Katika zama za Kirumi, mkoa (Kilatini: provincia, wingi provinciae) ulikuwa kitengo cha msingi cha eneo na utawala, na hadi mwaka 293 BK ulikuwa kitengo kikubwa zaidi cha dola.

In Roman times, a province (Latin: provincia, pl. provinciae) was the basic and, until 293 AD, largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire.

Jimbo la Kirumi kwa maana ya kisasa lilikuwa kitengo rasmi cha utawala chenye mipaka ya kijiografia. Majimbo kwa kawaida yalitawaliwa na wanasiasa wa cheo cha useneta, yaani mabalozi wa zamani (consuls) au makamanda wakuu wa jeshi. Warumi pia walitofautisha aina mbili za majimbo: majimbo madogo, au majimbo ya kiprocuratori, kama vile Yudea katika karne ya 1 BK, na majimbo makubwa, au majimbo ya kiprokonsuli, kama vile majimbo ya kiprokonsuli kama 'Syria Palaestina' baada ya mwaka 135 BK.

A Roman provincia in the modern sense was a geographically defined official administrative unit. Provinces were generally governed by politicians of senatorial rank, former consuls or top army commanders. The Romans also distinguished between two types of provinces: minor provinces, or procuratorial provinces, such as Judaea in 1st century AD, and major provinces, or proconsular provinces, such proconsular provinces like ‘Syria Palaestina’ after 135 AD.

Mwaka 135 BK, Mfalme wa Roma Hadrian (Hadrianus; alitawala 117–138

In 135 AD, the Roman Emperor Hadrian (Hadrianus; reigned 117–138

Mnamo mwaka wa 135 BK, Warumi walijumuisha rasmi mkoa mdogo wa Warumi (wa kiutawala wa procurator) wa Iudaea, unaojumuisha Yudea na Samaria, pamoja na Filistia ya kale, Galilaya upande wa kaskazini na Idumaea upande wa kusini, na kuunda mkoa mpya mkubwa (wa kiutawala wa proconsul) wa ‘Syria Palaestina’. Kwa mujibu wa baadhi ya vyanzo, mkoa mpya uliundwa baada ya kushindwa kijeshi kwa uasi wa Wayahudi wa Bar-Kochba mwaka wa 135 BK. Miaka minne baadaye, jina rasmi la mkoa mpya wa ‘Syria Palaest[ina]’ lilitajwa katika hati ya kijeshi ya Kirumi ya mwaka 139 BK, iliyotolewa kwa huduma ya kijeshi. Hati hiyo ni ‘bamba la shaba la mstatili’ lililogunduliwa ‘Palestina karibu na Nazareti’ mwishoni mwa karne ya 19, na lilionyeshwa katika Jumba la Makumbusho la Louvre (de Villefosse 1897). Hati hizi za kijeshi, zilizotolewa na Mfalme wa Roma na kuhifadhiwa katika kumbukumbu za kijeshi za Roma, ziliandikwa kwa shaba kuthibitisha kwamba mmiliki wake aliachiliwa kutoka jeshi la Kirumi na alipewa uraia wa Kirumi pamoja na haki zake, kama zawadi kwa huduma ya kijeshi. Mbali na ushahidi huu wa kijeshi, ushahidi wa kwanza wa sarafu kwa mkoa wa Syria-Palaestina unatoka kipindi cha Marcus Aurelius, Mfalme kuanzia mwaka 161 hadi 180 BK. Hata hivyo, mkoa mpya wa ‘Syria Palaestina’ haupaswi kuchanganywa na Syria yote ya Kirumi – kama baadhi ya wanahistoria wanavyofanya – wala na mkoa tofauti wa Kirumi wa Syria-Coele katika sehemu za kaskazini mwa Syria, wala na Foinike ya Kirumi (Lebanoni ya leo).

