Katika kipindi kikubwa cha Enzi ya Chuma (takriban 1200‒600 KK), Filistia ilistawi kutokana na viungo imara vya biashara ya kimataifa, na, kama tutakavyoona hapa chini, ilianzisha mfumo wa kwanza wa fedha wa Palestina mwishoni mwa karne ya 6 hadi mwanzoni mwa karne ya 5 KK. Uchimbaji wa ardhini na uchunguzi wa mabaki ya meli zilizozama chini ya bahari katika Filistia umeonyesha kwamba Wafilisti walikuwa watu waliostaarabika sana.

Throughout much of the Iron Age (c. 1200‒600 BC) Philistia flourished on strong international trade links and, as we shall see below, developed the first monetary system of Palestine in the late 6th‒early 5th century BC. Terrestrial excavations and underwater archaeology of shipwrecks of Philistia have revealed that the Philistines were a highly civilised people.

Walikuwa mabaharia wenye ujuzi wa hali ya juu na wasanifu majengo na wapangaji miji waliobobea sana, pamoja na wafinyanzi, wafumaji, na wafua vyuma wa vitu vya pembe za ndovu wenye ustadi mkubwa wa kisanii (Dothan 1992). Kama Wafoinike, Wafilisti walitengeneza teknolojia ya hali ya juu ya majini, jambo ambalo pengine liliimarisha sifa yao kama watu wa baharini. Ingawa asili yao (Aegean au Mashariki ya Karibu) imebishaniwa sana miongoni mwa wasomi (Berlin 1997) – huku utafiti wa hivi karibuni ukipendekeza kwamba walikuwa watu wazawa wa Levant (Evian 2017) – kuna sababu nzuri za kudhani kwamba mageuzi ya majimbo-miji ya Wafilisti yaliyoendelea sana huko Palestina yalifanana, kwa kiasi fulani, na mageuzi ya polis ya Kigiriki ya kale iliyostaarabika. Baada ya muda, na kwa uwazi zaidi wakati wa vipindi vya Kihelene na Kirumi, miji kadhaa huko Palestina, hasa Ashkeloni kusini na Ptolemais (Akka) kaskazini, ilibadilika na kuwa polisi za Kigiriki za kawaida. Neno la Kigiriki polis (wingi poleis), ‘jimbo-mji’, liliendelea kubadilika katika kipindi cha kale kama mtangulizi wa mji, dola na hatimaye uraia; neno la Kigiriki polis (Kiarabu madinah) lilidumu hadi vipindi vya Kihelene, Kirumi na Byzantine, na likawa la kawaida katika kutaja miji huko Palestina ya Byzantine inayozungumza Kirumi na Kigiriki; pia linapatikana katika Palestina ya kisasa katika jina lililobadilishwa la mji wa Kipalestina wa Nablus (awali Neapolis).

They were sophisticated seafarers and highly accomplished architects and urban planners, highly artistic potters and weavers and ivory and metalworkers (Dothan 1992). Like the Phoenicians, the Philistines developed advanced naval technology which probably enhanced their reputation as seafaring people. Although their origin (Aegean or Near Eastern) has been seriously disputed among scholars (Berlin 1997) – with the most recent research suggesting they were an indigenous people of the Levant (Evian 2017) – there are good reasons to assume that the evolution of the highly advanced Philistine city-states in Palestine resembled, to some extent, the evolution of the sophisticated ancient Greek polis. In time, and more noticeably during the Hellenic and Roman periods, several cities in Palestine, especially Ascalon in the south and Ptolemais (Acre) in the north, would evolve into typical Greek poleis. The Greek term polis (plural poleis), ‘city-state’, continued to evolve in the course of the ancient period as the ancestor of city, state and eventually citizenship; the Greek term polis (Arabic madinah) persisted into the Hellenic, Roman and Byzantine periods and became common to the naming of cities in Roman- and Greek-speaking Byzantine Palestine; it is also found in modern Palestine in the adapted name of the Palestinian city of Nablus (originally Neapolis).

Hata hivyo, mabadiliko ya kihistoria ya Nablus ("mji mpya") na Iliya/al-Quds/Yerusalemu kuwa miji mikuu ya Kiarabu na Kiislamu huko Palestina hayakusababisha miji iliyotofautiana sana na zile poleis za awali za Kigiriki-Kirumi-Kibyzantini.

However, the historical evolution of Nablus (‘new city’) and Iliya/al-Quds/ Jerusalem into the key Arab Islamic madinas in Palestine did not result in cities very different from the earlier Greco-Roman-Byzantine poleis.

