Palestina daima imekuwa na nafasi ya pekee katika mawazo, fasihi takatifu na taswira za kihistoria za Magharibi (Said 1980: 9). Hili lilianza tangu fasihi ya kale kabisa na kazi za msingi za waandishi wa Kigiriki, hasa Herodotus na Aristotle katika karne ya 5 na ya 4 KK. Ilikuwa katika maandishi ya Herodotus (aliyeishi katika karne ya 5 KK (takriban 484–425 KK)

Palestine always played a special role in the imagination, sacred literature and historical representations of the West (Said 1980: 9). This began with the earliest classical literature and seminal works of the Greek writers, especially Herodotus and Aristotle in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. It was in the writings of Herodotus (who lived in the 5th century BC (c. 484–425 BC)

kwamba jina hilo lilichukua umbo lake la Kigiriki Παλαιστίνη (Palaistinê au Phalastin)

that the name took on its Greek form Παλαιστίνη (Palaistinê or Phalastin)

na ilitumika kama jina la eneo hilo. Herodotus anazungumzia Palaestine, Palaestine-Syria na 'Wasyria wa Palestine', na anawatofautisha Wafinike na 'Wasyria wa Palestine' (Herodotus 1841: 135). Pia anaelezea jiografia ya kimwili ya eneo hilo, ambalo leo linahusishwa na Mashariki ya Kati, kama ifuatavyo:

and was used as the name of the region. Herodotus talks about Palaestine, Palaestine-Syria and the ‘Syrians of Palestine’ and he distinguishes the Phoenicians from the ‘Syrians of Palestine’ (Herodotus 1841: 135). He also describes the physical geography of the region which is associated today with the modern Middle East as follows:

Eneo jingine huanzia katika nchi ya Waajemi, na kuenea hadi bahari ya Erythraea, likijumuisha kwanza Uajemi, kisha Ashuru, na baada ya Ashuru, Arabia. Huishia, yaani inachukuliwa kuwa inaishia, ingawa kwa kweli haifikii mwisho, katika ghuba ya Arabia ...

The other [region] starts from the country of the Persians, and stretches into Erythraean sea, containing first Persia, then Assyria, and after Assyria, Arabia. It ends, that is to say it is considered to end, though it does not really come to termination, at the Arabian gulf ...

Kati ya Uajemi na Foinike kuna eneo pana na la kutosha la nchi, baada ya hilo eneo ninalolieleza linapakana na bahari yetu [ya Mediterania], likienea kutoka Foinike kando ya pwani ya Palestina-Shamu hadi linapofika Misri, ambako linaishia. Eneo hili lote lina mataifa matatu tu. (Herodotus 1860: 27)

between Persia and Phoenicia lies a broad and ample tract of country, after which the region I am describing skirts our [Mediterranean] sea, stretching from Phoenicia along the coast of Palestine-Syria till it comes to Egypt, where it terminates. This entire tract contains but three nations. (Herodotus 1860: 27)

Katika uwakilishi wake wa kijiografia wa Παλαιστίνη (Palaistinê au Phalastin)

In his geographic representation of Παλαιστίνη (Palaistinê or Phalastin)

Herodotus anatumia neno hili kwa maana yake pana zaidi, si kwa kurejelea Filistia tu, yaani ukanda wa pwani kuanzia Karmeli hadi Gaza, bali pia sehemu ya ndani ya nchi (Herodotus 1841: 135). Yeye na Aristotle, kwa mfano, walilitumia neno hili kwa namna inayojumuisha maeneo ya Transjordan, au ‘Palestina ya Mashariki’, yaliyo upande wa pili wa Bonde la Ufa la Yordani. Herodotus hataji Palestina kama wilaya inayojitegemea ya Shamu tu, bali pia anaieleza kijiografia kama nchi tunayoijua leo, ikiwa ni pamoja na baadhi ya maeneo jirani katika Sinai na kaskazini, pamoja na eneo lililo mashariki ya mto Yordani. Herodotus pia anaongeza kwamba bandari za pwani ya kusini ya Palestina, kuanzia Cadytis hadi Jenysus (au Ienysos, Khan Yunis ya leo katika Ukanda wa Gaza), zilikaliwa na Waarabu (Herodotus 1841: 135).

