is referred to by its Greek name, Philadelphia. Medieval Muslims and modern Palestinians preserved Greco-Roman toponyms such Nablus (Greek: Neapolis, Νεάπολις), Palestine, Qaysariah12 (Caesarea; Greek: Καισάρεια), but not Philadelphia. Eusebius’ 4th century work on Palestinian topography, Onomasticon: On the Place Names in Divine Scripture (Notley and Safrai 2004; Eusebius 1971), refers to ‘Amman: this is now Philadelphia’.

Mbali ya Hellenisation ya majina mengi ya maeneo ya Palestina na mwandishi Myahudi Josephus, Mababa Waasisi wa Ukristo walileta vipimo vya kidini na kisiasa kwa majina ya maeneo ya Palestina. Nafasi ya kumbukumbu hii ya kijamii na kidini katika kuathiri uchoraji wa ramani za kijiografia na kumbukumbu ya majina ya maeneo ya Palestina ilitambuliwa sana katika karne ya 4 BK katika kazi mbili maarufu: tafsiri ya Vulgate ya Mtakatifu Jerome kwa Kilatini, na kazi iliyofuata kuhusu topografia ya Palestina, Onomasticon: On the Place Names in Divine Scripture, cha Eusebius wa Kaisaria (Eusebius Caesariensis; 260/265‒339/340 BK), mwanahistoria mwenye asili ya Kigiriki, mtaalamu wa topografia na mfasiri wa maandiko, mmoja wa Mababa Waasisi, aliyekuwa Askofu wa Kaisaria karibu mwaka 314 BK. Kazi ya Eusebius, Onomasticon (Notley and Safrai 2004; Eusebius 1971), jaribio la kwanza kamili la kujenga na "kuweka" mahali hapa na majina haya kutoka katika simulizi za Biblia, ilitegemea kwa sehemu mradi wa kidini na kifalme wa Jerome, ulioendeshwa na ukweli kwamba Ukristo ulikuwa umekuwa dini rasmi ya dola. Ni kazi hizi mbili za Mababa Waasisi wawili wa Ukristo, Jerome na Eusebius, badala ya historia halisi ya Palestina ya Herodotus, ndizo zilizounda msingi wa kumbukumbu ya kijamii na kidini ya Magharibi kuhusu majina ya maeneo, na kubuniwa upya kwa Palestina kama Nchi Takatifu ya Kikristo (Sivan 2008: 57). Eusebius, katika Onomasticon, anatoa orodha ya majina ya maeneo ya Provincia Palaestina, pamoja na maoni ya kijiografia, kihistoria na kidini yaliyotegemea kwa sehemu hadithi za Biblia. Topografia yake ya Palestina baadaye ilitafsiriwa kwa Kilatini. Mtakatifu Jerome alihamia kimwili Yudea katika Provincia Palaestina wakati akifanya kazi ya tafsiri ya Vulgate. Jerome, Baba Mwasisi wa Ukristo na mchangiaji mkuu wa kumbukumbu yake ya msingi ya kidini, alikuwa mtu wa kwanza kurudi nyuma na kutafsiri Agano la Kale kutoka Kiebrania badala ya kutoka Septuagint (au "Agano la Kale la Kigiriki").

In addition to the Hellenisation of many Palestinian toponyms by the Jewish writer Josephus, the Founding Fathers of Christianity introduced religio-political dimensions to Palestinian place names. The role of this religio-social memory in influencing the geographical mapping and toponymic memory of Palestine was widely recognised in the 4th century AD in two famous works: St Jerome’s Vulgate translation into Latin and the subsequent work on Palestinian topography, Onomasticon: On the Place Names in Divine Scripture by Eusebius of Caesarea (Eusebius Caesariensis; 260/265‒339/340 AD) – a historian of Greek descent, a topographer and an exegete and one of the Founding Fathers who became the Bishop of Caesarea about AD 314. Eusebius’ work, Onomasticon (Notley and Safrai 2004; Eusebius 1971), the first comprehensive attempt to construct and ‘locate’ these places and names from the biblical narratives, was partly based on Jerome’s religio-imperial enterprise which was driven by the fact that Christianity had become an official religion of empire. It was these two works by two of the Founding Fathers of Christianity, Jerome and Eusebius, rather than Herodotus’ actual history of Palestine which formed the basis of Western religio-social toponymic memory and the reimagining of Palestine as a Christian Holy Land (Sivan 2008: 57). Eusebius, in Onomasticon, provides a list of place names of Provincia Palaestina, with additional geographical, historical and religious commentary partly based on biblical stories. His topography of Palestine was later translated into Latin. St Jerome relocated physically to Judaea in Provincia Palaestina while working on the Vulgate translation. Jerome, a founding father of Christianity and a major contributor to its seminal religious memory, was the first person to go back and translate the Old Testament from Hebrew rather than from the Septuagint (or ‘Greek Old Testament’).