Upangaji miji wa Kigiriki‒Kiroma‒Kibyzantine ulistawi chini ya Uislamu na bado unaonekana wazi leo katika Mji Mkongwe wa Kiarabu wa Kiislamu wa zama za kati wa Yerusalemu, mmoja wa miji ya zama za kati iliyohifadhiwa vizuri zaidi duniani. Kama Gaza, Caesarea Maritima na miji mingine ya kale (poleis/madinas) nchini Palestina, Nablus, Gaza, ‘Asqalan, Akka (Acre) na Mji wa Kiislamu wa zama za kati wa Yerusalemu ni mifano ya kawaida inayoonyesha mwendelezo wa kihistoria pamoja na michakato endelevu ya kuzoea na kubadilika kwa mandhari tajiri ya miji ya Palestina. Zaidi ya hayo, miji ya Kigiriki‒Kiroma, iliyotawaliwa na wasomi wachache wa kijamii wa mijini, ilibadilika na kukua pamoja na maendeleo ya kituo cha utawala wa mji, ambacho kiliashiria ‘dola’, na kilijumuisha vijiji vilivyoizunguka. Aina hii ya utawala (mji pamoja na vijiji vyake vinavyouzunguka) pia inaonekana wazi katika Palestina ya Kibyzantine na ya Kiislamu.

Greek‒Roman‒Byzantine urban planning flourished under Islam and is still much in evidence today in the Arab Islamic medieval Old City of Jerusalem, one of the best preserved medieval cities in the world. Like Gaza, Caesarea Maritima and other poleis/madinas in Palestine, Nablus, Gaza, ‘Asqalan, Akka (Acre) and the medieval Islamic City of Jerusalem are classic examples which exhibit both historical continuities and continuous processes of adaption and transformation of the rich urban landscape of Palestine. Furthermore, the Greco-Roman poleis, dominated by small urban social elites, evolved and changed with the development of the centre of governance in the city to signify ‘state’, which included its surrounding villages, and this form of governance (the city with its surrounding villages) is also evident in Byzantine and Islamic Palestine.

Hata hivyo, inapaswa kubainishwa kwamba poleis za Kigiriki zilikuwa tofauti na miji-dola ya kale ya awali katika Mashariki ya Karibu, kama Sidoni na Tiro, ambazo zilitawaliwa na mfalme au oligarkia ndogo, bali zilikuwa vyombo vya kisiasa vilivyotawaliwa na miili yao ya raia.

However, it should be pointed out that the Greek poleis were unlike other primordial ancient city-states in the Near East like Sidon and Tyre, which were ruled by a king or a small oligarchy, but rather were political entities ruled by their bodies of citizens.

Utamaduni thabiti wa biashara na ubunifu wa kiteknolojia wa Filistia katika kipindi hicho, pamoja na asili ya ustaarabu wa Wafilisti – utamaduni na dola ya Mediterania iliyoendelea sana na yenye ushawishi mkubwa – yote yamethibitishwa na uchimbaji wa kiakiolojia wa hivi karibuni. Akiolojia ya Filistia imeonyesha kwamba miji-dola ya Wafilisti ilikuwa na utamaduni wa hali ya juu sana, kwa kweli ulioendelea zaidi katika maendeleo ya miji na teknolojia (kuanzia chuma hadi vyungu) kuliko maeneo mengine ya Palestina ya wakati huo. Ushahidi wa kiakiolojia wa kiwango hiki cha juu cha maendeleo ya pwani ya Filistia ulipatikana nje ya mpaka wa kaskazini wa jiji la kisasa la Tel Aviv (jiji kuu la Israeli – ‘mji mama’ – lililoanzishwa na walowezi Wayahudi kutoka Ulaya Mashariki mnamo mwaka 1909 na kuwa, kwa vitendo, mji mkuu wa koloni la walowezi la Kizayuni la Yishuv huko Palestina hadi mwaka 1948) katika mabaki ya Tel Qasile, mji wa Wafilisti ambao ulikuwa bandari yenye shughuli nyingi katika karne ya 12 hadi 10 KK. Uvumbuzi huu wa kiakiolojia uliwekwa katika ‘Makumbusho ya Eretz Israel’ katika eneo la chuo kikuu cha Tel Aviv, makumbusho ya kihistoria na kiakiolojia katika mtaa wa Ramat Aviv wa Tel Aviv. Chuo chenyewe cha Chuo Kikuu cha Tel Aviv kilijengwa juu ya magofu ya mji wa kale wa Wafilisti na kijiji cha kisasa cha Kipalestina, al-Shaykh Muwannis, ambacho wakazi wake waliondolewa na Haganah mnamo Machi 1948.

