Majina ya kale zaidi na ya kimapokeo ya eneo lililojulikana katika Ulimwengu wa Kale kama "Palestina" hayakuhusiana na Kanaani.

The most traditional and earliest toponyms for the area which became known in classical Antiquity as ‘Palestine’ were not related to Cana’an.

Zilikuwa ni majina ya kijiografia ya Retenu na Djahi, ambayo yanaweza kuonekana kama majina ya kimapokeo, kama yalivyotumika katika hadithi ya Misri ya karne ya 14 KK ya Sinuhe.1 Retenu ilitumika kurejelea maeneo yaliyo kando ya pwani ya mashariki ya Bahari ya Mediterania, nayo iligawanywa katika sehemu tatu ndogo: Amurru, upande wa kaskazini; Lebanoni (wakati mwingine huitwa 'Retenu ya Juu'), iliyokuwa kusini mwa Amurru na kaskazini mwa Mto Litani; na Djahi, sehemu ya kusini kabisa ya Retenu, ambayo ilirejelea maeneo yaliyokuwa kusini mwa Mto Litani hadi Ascalon ('Asqalan, au labda Gaza) na hadi Bonde la Ufa upande wa mashariki.

They were the toponyms of Retenu and Djahi, which might be seen as traditional names, as used in the 14th century BC Egyptian story of Sinuhe.1 Retenu was used to refer to the regions along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean and was divided into three sub-regions: Amurru, in the north, Lebanon (sometimes referred to as ‘Upper Retenu’), which lay south of Amurru and north of the Litani river, and Djahi, the southernmost part of Retenu, which referred to the regions south of the Litani to Ascalon (‘Asqalan, or perhaps Gaza) and as far as the Rift Valley to the east.

Mbinu za jadi za kuwachunguza Wafilisti, "Peleset" na Palestina ya kale zimejengwa kupitia macho ya wakoloni walowezi. Ugunduzi mpya wa kiakiolojia na ushahidi wa maandishi ya kale unaweza kutusaidia kusoma historia ya Palestina kupitia macho ya wenyeji wa asili. Ugunduzi mpya wa kiakiolojia huko Palestina/Israeli na ushahidi wa maandishi ya kale kuhusu Palestina ya kale – yaliyochongwa kwenye kuta, mahekalu, makumbusho, mawe ya makaburi, sarafu, na makaburi ya Wafilisti yaliyogunduliwa hivi karibuni huko Ashkelon, yanayokadiriwa kuwa ya takriban miaka 3000 iliyopita (Ariel 2017) – yote yamebadilisha uelewa wetu wa historia ya kale ya Palestina na kuleta mifumo mipya ya fikra iliyoleta mapinduzi katika maarifa yetu ya kitaaluma kuhusu Palestina. Neno linalohusiana na jina Palestina, "Peleset", linapatikana katika maandishi matano yanayorejelea makazi ya watu wa baharini kando ya pwani ya kusini ya Palestina kuanzia katikati ya karne ya 12 KK, wakati wa utawala wa Ramesses II2 na Ramesses III wa nasaba ya kumi na tisa ya Misri. Nyaraka za miaka 3200 kutoka kwa Ramesses III, zikiwemo maandishi yenye tarehe takriban 1150 KK, katika Hekalu la Mazishi la Ramesses III lililoko Hekalu la Medinat Habu huko Luxor – mojawapo ya mahekalu yaliyohifadhiwa vizuri zaidi nchini Misri – yanamtaja Peleset miongoni mwa wale waliopigana dhidi ya Ramesses III (Breasted 2001: 24; pia Bruyère 1929‒1930), aliyetawala kuanzia 1186 hadi 1155 KK. Vita vya Ramesses III dhidi ya kile kinachoitwa 'watu wa baharini' (1181‒1175