Utambulisho wa Palestina unaoendelea kubadilika na wenye tabaka nyingi, tangu mwishoni mwa Enzi ya Shaba, una maana za kijiografia-kisiasa, kidunia, kiutawala na kisheria. Enzi ya Byzantine pia iliongeza tabaka la kidini kwenye dhana ya kijiografia-kisiasa na ya kidunia ya Palestina, kwa njia ya 'Ardhi Takatifu'. Taswira za kidini-kitakatifu za Palestina, Ardhi Takatifu, 'ardhi ya Injili' kama kumbukumbu ya kidini na eneo takatifu la kufikirika, zimekubaliwa na kusherehekewa na wenyeji wa asili wa Palestina.

The evolving multi-layered identity and conception of Palestine since the late Bronze Age has geo-political, secular, administrative and legal connotations. The Byzantine era also added a religious layer to the geo-political, secular conception of Palestine, in the form of the ‘Holy Land’. The religio-sacred representations of Palestine, the Holy Land, the ‘land of the Gospel’ as religious memory and an imagined sacred territory have been embraced and celebrated by the indigenous people of Palestine:

Waislamu (kutoka mapokeo ya Kiqur'ani), Wasamaria (kwa kuzingatia Torati ya Wasamaria), Wayahudi (kutoka mapokeo ya Agano la Kale)

Muslims (from the Quranic traditions), Samaritans (based on the Samaritan Pentateuch), Jews (from the traditions of the Old Testament)

na Wakristo (kutoka katika mapokeo ya Agano la Kale na Agano Jipya). Utambulisho huu wa Palestina wa dini mbalimbali unatambuliwa ulimwenguni kote.

and Christians (from the traditions of the Old and New Testaments). This multifaith identity of Palestine is universally recognised.

Zaidi ya hayo, kumbukumbu ya kidini ya Ukristo wa Magharibi wa enzi za kati kuhusu Terrae Sanctae, pamoja na hija kwenda huko, ilikuwa na athari kubwa katika nadharia ya kisasa ya kumbukumbu ya kijamii ya mwanasosholojia Mfaransa Maurice Halbwachs (1877‒1945), ambaye maandishi yake makuu kuhusu sosholojia ya maarifa na ujenzi wa kijamii wa kumbukumbu yalipewa jina la Mémoire Collective (1980).

Furthermore, the medieval Western Christian religious memory of, and pilgrimage to, the Terrae Sanctae had a major influence on the modern social memory theory of French sociologist Maurice Halbwachs (1877‒1945), whose seminal writings on the sociology of knowledge and the social construction of memory was entitled Mémoire Collective (1980).

Katika kazi yake Halbwachs alilinganisha "kumbukumbu ya kijamii" iliyopangwa na inayobadilika na historia halisi, na hivyo akaanzisha "kumbukumbu ya pamoja" kama dhana na kama uwanja tofauti wa utafiti. Neno "kumbukumbu ya pamoja" lenyewe linafuatiliwa hadi kwa mwanzilishi wa sosholojia ya kisasa, Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), ambaye aliandika kwa kina katika Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse (2003) kuhusu dini iliyopangwa, kumbukumbu ya pamoja, kukumbuka na mila za kumbukumbu. Halbwachs, mwanafunzi wa Durkheim na mwanasosholojia wa kipozitivisti, analinganisha "historia" na "kumbukumbu ya kijamii" inayobadilika, na anasema kwamba kumbukumbu za mtu binafsi na uelewa wake wa zamani zinahusiana kwa karibu na uanachama wa makundi, "kumbukumbu ya pamoja" na fahamu ya kikundi. Kwa mujibu wa Halbwachs (1992), uzalishaji huu wa kumbukumbu ya kijamii unategemea "kada" ya kidini au kisiasa pamoja na mfumo ambamo kikundi kimewekwa ndani ya jamii.

