Mwanasayansi mwingine mkubwa wa ulimwengu wa Kihelenistiki, mchora ramani na mwandishi wa Alexandria mwenye ushawishi mkubwa Ptolemy: Claudius Ptolemaeus (takriban mwaka 100 BK–takriban mwaka 170 BK)

Another giant of the Hellenistic world, the highly influential Alexandrian cartographer and writer Ptolemy: Claudius Ptolemaeus (c. AD 100–c. 170)

Ramani ya kwanza inayojulikana kuelezea Palestina ilitolewa na Ptolemy, ambaye alitofautisha wazi kati ya kile kinachoitwa Syria-Coele, Foinike na Palestina, jambo linalothibitisha kwamba Palestina ilifikiriwa na kushughulikiwa kama chombo tofauti na huru. Jina la mahali Syria-Coele au Coele-Syria (Kigiriki: Κοίλη Συρία, Koíle Syría; Kilatini: Cava Syria; Kiingereza: Hollow-Syria) mara nyingi huchanganywa au kulinganishwa na baadhi ya wanahistoria na neno la kisasa lililobuniwa, ‘Syria ya Kusini’ (k.m. Cohen 2006: 41). Mkakati huu unalenga kwa sehemu kuficha uwepo wa Palestina ya kihistoria kama kitengo cha kijiografia-kisiasa, na hivyo kukana matumizi yaliyoenea ya neno Palestina katika kipindi chote cha Kale ya Kawaida.

produced the first known map to describe Palestine; Ptolemy clearly distinguished between the so-called Syria-Coele, Phoenicia and Palestine, proving the latter was conceived and treated as a separate and autonomous entity. The toponym Syria-Coele or Coele-Syria (Greek: Κοίλη Συρία, Koíle Syría; Latin: Cava Syria; English: Hollow-Syria) is often confounded or equated by some historians with the modern invented term ‘Southern Syria’ (e.g. Cohen 2006: 41). This strategy is partly designed to camouflage the existence of historic Palestine as a geo-political unit, thereby denying the widespread use of the term Palestine throughout Classical Antiquity.

Kinachotafsiriwa kama Coelosyria na Celesyria, Coele-Syria ilikuwa jina la kijiografia la eneo moja nchini Syria katika Zama za Kale za Kigiriki na Kirumi. Ingawa neno Coele lenyewe huenda lilikuwa unukuzi wa neno la Kiaramu kul, maana yake ni yote (kwa Kiarabu kul).

Rendered as Coelosyria and Celesyria, Coele-Syria was a geographical designation of a region in Syria in Classical Antiquity. Although the term Coele itself was possibly a transcription of the Aramaic kul, all (Arabic kul)

ya eneo la Shamu, neno hilo lilipata maana tofauti kabisa katika lugha zote mbili, Kigiriki na Kilatini: Cava Syria au Shamu-Tupu. Jambo la muhimu ni kwamba mara nyingi lilitumika kwa maana finyu zaidi kumaanisha Bonde la Beqaa la Lebanon (Naturalis Historia ya Pliny Mzee, Kitabu V (takriban 78 BK; Sartre 1988) na baadaye kwa mkoa wa Kirumi wa Syria-Coele kaskazini mwa Shamu.

of the region of Syria, the term actually acquired a different meaning in both Greek and Latin: Cava Syria or Hollow-Syria. Crucially, it was often applied in a narrower sense to the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon (Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia, Book V (c. 78 AD; Sartre 1988) and later to the Roman province of Syria-Coele in northern Syria.

Baada ya kuanguka kwa Dola ya Makedonia ya Iskanda Mkuu mnamo mwaka 323 KK, wafalme wa Kihelenistiki wa Seleucid na Ptolemy walipigania Palestina.

After the collapse of the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great in 323 BC the Hellenistic Seleucid and Ptolemaic kings fought over Palestine.

Hata hivyo, matumizi rasmi ya jina Coele-Syria yalianza kujitokeza wakati fulani katika kipindi cha Milki ya Seleucid ya Kigiriki (Cohen 2006: 4I), ambayo ilikuwepo kuanzia mwaka 312 KK hadi 63 KK. Milki za Seleucid na Ptolemaic zilianza baada ya kuanguka kwa milki ya Alexander Mkuu, na zikafifia kadiri Roma ilivyoinuka katika karne ya 1 KK. Milki ya Seleucid, ambayo mji wake mkuu ulikuwa Antiokia, ilikuwa kitovu kikubwa cha utamaduni wa Kigiriki ambacho kiliendeleza ukuu wa desturi za Kigiriki pale ambapo tabaka tawala la Kigiriki lilitawala, hasa katika maeneo ya mijini.