The strong tradition of trading and the technological innovation of Philistia during that period, and the nature of Philistine civilisation – a highly developed and influential Mediterranean culture and polity – have all been confirmed by recent archaeological excavations. The archaeology of Philistia has shown that the Philistine city-states had a highly sophisticated culture, in fact far more advanced in urban and technological development (from iron to pottery) than other contemporary regions of Palestine. Israeli- excavated archaeological evidence for this high level of development of the coast of Philistia was found outside the northern border of the modern city of Tel Aviv (the Israeli metropolis – ‘mother city’ – founded by East European Jewish settlers in 1909 and effectively the capital of the Zionist Yishuv settler colony in Palestine until 1948) in the remains of Tel Qasile, a Philistine town which formed a thriving harbour town through the 12th‒10th centuries BC. These archaeological discoveries were deposited in ‘the Eretz Israel Museum’ on the campus of Tel Aviv University, a historical and archaeological museum in the Ramat Aviv neighbourhood of Tel Aviv. The campus of Tel Aviv University itself was constructed on the ruins of an ancient Philistine town and a modern Palestinian village, al-Shaykh Muwannis, depopulated by the Haganah in March 1948.

Katika kipindi chote cha Enzi ya Chuma, Filistia, yenye mipaka yake ya asili upande wa kusini na kaskazini, iliibuka kama dola tofauti iliyokaa kati ya majirani wawili wenye nguvu wa kibiashara, Misri na Foinike, lakini pia ilikuza biashara ya kimataifa yenye kustawi na eneo la Aegean upande wa magharibi na Arabia upande wa kusini. Ujirani huu ulitumiwa kwa busara na Wafilisti, ambao walitumia kuendeleza viungo vyao vya biashara ya kimataifa, uchumi wao, na eneo tofauti la kijiografia-kisiasa pamoja na utamaduni wao wa vitu (Ben-Shlomo 2010; Thompson 2016). Uchumi wa Filistia uliotegemea biashara pia ulikuwa kipengele kikuu cha kuunganisha katika nchi iliyoundwa na ushirikina wa miungu mingi na mchanganyiko wa tamaduni. Wafilisti walichanganyika na wakazi wengine wa mahali hapo na waliishi katika miji ya bandari ya pwani na vijiji vilivyoizunguka. Miji yao mikuu ilitawaliwa na wafalme huru, na idadi ya watu wao ilichanganyika na kuungana na wakazi wengine wa asili wa Palestina. Mabaki ya vyungu yaliyochimbuliwa katika miji ya kale kama Gaza, Jaffa, Ekroni, Ashdodi, Ashkeloni na Gathi, yaliyopambwa kwa ndege walioumbwa kimtindo, yanatoa ushahidi wa kiakiolojia wa miji iliyoendelea sana ya Wafilisti katika Palestina ya kale. Meli zilizosafiri kando ya pwani ya Mashariki ya Mediterania kati ya Misri na Foinike zilitumia bandari za Filistia (Gaza, Ashkeloni, Ashdodi, Jaffa na Tantur/Dori) kujaza vifaa na kujihifadhi wakati wa dhoruba. Muhimu zaidi, miji ya Filistia ilidhibiti njia ya kimataifa ya biashara ya Via Maris (‘Njia ya Wafilisti’) na kuwatoza misafara ya biashara ushuru kwa kupita katika eneo lao (Gallagher 1999: 113).

Throughout the Iron Age Philistia, with its southern and northern natural borders, emerged as a distinct polity nestling between two powerful trading neighbours, Egypt and Phoenicia, but also cultivated flourishing international trade with the Aegean region in the West and Arabia in the south. This neighbourhood was shrewdly exploited by the Philistines, who used it to develop their international trade links, economy and a distinct geo-political region and material culture (Ben-Shlomo 2010; Thompson 2016). The trade-based economy of Philistia was also a major unifying factor in a country which was shaped by polytheism and cultural hybridity. The Philistines integrated with other local populations and lived in coastal port towns and their surrounding villages. Their key cities were ruled by autonomous kings and their populations were mixed and inteThe grated with other indigenous populations of Palestine. Pottery remains excavated in ancient cities such as Gaza, Jaffa, Ekron, Ashdod, Ascalon and Gath, decorated with stylised birds, provide archaeological evidence for highly developed Philistine cities in ancient Palestine. Ships sailing along the Eastern Mediterranean coast between Egypt and Phoenicia used the harbours of Philistia (Gaza, Ascalon, Ashdod, Jaffa and Tantur/Dor) to replenish supplies and take shelter in stormy weather. Crucially, the cities of Philistia controlled the international trade route of the Via Maris (‘Way of the Philistines’) and charged the trade caravans tolls for passing through their region (Gallagher 1999: 113).