In his work Halbwachs contrasted structured, evolving ‘social memory’ with actual history and thus established ‘collective memory’ both as a concept and as a distinct research field. The term ‘collective memory’ itself is traceable to the founder of modern sociology, Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), who wrote extensively in Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse (2003) about organised religion, collective memory, remembering and commemorative rituals. Halbwachs, a student of Durkheim and a positivist sociologist, contrasts ‘history’ with evolving ‘social memory’ and argues that an individual’s memories and understanding of the past are closely related to group memberships, ‘collective memory’ and group consciousness. According to Halbwachs (1992), this production of social memory is dependent upon a religious or political ‘cadre’ as well as the framework within which a group is situated within a society.

Kazi ya Halbwachs kuhusu mfumo wa kijamii wa kumbukumbu ya pamoja na ujenzi (na uzalishaji upya) wa kumbukumbu ya kijamii ilianza na utafiti wake mkuu juu ya Les Cadres Sociaux de la Mémoire (1925, 1992) na La Topographie légendaire des évangiles en terre sainte: étude de mémoire collective (1941, 1992). Halbwachs alikuwa na wasiwasi mkubwa kuhusu kumbukumbu ya kijamii ya kidini na ya kitaifa. Kazi yake La Topographie légendaire des évangiles en terre sainte inalenga alama za kumbukumbu, mila na uwakilishi unaopatikana hadharani. Pia inachunguza kumbukumbu ya kidini-kijamii ya vizazi mfululizo vya mahujaji wa Kikristo wa zama za kati na Wapiganaji wa Msalaba wa Kilatini katika Terrae Sanctae, pamoja na mgawanyo wao wa kijiografia wa Palestina, Shamu na Arabia, na jinsi makundi haya "yalivyoligundua" na kisha "kuligundua tena" (kulizalisha upya).

Halbwachs’ work on the social framing of collective memory and the construction (and reproduction) of social memory began with his landmark study on Les Cadres Sociaux de la Mémoire (1925, 1992) and La Topographie légendaire des évangiles en terre sainte: étude de mémoire collective (1941, 1992). Halbwachs was preoccupied with religious and nationalist social memory. His work La Topographie légendaire des évangiles en terre sainte focuses on publicly available commemorative symbols, rituals and representations. It also examines the religio-social memory of successive generations of medieval Christian pilgrims and Latin Crusaders in the Terrae Sanctae and their geographical subdivision of Palestine, Syria and Arabia, and how these groups ‘found’ and then ‘found’ again (reproduced)

Naomba maandishi unayotaka nitafsiri kutoka Kiingereza kwenda Kiswahili. Tuma aya au kifungu, nami nitakitafsiri kwa uaminifu.

particular place names from the Gospel narratives.

Kazi hii itaonyesha jinsi kumbukumbu ya pamoja (ya kidini na kijamii) ya wasomi wa Magharibi wa maandiko matakatifu, kama Edward Robinson na Victor Guérin (pamoja na Crusaders na mahujaji wa zama za kati), ilivyo "gundua" tena na kuijenga upya.

This work will show how the collective (religio-social) memory of Western scriptural scholars such as Edward Robinson and Victor Guérin (like the medieval Crusaders and pilgrims) ‘found’ again and (reconstructed)

Katika karne ya 19, baadhi ya majina ya mahali huko Palestina yalitokana na simulizi za Biblia; majina haya ndiyo yalikuwa msingi wa miradi ya Kizayuni ya kubadilisha majina ya mahali na kuweka majina mapya. Majina ya mahali, maeneo ya kijiografia na mandhari pia ni, kwa kutumia neno la mwanahistoria wa Kifaransa Pierre Nora, *Les Lieux de mémoire* (1996, 1997, 1998), yaani "maeneo ya kumbukumbu", ambayo makundi ya watu huyajenga kwa makusudi na kuyaendeleza kama kumbukumbu za kijamii na kitamaduni, pamoja na utambulisho wa mtu binafsi na wa pamoja. Ikiwa imejengwa juu ya nadharia ya kumbukumbu ya kijamii ya Halbwachs, Nora na wengine, kitabu hiki pia kinatumia mbinu nyingine.

in the 19th century particular place names in Palestine from the biblical narrative – place names which formed the basis of Zionist replacement toponymic projects. Place names, geographical sites and landscape are also – to borrow French historian Pierre Nora’s term, Les Lieux de mémoire (1996, 1997, 1998) – ‘sites of memory’ around which social groups consciously construct and cultivate social and cultural memory and individual and collective identities. Underpinned by the social memory theory of Halbwachs, Nora and others, this book also draws on other approaches:

Uchunguzi wa nyaraka za kihistoria za kumbukumbu za Israeli; simulizi za mdomo na kumbukumbu za Wapalestina; utengenezaji wa ramani na uzalishaji wa kiutamaduni wa ramani katika Palestina‒Israeli.

the exploration of Israeli archival historical documents; Palestinian oral history and memory accounts; map-making and the cultural production of maps in Palestine‒Israel.