The traditional approaches to the Philistines, ‘Peleset’ and ancient Palestine have been constructed through the eyes of settler-colonisers. New archaeological discoveries and epigraphical evidence can help us read the history of Palestine through the eyes of the indigenous. New archaeological discoveries in Palestine/Israel and epigraphic evidence on ancient Palestine – carved on walls, temples, memorials, gravestones, coins and Philistine graveyards uncovered recently in Ascalon, dating to about 3000 years ago (Ariel 2017) – have all transformed our understanding of the ancient history of Palestine and have resulted in new paradigms which revolutionised our scholarly knowledge on Palestine. A cognate of the name Palestine, ‘Peleset’, is found on five inscriptions as referring to the settlement of a seafaring people along the southern Palestinian coast from the mid-12th century BC during the reigns of Ramesses II2 and III of the nineteenth Egyptian dynasty. The 3200-year-old documents from Ramesses III, including an inscription dated c. 1150 BC, at the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III at the Medinat Habu Temple in Luxor – one of the best-preserved temples of Egypt – refers to the Peleset among those who fought against Ramesses III (Breasted 2001: 24; also Bruyère 1929‒1930), who reigned from 1186 to 1155 BC. Ramesses III’s war against the so-called ‘sea peoples’ (1181‒1175

BC) aliweka Peleset, kijiografia, katika nchi ya Djahi, yaani Palestina.

BC) placed Peleset, geographically, in the land of Djahi, that is Palestine.

Kwa kweli, ugunduzi mpya wa kiakiolojia kutoka makaburi ya Wafilisti ya miaka 3000 huko Ashkeloni umesababisha mtazamo mpya kuhusu asili ya Wafilisti, ukipendekeza kwa uthabiti kwamba hawakuwa wavamizi wa Aegean waliotumia nguvu kusini mwa Levant au "watu wa baharini" waliojitokeza Palestina wakati wa Enzi ya Marehemu ya Shaba, bali walikuwa wakazi wa asili wa Mashariki ya Karibu (Evian 2017; David 2017). Tangu karne ya 19, wanazuoni wa Kiorientalist wa Biblia wamehusisha maandishi ya Kimisri ya Peleset, yenye mzizi unaofanana, na "Wafilisti wa Biblia". Maandishi ya Kiashuru kutoka karne ya 8 na ya 7 yanaitaja eneo hili la pwani ya kusini kuwa "Palashtu" au "Pilistu".

In fact, new archaeological discoveries from a 3000-year-old Philistine graveyard in Ascalon have resulted in a new paradigm on the origins of the Philistines, firmly suggesting that they were not marauding Aegean invaders of the southern Levant or ‘sea peoples’ that appeared in Palestine in the course of the Late Bronze Age, but an indigenous population of the Near East (Evian 2017; David 2017). Since the 19th century biblical Orientalist scholars have linked the Egyptian cognate Peleset inscriptions with the ‘biblical Philistines’. Assyrian inscriptions from the 8th and 7th century refer to this southern coastal region as ‘Palashtu’ or ‘Pilistu’.

Ushahidi wa maandishi ya Kiarabu kutoka Palestina mashariki ya Mto Yordani ni mwingi, huku baadhi ya maandishi ya Kiarabu yakianzia enzi za Kirumi na kuwa ya mwaka 150 BK. Kwa kweli, Palestina ni tajiri sana kwa maandishi ya Kiarabu, mengi yao yakianzia enzi za mwanzo za Uislamu na enzi ya Umayyad. Tangu mwanzo wa Uislamu, Palestina ilipata umuhimu wa pekee wa kidini, kiuchumi na kimkakati. Umuhimu wa kihistoria wa Filastin unadhihirishwa katika mamia ya maandishi ya Kiarabu ya Palestina, ambayo yanagusa aina mbalimbali za mada: usanifu majengo, waqf (wakfu) za Kiislamu za kidini, maandishi ya makaburini, ujenzi, masoko, kujitolea, maandiko ya Qur'ani, dua na maombi. Mkusanyiko mkubwa wa maandishi hayo umekusanywa katika juzuu nyingi za Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestina (Sharon 1997‒2013; van Berchem 1894).

Arabic-language epigraphic evidence from Palestine east of the Jordan River is extensive, with some Arabic inscriptions dating from the Roman era and as early as 150 AD. In fact, Palestine is extremely rich in Arabic inscriptions, most of which date from the early Islamic and Umayyad periods. Already in early Islam Palestine acquired particular religious, economic and strategic importance. The historical importance of Filastin is shown in the hundreds of Palestine Arabic inscriptions which cover a huge variety of topics: architecture, Islamic religious (waqf) endowments, epitaphs, construction, markets, dedication, Quranic texts, prayers and invocations. A large collection of the inscriptions is assembled in the multivolume Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestina (Sharon 1997‒2013; van Berchem 1894).