Herodotus uses the term in its wider sense and not merely in reference to Philistia, or the coastal strip of land from Carmel to Gaza, but also the interior of the country (Herodotus 1841: 135). He and Aristotle, for example, used the term in a way that includes the regions of Transjordan, or ‘Eastern Palestine’, beyond the Jordan Rift Valley. Herodotus not only mentions Palestine as an autonomous district of Syria but describes it geographically, as the country we know today, but also including some adjoining areas in the Sinai and the north, as well as the area east of the river Jordan. Herodotus also adds that southern Palestine sea ports from Cadytis to Jenysus (or Ienysos, modern Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip) were occupied by Arabians (Herodotus 1841: 135).

Dhana ya Herodotus kuhusu Palaistinê ilijumuisha Galilaya na ilitaja Palestina kwa maana pana. Kwa kweli, dhana hii ilihusu eneo la "Levanti kati ya Foinike na Misri" (Jacobson 1999). Dhana hii ya kale kuhusu Palestina pia iliathiri jinsi nchi hiyo ilivyoonyeshwa katika nyakati za kisasa, na ramani ya Palestina ya takriban mwaka 450 KK, kwa mujibu wa Herodotus, ilichorwa upya mwaka 1897 na John Murray, mmoja wa wachapishaji muhimu zaidi na wenye ushawishi mkubwa nchini Uingereza.

Herodotus’ conception of Palaistinê included the Galilee and referred to Palestine in the wider sense. In effect, this conception applied to the region of the ‘Levant between Phoenicia and Egypt’ (Jacobson 1999). This classical conception of Palestine also influenced modern representations of the country and a map of Palestine in c. 450 BC, according to Herodotus, was reconstructed in 1897 by John Murray, one of the most important and influential publishers in Britain.

Wazo pana la Herodotus kuhusu Palestina pia lilionyesha upanuzi wa mkoa wa Idumaea upande wa kusini, baada ya uharibifu wa Edomu ya Enzi ya Chuma uliofanywa na Nabonidus wa Babeli. Baadhi ya wanazuoni walidhani kwamba Waidumea walikuwa na asili ya Kiarabu ya Wanabatea. Kitovu cha Idumaea, kwanza huko Hebroni (al-Khalil) na baadaye kikiwa Lakishi, katika vilima vya kusini, kiliunda mipaka iliyoenea kutoka nyanda za juu za Transyordani hadi Bahari ya Mediterania. Mwaka 132 BK, chini ya Warumi, Idumaea iliunganishwa na mikoa ya Yudea na Galilaya, na neno la Kilatini Palaestina likatumika kurejelea Levanti yote ya kusini.

Herodotus’ wider conception of Palestine also reflected the expansion of the province of Idumaea in the south, following the destruction of Iron Age Edom by the Babylonian Nabonidus. The Idumites were identified by some scholars to be of Nabataean Arab origins. Idumaea’s centre, first in Hebron (al-Khalil) and later centred in Lakish, in the southern foothills, created boundaries stretching from the Transjordan plateau to the Mediterranean. In 132 CE, under the Romans, Idumaea was joined to the provinces of Judaea and the Galilee and the Latin form Palaestina was used to refer to the whole of the southern Levant.

Herodotus alikuwa mwanazuoni wa wakati mmoja na Socrates, na anatajwa sana kama "Baba wa Historia" (Cicero, karne ya 1 KK). Alikuwa mwanahistoria wa kwanza kuchunguza masomo ya kihistoria kwa utaratibu, akipanga vifaa vya kihistoria katika simulizi la kihistoria. Historia za Herodotus (pia zinajulikana kama The History, 1987) ni moja ya maandishi ya kihistoria maarufu zaidi kuhusu chimbuko la Vita vya Wagiriki na Waajemi, maandishi yanayojulikana kwa wasomi, wanahistoria na wanafunzi wa historia duniani kote. Historia sasa inachukuliwa kuwa maandishi ya msingi katika taaluma ya Magharibi. Ni rekodi muhimu ya mapokeo ya kimdomo ya kale, siasa, jiografia na migongano ya mamlaka mbalimbali zilizojulikana huko Ugiriki, Asia ya Magharibi na Afrika Kaskazini. Kuhusu Palestina ya kale na kumbukumbu za majina ya mahali, uandishi wa kisasa wa Kikristo wa Magharibi unategemea kwa sehemu kazi hii ya kawaida ya Herodotus (1987).