Katika kipindi cha kisasa, na hasa wakati wa Mamlaka ya Uingereza juu ya Palestina (1918‒1948), neno ‘Mpalestina’ lilitumika kumaanisha watu wote waliokuwa wakiishi Palestina, bila kujali dini au kabila, pamoja na walowezi Wayahudi wa Ulaya waliopewa uraia na mamlaka ya Mamlaka ya Uingereza. Kabla ya hapo, katika nusu ya pili ya karne ya 19, Waingereza walianzisha Mfuko wa Uchunguzi wa Palestina (PEF) kama mradi wa kifalme. Mfuko huo ulianzishwa jijini London mwaka 1865 chini ya udhamini wa Malkia Victoria, ukaunda istilahi ‘Palestina ya Magharibi’ na ‘Palestina ya Mashariki’ (Uchunguzi wa Palestina ya Magharibi na Uchunguzi wa Palestina ya Mashariki), kisha ukaandaa safari za kijiografia za kutengeneza ramani huko Palestina katika miaka ya 1870. Machapisho mengi ya PEF yalijumuisha The Fauna and Flora of Palestine (Tristram 1884). Hakuna popote PEF lilitaja usemi ‘Nchi ya Israeli’; usemi huo baadaye ulibuniwa na waasisi wa Uzayuni wa Kiyahudi.

In the modern period, and especially during the British Mandate of Palestine (1918‒1948), the term ‘Palestinian’ was used to refer to all people residing in Palestine, regardless of religion or ethnicity, including those European Jewish settlers granted citizenship by the British Mandatory authorities. Earlier, in the second half of the 19th century, the British had set up the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) as an imperial project. It was founded in London in 1865 under the patronage of Queen Victoria and coined the terms ‘Western Palestine’ and ‘Eastern Palestine’ (the Survey of Western Palestine and Survey of Eastern Palestine) and mounted geographical map-making expeditions in Palestine in the 1870s. The large number of publications by the PEF included The Fauna and Flora of Palestine (Tristram 1884). There was no mention of the expression ‘Land of Israel’ by the PEF – this was later coined by the founding fathers of Jewish Zionism.

Hata hivyo, mojawapo ya malengo makuu ya kidini, kisiasa na kimkakati ya PEF yalikuwa dhahiri kutoka kwenye chapisho lake lenyewe: Names and Places in the Old and New Testament and Apocrypha: with their Modern Identifications (Palestine Exploration Fund 1889). PEF iliorodhesha majina ya mahali zaidi ya 1150 yanayohusiana na Agano la Kale na 162 yanayohusiana na Agano Jipya. Muda mfupi baada ya majeshi ya Uingereza kuikalia Palestina mwaka 1918, mamlaka ya Mandate ya Uingereza zilianza kukusanya taarifa za majina ya mahali kutoka kwa wakazi wa Kipalestina. Kufuatia PEF, mamlaka hizo ziliamini kwamba Waarabu wa Palestina (Waislamu, Wakristo na Wayahudi Waarabu) pia walikuwa wamehifadhi maarifa ya majina ya kale ya mahali ambayo yangesaidia kutambua maeneo ya kiakiolojia na ya kibiblia.

However, one of the key religio-political-strategic objectives of the PEF was clear from its own publication: Names and Places in the Old and New Testament and Apocrypha: with their Modern Identifications (Palestine Exploration Fund 1889). The PEF listed more than 1150 place names related to the Old Testament and 162 related to the New Testament. Shortly after the British military occupation of Palestine in 1918, the British Mandatory authorities set out to gather toponymic information from the local Palestinian inhabitants. Following the PEF, the Mandatory authorities assumed that the Palestinian Arabs (Muslim, Christian and Arab Jews) had also preserved knowledge of the ancient place names which could help identify archaeological and biblical sites.