However, the official use of the name Coele-Syria emerged at some stage in the period of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire (Cohen 2006: 4I), which existed from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires began after the collapse of the empire of Alexander the Great and faded away with the rise of Rome in the 1st century BC. The Seleucid Empire, whose capital was Antioch, was a major centre of Hellenistic culture that maintained the pre-eminence of Greek customs where Greek political elites dominated, mostly in the urban areas.

Hata hivyo, wanahistoria wa Kigiriki, wakimfuata Herodotus, kwa ujumla walitofautisha wazi kati ya Coele-Syria na Palaestina, ingawa hawakukubaliana kuhusu mpaka kamili kati ya vitengo hivyo viwili vya kijiografia na kisiasa.3 Neno Coele-Syria lilitumiwa na baadhi ya wanahistoria wa Zama za Kale za Kawaida kwa maana pana zaidi, kuashiria 'Syria yote' au 'Syria yote bila Foinike' (Cohen 2006: 41), na na wanajiografia na wanahistoria wa Kigiriki kuashiria 'Syria yote isipokuwa Palestina'. Hili lilijumuisha Ptolemy, ambaye vizazi vya baadaye vya wanajiografia na wanasayansi Waarabu vilimtaja kwa jina lake la Kiarabu: Batlymus. Ramani ya dunia ya Ptolemy ni ramani ya dunia iliyojulikana kwa jamii ya Kihelenistiki katika karne ya 2. Imetokana na maelezo yaliyomo katika Jiografia ya Ptolemy, iliyoandikwa karibu mwaka 150. Kazi hii, ambayo ilipotea kwa Magharibi kwa karne nyingi, ilijulikana kwa Waarabu na Wabyzantine.

However Greek historians, following Herodotus, by and large made a clear distinction between Coele-Syria and Palaestina, although they were not in agreement as to the exact boundary between the two geo-political units.3 The term Coele-Syria was used by some historians in Classical Antiquity in a wider sense to indicate ‘all Syria’ or ‘all Syria without Phoenicia’ (Cohen 2006: 41) and by Greek geographers and historians to indicate ‘all Syria with the exception of Palestine’. This included Ptolemy, to whom later generations of Arab geographers and scientists referred using his name in Arabic: Batlymus. Ptolemy’s world map is a map of the world known to Hellenistic society in the 2nd century. It is based on the description contained in Ptolemy’s Geography, written c. 150. This work, which had been lost to the West for centuries, was known to the Arabs and Byzantines.

Ilifikishwa Italia mwishoni mwa karne ya 14 na kutafsiriwa kwa Kilatini huko Florence (Edson 2007). Ramani ya dunia ya Ptolemy ilitofautisha wazi kati ya Palaestina na Syria-Coele, Phenecia (takriban Lebanon ya leo).

It was brought to Italy in the late 14th century and translated into Latin in Florence (Edson 2007). Ptolemy’s world map made a clear distinction between Palaestina and Syria-Coele, Phenecia (roughly modern Lebanon)

kama nchi tatu tofauti kabisa. Kama tutakavyoona hapa chini, mkoa mpya wa Syria-Palaestina uliobuniwa baadaye na Mfalme Hadrian mwaka 135 BK ulikuwa tofauti na mkoa wa Kirumi wa Syria-Coele uliobuniwa mwaka 193 BK upande wa kaskazini mwa Syria.

as three completely distinct countries. As we shall see below, the new province of Syria-Palaestina created later by Emperor Hadrian in 135 AD was distinct from the Roman province of Syria-Coele created in 193 AD in the north of Syria.

