Biashara ya kimataifa kati ya Palestina na Misri ilianza tangu kipindi cha Chalcolithic (4000‒3200 KK), wakati ambapo Palestina ilisafirisha shaba kwenda Misri. Pia, idadi kubwa ya vyungu vya Kipalestina (‘Wakanaani’) kutoka kipindi hiki viligunduliwa nchini Misri – vyungu vilivyotengenezwa Palestina na kusafirishwa hadi Misri, inadhaniwa kama vyombo vya kuhifadhia divai na mafuta ya mzeituni (Grainger 2016: 27).

The international trade between Palestine and Egypt dates back to the Chalcolithic period (4000‒3200 BC), during which Palestine exported copper to Egypt. Also, a large amount of Palestinian (‘Canaanite’) pottery from this period was discovered in Egypt – pots manufactured in Palestine and transported to Egypt presumably as containers of wine and olive oil (Grainger 2016: 27).

Hata hivyo, jina Palestina lilitokea kwa mara ya kwanza katika vyanzo vya Kimisri vya Enzi ya Shaba ya Marehemu, kuhusiana na juhudi za Wamisri za kudhibiti Wafilisti wakati wa utawala wa Ramesses II na Ramesses III na wa Merneptah (1276‒1178

However, the name Palestine first occurs in Egyptian sources from the Late Bronze Age in relation to the Egyptian struggle to control the Philistines during the reigns of Ramesses II and III and of Merneptah (1276‒1178

BC). Kwa kweli, jina Palestina linatokana kwa asili na jina lililoandikwa kwa miaka 3200 iliyopita, Peleset, lililotumika kurejelea watu wa kusini mwa Levant, washirika wa ‘Walibya’,3 ambao wametajwa katika maandishi ya Kimisri, ikiwa ni pamoja na Jiwe la Merneptah, linalosherehekea ushindi wa Wamisri dhidi ya Libya. Washirika hawa wa Walibya wanajumuisha makabila kadhaa mbali na Peleset, baadhi ya majina yao yanatambulika. Majina haya ni pamoja na Shardana (Sardinia), Ekwesh, Teresh, Tjekker, Lukka, Kheta (Hatti = Wahiti), Amor (Amurru), Shasw (Wabedui wa Sinai), ikiwezekana pia Asher au Israel wa Jiwe la Merneptah.

BC). In fact, the name Palestine originally derives from the 3200-year-old documented name Peleset, used to refer to the people in southern Levant, allies of the ‘Libyans’,3 who are mentioned in Egyptian inscriptions, including the Merneptah Stele, which celebrates the Egyptian victory over Libya. These allies of the Libyans include a number of peoples besides the Peleset, some of whose names are identifiable. These names include the Shardana (Sardinia), the Ekwesh, the Teresh, the Tjekker, the Lukka, the Kheta (Hatti = Hittite), the Amor (Amurru), the Shasw (Bedouin in the Sinai), including possibly the Asher or Israel of the Merneptah Stele.

Baada ya Wafilisti kuchanganyika na watu wengine, jina Peleset lilichukua nafasi ya jina Djahi kama jina kuu la kijiografia kwa eneo lote.

Following the integration of the Philistines with other population, the name Peleset succeeded the name Djahi as the dominant toponym for the region as a whole.

Tangu Enzi ya Marehemu ya Shaba, inafaa kusisitizwa kwamba majina yaliyotumika kwa eneo la Levanti ya kusini, kama Djahi, Retenu na Cana’an, yote yalitoa nafasi kwa Palestina, jina lililotumika zaidi katika maandishi ya Waashuru ya karne ya 8 na 7. Kwa kutumia uteuzi wa 'sehemu kwa ujumla', Palestina ilikuja kurejelea eneo kubwa zaidi, Palashtu, Piliste (au Filistia), kihalisi 'nchi ya Peleset' (Kigiriki: Γη των Φυλιστιειμ), la Levanti ya kusini. Dhana hii pana haikujumuisha tu miji maarufu ya Filistia: Gaza, Ekroni, Gathi, Ashdodi, Askaloni, Timna.5

From the Late Bronze Age onwards, it should be stressed, the names used for the region of the southern Levant, such as Djahi, Retenu and Cana’an, all gave way to Palestine, the name most commonly used in 8th and 7th century Assyrian inscriptions. Using a ‘part for the whole’ designation, Palestine came to refer to the greater region (Palashtu, Piliste (or Philistia), literally the ‘land of the Peleset’ (Greek: Γη των Φυλιστιειμ), of the southern Levant. This wider conception included not only the wellknown cities of Philistia: Gaza, Ekron, Gath,4 Ashdod, Ascalon, Timnah5

na Tantur, lakini pia ilitumika kwa sehemu ya ndani ya nchi, na hatua kwa hatua kama jina pana kwa eneo lote kuanzia Lebanon hadi Misri.

and Tantur, but served also for the interior of the country and gradually as a wider designation for the whole area from Lebanon to Egypt.

Kwa kuvutia pia, karibu majina yote ya miji ya Filistia yamesalia hadi zama za kisasa na yamehifadhiwa katika majina ya kisasa ya Kiarabu ya Kipalestina: Gaza (Ghazzah), Askelon (‘Asqalan), Ashdod (Isdud6), Tantur (Tantura), Gath (Jat), Ekron (‘Aqir), na mengi yao yaliachwa bila watu na Israeli mwaka 1948.

Interestingly also, almost all the toponyms of the cities of Philistia: Gaza (Ghazzah), Askelon (‘Asqalan), Ashdod (Isdud6), Tantur (Tantura), Gath (Jat), Ekron (‘Aqir) survived into the modern era and were preserved in the modern Palestinian Arabic names and were mostly depopulated by Israel in 1948.