Miji mikubwa ya biashara ya Filistia haikusifiwa tu kwa kuanzisha silaha za chuma na magari ya vita katika Palestina ya kale, bali pia, kama tutakavyoona hapa chini, kwa kuunda mfumo wa kwanza wa fedha na sarafu huko Palestina katika karne ya 5 na 4 KK. Biashara ya kikanda na ya mbali ilikuwa sababu muhimu katika kuunda historia ya Palestina ya kale, na lazima ilichangia kuanzishwa kwa sarafu za Filistia, ambazo pia zilijulikana kama sarafu za Philisto-Kiarabu, zilizotengenezwa katika kipindi cha 538‒332 KK (tazama hapa chini); [Kuunganishwa] kwa Wafilisti na wakazi wa asili kulisababisha eneo la Filistia, lenye tofauti kijiografia lakini kwa kiasi kidogo sana kikabila, ambalo liliunganishwa kwa karibu na njia za biashara za kimataifa.

The great trading cities of Philistia were not only credited with introducing iron weapons and chariots to ancient Palestine, but, as we shall see below, also with the creation of the earliest monetary and coinage system in Palestine in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Regional and distant trade was a key factor in shaping the history of ancient Palestine and must have contributed to the introduction of the coinage of Philistia, which also became known as Philisto-Arabian coins, struck in the period 538‒332 BC (see below); [The] integration [of the Philistines] with the indigenous population resulted in the geographically, but hardly ethnically, distinctive region of Philistia, which was tightly linked to the international trade routes.

Hizi zilifuata Via Maris, kwa upande mmoja, kupitia Yezreeli na kuelekea kaskazini mwa Mesopotamia, na kwa upande mwingine, ziliendelea kando ya pwani hadi bandari za Foinike za kaskazini mwa Palestina na kusini mwa Lebanoni. Chini ya ulinzi wa Waashuri, siasa pana za biashara za Palestina hazikutawala tu uchumi wa pwani, bali pia, katika kipindi cha Chuma II, ziliunda Kusini iliyounganishwa.

These followed the Via Maris, on the one hand, through the Jezreel and in the direction of northern Mesopotamia, and, on the other hand, continued along the coast to the Phoenician seaports of northern Palestine and southern Lebanon. Under Assyrian patronage, Palestine’s expansive trading politics not only dominated the coastal economy but, over the course of the Iron II period, created an integrated South.

Biashara ya Waarabu iliunga mkono usindikaji wa nafaka, mifugo na matunda kutoka Negev ya Kaskazini na tambarare ya pwani, pamoja na kondoo na sufu, mizeituni na divai kutoka vilima vya chini na nyanda za juu za Yudea. Miongoni mwa miji muhimu zaidi ya pwani ya kusini walikuwa Jaffa, ‘Aphek, Ekron, Ashdodi, Gimti (Tall as-Safi), Askeloni na Gaza. (Thompson 2016: 165)

Arab trade supported the processing of grains, cattle and fruits from the Northern Negev and coastal plain with the sheep and wool, olives and wines from the Judean foothills and highlands. Among the southern coast’s most important towns were Jaffa, ‘Aphek, Ekron, Ashdod, Gimti (Tall as-Safi), Askelon and Gaza. (Thompson 2016: 165)

Mwaka 712, baada ya uasi wa mji wa Ashdod wa Wafilisti, ukiungwa mkono kijeshi na Misri, Mfalme wa Ashuru Sargon II (alitawala 722–705 KK)

In 712, after an uprising by the Philistine city of Ashdod, supported militarily by Egypt, the Assyrian King Sargon II (reigned 722–705 BC)

Ashdodi, Iamani... — wait, translating faithfully: Mfalme wa Ashuru alivamia Pilishte ili kumwondoa Mfalme wa Ashdodi, Iamani, na akaiunganisha eneo lote; Pilishte iliwekwa chini ya udhibiti wa moja kwa moja wa Ashuru, na hivyo kuwa mkoa wa Ashuru kwa kweli (Thompson 2016: 165), ingawa Mfalme wa Ashdodi aliruhusiwa kubaki kwenye kiti cha enzi (Gallagher 1999: 115). Kufikia wakati Sargon II alipofariki, alikuwa ameshikilia mikoa miwili katika Pilishte: Dor (Tantur)

invaded Pilishte to oust the King of Ashdod Iamani and annexed the whole region; Philistia was brought under direct Assyrian control, in effect becoming an Assyrian province (Thompson 2016: 165), although the King of Ashdod was allowed to remain on the throne (Gallagher 1999: 115). By the time Sargon II died, he ‘had two provinces in Philistia: Dor (Tantur)

na Ashdod, mfalme mwaminifu huko Gaza na mpaka uliowekwa wazi na Misri (Gallagher 1999: 115).

and Ashdod, a reliable king in Gaza and a clearly defined border with Egypt (Gallagher 1999: 115).