Katika Palestina, mapambano kati ya mkoloni na aliyekoloniwa kuhusu ardhi, idadi ya watu, madaraka na umiliki pia yalihusu uwakilishi, upotoshaji wa uwakilishi na kujiwakilisha. Kujiwakilisha kwa mfano wa mkoloni mzawa wa Ulaya kama "kurudi katika historia" kunafanya kazi ya kung'oa na "kutenganisha" mzawa na historia. Mkoloni mwenye makazi alivamia eneo hilo na kujitwalia urithi wa Wapalestina wenyeji, na wakati huo huo alijitenga na Mpalestina aliyekoloniwa na kunyang'anywa urithi wake. Uzalishaji wa maarifa ya kihistoria na madaraka na mkoloni mwenye makazi wa Kizayuni wa Kiashkenazi – mduara usiojirudia wa kujirejelea wenyewe – ulisababisha kuundwa kwa aina mbalimbali za hadithi za msingi, mikakati ya kujifanya wenyeji wa asili na ya kujifanya wa kale, zikiwemo hadithi za "uhamisho na kurudi" na "kurudi katika historia". Lakini "marejeo mengi" ya Uzayuni, kama mwanahistoria Mwisraeli Gabriel Piterberg alivyoeleza katika *The Returns of Zionism* (2008), hayakujidhihirisha tu katika "kurudi katika historia" kwa kupindukia kwa mkoloni wa Ulaya aliyekuja kudai ardhi, bali pia yalijengwa juu ya kufuta, kutokuwepo kwa wenyeji wa asili wa Palestina, na kung'olewa kimwili kwa Wapalestina na kutengwa kwao "na historia".

In Palestine, the struggle between the coloniser and colonised over land, demography, power and ownership also centred on representation, misrepresentation and self-representation. The metaphoric self-representation of the European settler-coloniser as a ‘return to history’ works to uproot and ‘detach’ the native from history. The settler-coloniser invaded the space and appropriated the heritage of the local Palestinians and simultaneously detached itself from the colonised and disinherited Palestinian. The production of historical knowledge and power by the Ashkenazi Zionist settler-coloniser – a self-referencing ouroboros – resulted in the creation of a range of foundational myths, self-indigenising and self-antiquating strategies, including the myths of ‘exile and return’ and ‘return to history’. But the ‘many returns’ of Zionism, as Israeli scholar Gabriel Piterberg put it in The Returns of Zionism (2008), did not just manifest themselves in the obsessive ‘return to history’ by the European settler coming to reclaim the land, they were also constructed around erasure, the non-existence of the indigenous people of Palestine and the actual, physical uprooting of the Palestinians and their detachment ‘from history’.

Tangu kuchorwa kwa ramani na uchunguzi wa Mfuko wa Uchunguzi wa Palestina (PEF), na hasa tangu kuanzishwa kwa taifa la Israeli lililofanya utakaso wa kikabila mwaka 1948, utengenezaji wa maarifa ya kihistoria na mapambano ya kitamaduni juu ya kutaja (na kubadilisha majina) ya maeneo, miji na vijiji vya Palestina yamekuwa silaha kuu za mikakati ya utaifa wa kikoloni wa walowezi wa Kizayuni, ya kuibiblisha, kuihebraisha na kuiyahudisha nchi, mikakati iliyolenga kuwatenga Wapalestina na historia ya nchi hiyo. Yenyewe, toponimia ni tawi la onomastiki au onomatolojia, utafiti wa asili, historia na matumizi ya majina ya aina zote. Antroponomastiki (au antroponimia) ni utafiti wa majina ya watu binafsi. Sura ya kumi itachunguza mikakati ya Kizayuni ya kutaja maeneo, watu na ya kujipa majina yenyewe. Miradi ya kuangamiza ya ukoloni wa walowezi wa Kizayuni nchini Palestina haikujikita tu katika kunyakua ardhi na utakaso wa kikabila wa wenyeji wa Palestina. Miradi hii pia ilihusisha kujijengea uzawa, kujifanya wa kale, kuibiblisha na kuihebraisha, pamoja na kuiyahudisha ardhi.

Since the mapping and explorations of the PEF and especially since the establishment of an ethnically cleansing Israeli state in 1948, the production of historical knowledge and cultural struggle over the naming (and renaming) of Palestine sites/cities/towns and villages have become major weapons of Zionist settler-colonial nationalism, biblicisation, Hebrewisation and Judaisation strategies that sought to detach the Palestinians from the history of the country. Toponymy itself is a branch of onomastics or onomatology, the study of the origin, history and uses of names of all kinds. Anthroponomastics (or anthroponymy) is the study of personal names. Chapter ten will explore Zionist toponymic, anthroponymic and self-naming strategies. The eliminationist projects of Zionist settler-colonisation in Palestine did not just centre on land-grabbing and the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous people of Palestine. These projects also consisted of self-indigenisation, self-antiquation, biblicisation and Hebrewisation in addition to the Judaisation of the land.