Herodotus was a contemporary of Socrates and is widely referred to as ‘the Father of History’ (Cicero, 1st century BC). He was the first historian to systematically investigate historical subjects, arranging material into a historical narrative. Herodotus’ Histories (also known as The History, 1987) is one of the most famous historical texts on the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars, a text known to academics, historians and history students throughout the world. Histories is now considered a foundational text in the Western academy. It serves as a key record of ancient oral traditions, politics, geography and the clashes of various powers that were known in Greece, Western Asia and North Africa. When it comes to ancient Palestine and toponymic memory, modern Western Christian writing relies partly on Herodotus’ classic work (1987).

Katika maandishi haya ya kale (yaliyoandikwa kati ya miaka ya 450 na 420 KK), Herodotus anazungumzia 'wilaya ya Syria, inayoitwa Palaistinê' na kuorodhesha majina ya mahali za Palestina ya kale. Herodotus mwenyewe alitembelea Palestina katika muongo wa tano wa karne ya 5 KK. Alisafiri sana katika 'sehemu ya Syria inayoitwa Palestina, nilioiona mwenyewe',1 na akapata maarifa ya moja kwa moja kuhusu nchi hiyo na watu wake (Jacobson 1999). Herodotus anataja Παλαιστίνη (Palaistinê), Syria, au kwa urahisi Palaistinê, mara nyingi kama eneo linalojumuisha eneo lote kati ya Foinike na Misri (ona pia Herodotus 2014: 724, Ramani 10).

In this classical text (written from the 450s to the 420s BC), Herodotus writes about a ‘district of Syria, called Palaistinê’ and lists place names of ancient Palestine. Herodotus himself visited Palestine in the fifth decade of the 5th century BC. He travelled extensively through ‘the part of Syria called Palestine, I myself saw’,1 and acquired first-hand knowledge of the country and its people (Jacobson 1999). Herodotus refers to Παλαιστίνη (Palaistinê), Syria, or simply Palaistinê, many times as an area comprising the whole region between Phoenicia and Egypt (see also Herodotus 2014: 724, Map 10).

Herodotus' maelezo yanajumuisha miji muhimu na bandari, njia ambayo baadaye iliitwa Via Maris, na maeneo mengine mengi aliyoyaona na kuyarekodi. Anaeleza kwa kina mji wa Ashkelon, bandari ya kale iliyoanzia Enzi ya Mawe Mpya. Wakati wa Herodotus Palestina ilikuwa na dini ya miungu wengi, na kwa sababu hiyo anaeleza kwamba Ashkelon ilikuwa na hekalu la Aphrodite Urania. Jina hili lilimaanisha 'upendo wa mbinguni' na 'wa kiroho', tofauti na upande wa kidunia zaidi wa Aphrodite Pandemos, 'Aphrodite wa watu wote'. Ibada ya Aphrodite Urania ilihusishwa na mwili na roho, na na upendo wa kiroho, uzuri, rutuba, uzazi na starehe, na njiwa zake takatifu bado zilikusanyika juu ya paa za mji huo wakati wa Waroma (Lewin 2005: 156). Ibada ya Aphrodite Urania pia ilihusishwa na bahari, na ilikuwepo katika miji kadhaa ya Palestina, ikiwemo bandari ya kale ya Jaffa, ambayo mara nyingi Wapalestina huiita kwa Kiarabu 'Arus al-Bahr' (Bibi arusi wa Bahari).

Herodotus’ text includes the description of key towns and ports, the road later to be called Via Maris, and many other places he had seen and recorded. He describes in detail the city of Ascalon, an ancient seaport city which dates back to the Neolithic Age. At the time of Herodotus Palestine was polytheistic and he consequently describes Ascalon as having a temple for Aphrodite Urania. This signified ‘celestial love’ and the ‘spiritual’, as distinct from the more earthly aspect of Aphrodite Pandemos, ‘Aphrodite for all the people’. The cult of Aphrodite Urania was associated with body and soul and with spiritual love, beauty, fertility, procreation and pleasure, and its sacred doves still flocked on the roofs of the city in Roman times (Lewin 2005: 156). The cult of Aphrodite Urania was also associated with the sea and existed in several Palestinian cities, including the ancient port city of Jaffa, often referred to in Arabic by Palestinians as ‘Arus al-Bahr’ (Bride of the Sea).