Tofauti hii muhimu iliyofanywa na Ptolemy kati ya nchi tatu, Palaestina, Coele-Syria na Phoenicia, ilikuwa na athari kubwa, na iliathiri namna wanahistoria, wanajiografia, wachora ramani, wasafiri, mahujaji na wanaotafuta hadithi za mapenzi wa baadaye walivyorudia tofauti kama hizo. Katika karne ya pili kabla ya Kristo hili lilidhihirika katika kazi ya Agatharchides, au Agatharchus wa Knidos (katika Uturuki ya leo). Agatharchides alikuwa mtu mashuhuri wa kisiasa wa wakati wake, na alihudumu kama mlezi wa mmoja wa wana wa Ptolemy. Katika kuandika hotuba zake, Agatharchides aliiga Thucydides, ambaye alilingana naye kwa hadhi na kumzidi kwa uwazi. Ramani ya dunia ya Ptolemy, pamoja na tofauti kati ya nchi za Palaestina, Coele-Syria na Phenecia, ilitajwa moja kwa moja au kwa njia isiyo ya moja kwa moja na Strabo, Pliny Mzee, Diodorus Siculus, na Josephus na Philo wa Alexandria.

This crucial distinction made by Ptolemy between the three countries, Palaestina, Coele-Syria and Phoenicia, was hugely influential and impacted on the way future historians, geographers, cartographers, travellers, pilgrims and romance seekers would reproduce similar distinctions. In the 2nd century BC this was evident in the work of Agatharchides or Agatharchus of Knidos (in modern Turkey). Agatharchides was an important political figure of his time, and served as a guardian to one of Ptolemy’s sons. In composing his speeches Agatharchides was an imitator of Thucydides, whom he equalled in dignity and excelled in clarity. Ptolemy’s world map – and the distinction between the countries of Palaestina, Coele-Syria and Phenecia – was cited directly or indirectly by Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Diodorus Siculus, and Josephus and Philo of Alexandria.

Kama tutakavyoona hapa chini, Filastin na Palaestina pia zinapatikana kwenye ramani za dunia za wanajiografia Muhammad al-Idrisi, Pietro Vesconte, Marino Sanudo na Fra Mauro katika karne ya 12, 14 na 15. Bila shaka, "ramani za dunia" hazikuwa tu uwakilishi wa nafasi na uhalisia; zilibuniwa kwa madhumuni ya vitendo ya biashara na urambazaji, na kwa matumizi ya wafanyabiashara na mahujaji waendao sehemu takatifu. Ramani za dunia mara nyingi zilionyesha na kutimiza nguvu, na zilitengenezwa kwa ajili ya falme na wajenzi wa dola. Ramani ya dunia ya Ptolemy haikuwa tofauti; ilitengenezwa, ikanakiliwa na kurekebishwa ili kukuza ajenda za kisiasa za madola mbalimbali kwa karne nyingi. Ramani hiyo ilitumika kwanza kupanua Dola ya Roma. Katika karne ya 9 Jiografia ya Ptolemy na ramani yake zilitafsiriwa kutoka Kigiriki kwenda Kiarabu, na zilichangia katika ramani za kusahihisha za al-Khawarizmi (780–takriban 850) katika eneo la Mediterania, Mashariki ya Kati, Afrika na Asia. Kazi yake ya kisayansi na ramani yake ya dunia ya kijiografia zilitumika kuhudumia biashara ya kimataifa ya Waislamu na Dola ya Abbasi yenye makao yake Baghdad. Mwishoni mwa karne ya 19 ramani ya Ptolemy ilinakiliwa na Claude Reignier Conder, wa Mfuko wa Uchunguzi wa Palestina wa Uingereza, na ikatumiwa kuendeleza matarajio ya kifalme ya Uingereza katika Mashariki ya Karibu na Palestina.

As we shall see below, Filastin and Palaestina are also found on the world maps of cartographers Muhammad al-Idrisi, Pietro Vesconte, Marino Sanudo and Fra Mauro in the 12th, 14th and 15th centuries. Of course, ‘world maps’ were not just about representations of space and reality, they were designed for practical purposes of traffic and navigation and for the use of traders and pilgrims to the holy places; world maps often provided an expression and fulfilment of power and were produced for empires and state-builders. Ptolemy’s world map was no exception; it was produced, reproduced and revised to promote the political agendas of different powers across many centuries. The map was first used to expand the Roman Empire. In the 9th century Ptolemy’s Geography and map were translated from Greek into Arabic and played a role in the corrective cartography of al-Khawarizmi (780–c. 850) in the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and his scientific work and geographic world map was used in the service of the Muslim global trade and the Baghdad-based Abbasid state. In the late 19th century Ptolemy’s map was reproduced by Claude Reignier Conder, of the British Palestine Exploration Fund, and used to advance British imperial ambitions in the Near East and Palestine.