Wanahistoria wa kale wa Ugiriki, Herodotus na Thucydides (takriban 460 – takriban 400

Classical Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides (c. 460–c. 400

BC), tofauti na waandishi wa Agano la Kale, walitaka kutenganisha hadithi za kiasili (muthos) na uhalisia unaotokana na hoja zenye mantiki (logos), pamoja na historia za miungu na historia za binadamu; walipuuza masimulizi ya kisiasa na ya kiasili kwa kupendelea ukweli wa mambo kama yalivyo ardhini. Historia zao pia zilikuwa za kijiografia-kikabila kwa kiasi kikubwa. Jiografia-kabila ni kiini cha simulizi la Herodotus kuhusu Palestina ya kale na wakazi wake. Wanahistoria na wanajiografia wa Kigiriki walifahamu kikamilifu kwamba Bahari ya Mediterania na Bahari Nyekundu zilikuwa njia kuu ya biashara ya kimataifa na chanzo kikubwa cha utajiri kwa Palestina. Herodotus anawataja Waarabu waliokaa katika bandari za Mediterania kusini mwa Palestina (Herodotus 1841: 135) na kaskazini mwa Sinai, waliodhibiti njia ya biashara ya uvumba kutoka Mediterania ya mashariki hadi kusini mwa Arabia, na kupitia Bahari Nyekundu hadi India – yaani Barabara ya Ubani ya Zama za Kale, ambayo ilikuwa mtandao wa njia kuu za biashara za nchi kavu na baharini zilizounganisha ulimwengu wa Mediterania na vyanzo vya mashariki na kusini vya uvumba, viungo na bidhaa nyingine za anasa. Ikianzia katika bandari za Mediterania za Palestina na Misri na kupitia Arabia na kwingineko, ikihusisha Waarabu Wanabatea (na Petra katika kilele chake mwanzoni mwa karne ya 2 BK), biashara ya uvumba ya masafa marefu kupitia nchi kavu ilistawi kati ya karne ya 7 KK na karne ya 2 BK.

BC), in contrast with the authors of the Old Testament, sought to separate myth (muthos) from reality based on reasoned argument (logos) and histories of the gods from histories of humans; they disregarded political and myth-narratives in favour of facts on the ground. Their histories were also strongly geo-ethnographic. Geo-ethnography is central to Herodotus’ account of ancient Palestine and its inhabitants. Greek historians and geographers were fully conscious of the fact that the Mediterranean and Red Seas were a major route of international trade and a major source of wealth for Palestine. Herodotus refers to the Arabs who occupied Mediterranean sea ports in southern Palestine (Herodotus 1841: 135) and north Sinai and controlled the incense trade route from the Eastern Mediterranean to southern Arabia and via the Red Sea to India – the frankincense road of Antiquity which comprised a network of major ancient land and sea trading routes linking the Mediterranean world with eastern and southern sources of incense, spices and other luxury goods. Stretching from the Mediterranean ports of Palestine and Egypt through Arabia and beyond, and involving the Nabataean Arabs (and Petra at its height at the beginning of the 2nd century AD), the long-distance land trade in incense flourished between the 7th century BC and the 2nd century AD.

Hivyo ndivyo Herodotus anavyorekodi mazungumzo yake mengi pamoja na Wafilisti na makundi mengine aliyokutana nayo, pamoja na mambo ya kuvutia aliyojifunza kuhusu maisha yao, kama desturi ya kutahiri wanaume (ambayo awali ilikuwa ya kishirikina) aliyojifunza kutoka kwa Wamisri: "Wasiria waitwao Wapalestina" 'wanakiri kwamba walijifunza desturi ya Wamisri' (Herodotus 1858, Kitabu II, Sura ya 104; 1836, Juzuu 1, Kitabu II: 247). Misri ilikuwa na ushahidi wa kwanza ulioandikwa wa kutahiri wanaume uliotokana na miaka 2345–2182 KK (World Health Organization 2007: 3). David Asheri (1925‒2000), Profesa wa Historia ya Kale katika Chuo Kikuu cha Kiebrania cha Yerusalemu, Mkuu wa Kitivo cha Binadamu (1972‒1975), katika A Commentary on Herodotus, Books 1‒4, anaandika:

Thus Herodotus records his many conversations with the Philistines and other groups he meets, and interesting facts he learnt about their lives, such as the practice of male circumcision (originally polytheistic) learnt from the Egyptians: the ‘Syrians called Palestinians’ ‘confess that they learnt the custom of the Egyptians’ (Herodotus 1858, Book II, Ch. 104; 1836, Vol. 1, Book II: 247). Egypt had the oldest documented evidence for male circumcision dating back to 2345–2182 BC (World Health Organization 2007: 3). David Asheri (1925‒2000), Professor of Ancient History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities (1972‒1975), in A Commentary on Herodotus, Books 1‒4, writes:

"Wasyria walioitwa Wapalestina", wakati wa Herodotus, walikuwa mchanganyiko wa Wafinike, Wafilisti, Waarabu, Wamisri, na pengine pia watu wengine ... Pengine Wasyria walioitwa Wapalestina waliotahiriwa ni Waarabu na Wamisri wa pwani ya Sinai; wakati wa Herodotus kulikuwa na Wayahudi wachache katika eneo la pwani. (Asheri et al. 2007: 402)

the ‘Syrians called Palestinians’, at the time of Herodotus were a mixture of Phoenicians, Philistines, Arabs, Egyptians, and perhaps also other peoples ... Perhaps the circumcised ‘Syrians called Palestinians’ are the Arabs and Egyptians of the Sinai coast; at the time of Herodotus there were few Jews in the coastal area. (Asheri et al. 2007: 402)

Herodotus, ambaye alisafiri sana huko Palestina na Shamu na hata zaidi ya eneo la pwani, hataji Yudea wala kutaja Wayahudi. Hataji maneno kama Kana'ani au Wakanaani au Waisraeli huko Palestina; wala haelezi kuwepo kwa imani ya Mungu mmoja katika nchi hiyo. Kwanza, kama ushahidi wa kiakiolojia unavyoonyesha, imani ya Mungu mmoja ilikuwa maendeleo ya baadaye sana huko Palestina na Mashariki ya Karibu (Masalha 2007). Pili, pia ni jambo la maana kwamba mafundisho mengi ya kidini na kiitikadi ya Agano la Kale yalijitokeza karne nyingi baada ya Herodotus.

Herodotus, who travelled widely in Palestine and Syria and beyond the coastal region, does not mention Judaea or refer to Jews. He does not mention terms such Cana’an or Canaanites or Israelites in Palestine; nor does he describe monotheism in the country. First, as archaeological evidence shows, monotheism was a much later development in Palestine and the Near East (Masalha 2007). Second, also significantly, many of the Old Testament religio-ideological dogmas evolved centuries after Herodotus.

Kwa kushangaza, majina ya kale ya Kifilisti na Kigiriki ya maeneo Palaistinê, Tantur (Tantura) na Ascalon (‘Asqalan) yalihifadhiwa katika mapokeo ya Kiarabu ya Palestina na kwa wanahistoria, wanajiografia na wasafiri wa Kiarabu wa zama za kati. "Ascalan" ilijulikana kwa Wapalestina kama ‘Asqalan (au Majdal ‘Asqalan), ambayo wakazi wake waliondolewa na jeshi la Israel mwaka 1950 (Masalha 1997). Hii inaonyesha kwamba, kwa ujumla, majina ya kienyeji ya vijiji na miji ya Palestina yalibaki thabiti katika historia ya kale, ya zama za kati na ya kisasa ya Palestina.

Interestingly the ancient Philistine and Greek toponyms for Palaistinê, Tantur (Tantura) and Ascalon (‘Asqalan) were preserved in local Palestinian Arab tradition and by medieval Arab historians, geographers and travellers, and ‘Ascalan’ became known to the Palestinians as ‘Asqalan (or Majdal ‘Asqalan), depopulated by the Israel army in 1950 (Masalha 1997). This shows how, by and large, the local names of Palestinian villages and towns were fairly stable throughout the ancient, medieval and modern history of Palestine.