AD) officially combined the minor Roman (procuratorial) province of Iudaea (comprising Judaea and Samaria) with the old Philistia, the Galilee in the north and Idumaea in the south to form a new major (proconsular) province of ‘Syria Palaestina’. According to some accounts the new province was created following the military defeat of the Jewish revolt of Bar-Kochba in 135 AD. Four years later the official designation of the new province of ‘Syria Palaest[ina]’ was given in a 139 AD Roman military diploma granted for military service – ‘a rectangular bronze tablet’ which was ‘discovered in Palestine near Nazareth’ in the late 19th century and was exhibited at the Louvre Museum (de Villefosse 1897). Issued by the Roman Emperor and lodged in the military archive of Rome, these military certificates were inscribed in bronze confirming that the holder was discharged from the Roman armed forces and had received the grant of Roman citizenship with its privileges, as a reward for military service. In addition to this military evidence, the first numismatic evidence for the province of Syria-Palaestina comes from the period of Marcus Aurelius, Emperor from 161 to 180. However, the new province of ‘Syria Palaestina’ should not be conflated with Roman Syria as a whole – as some historians do – or with either the separate Roman province of Syria-Coele in the northern parts of Syria or Roman Phoenicia (modern Lebanon).

Mtazamo wa Waroma (na wa Hadrian) kuhusu Palestina haukuwa na uhusiano wowote na simulizi za Biblia wala simulizi ya Agano la Kale kuhusu 'Wafilisti'. Kwa Hadrian, mbali na mchanganyiko wa mahesabu ya kisiasa na kijeshi-kimkakati baada ya kushindwa kwa uasi wa Bar-Kochba mwaka 135, ni lazima pia kuzingatiwa mambo ya kihistoria na kijiografia yaliyosababisha Waroma kuipandisha hadhi rasmi Palaestina mwanzoni mwa karne ya pili. Baada ya yote, Mfalme Hadrian alichagua jina la miaka 1000 iliyopita la Philistia, jina la kisiasa-kijiografia lililotumiwa zaidi kuielezea Palestina na wanajiografia na wanahistoria wa Kigiriki, muda mrefu kabla hadithi za Agano la Kale hazijaundwa; na Hadrian aliiunganisha Palestina na sehemu za kusini za Syria.

The Roman (and Hadrian’s) conception of Palestine had nothing to do with any biblical narratives or the Old Testament narrative of the ‘Philistines’. For Hadrian, in addition to a combination of political and military-strategic calculations following the defeat of the Bar-Kochba rebellion in 135, the historical-geographic considerations behind the official upgrading of Palaestina by the Romans in the early 2nd century should also be taken into account. After all, Emperor Hadrian chose the 1000-year-old name of Philistia, the most common geo-political designation for Palestine used by Greek geographers and historians, long before the Old Testament stories were put together; and Hadrian combined Palestine with the southern parts of Syria.

Jina la Kigiriki la nchi Palaistine na jina la Kilatini Palaestina vilitajwa mara kwa mara na kwa kurudiwa katika fasihi ya kale, na na wanahistoria na washairi wa Kigiriki na Kirumi wa zamani, wakirejelea nchi iliyo kati ya Misri na Foinike. Mabadiliko ya Palestine – kutoka Philistia hadi Palaestina – si ya kushangaza iwapo tutazingatia kwamba mshairi wa Kirumi wa mwanzoni mwa karne ya 1 BK, Ovid, mmoja wa washairi wa kanuni wa fasihi ya Kilatini, alitaja mara kwa mara neno Palaestina na kivumishi Palaestino (Mpalestina) katika Metamorphoses na mashairi mengine yake ya kishairi.1 Katika Ars Amatoria ('Sanaa ya Mapenzi') Ovid pia alitaja 'sikukuu ya siku ya saba ambayo Msiria wa Palestina [Palaestino Syro] anaifuata', akimrejelea wafuasi wa Uyahudi huko Palestina, ambao katika karne ya 1 BK walikuwa mojawapo ya makundi mengi ya kidini nchini humo. Ovid na waandishi wengine wa Kirumi hawakulifunga neno Palaestina na Palaestino kwenye eneo la pwani linalojulikana kama Philitia, bali walijumuisha pia sehemu ya ndani ya nchi. Kwa takriban mwaka 90 BK, mwandishi mwingine maarufu wa Kigiriki na Kirumi wa karne ya 1, Dio Chrysostom (takriban 40–takriban 115

The Greek name for the country Palaistine and the Latin name Palaestina were frequently and repeatedly cited in classical literature and by classical Greek and Roman historians and poets with reference to the country between Egypt and Phoenicia. The metamorphosis of Palestine – from Philistia to Palaestina – is not surprising when considering that the early 1st century Roman poet Ovid, one of the canonical poets of Latin literature, repeatedly invoked the term Palaestina and adjective Palaestino (Palestinian) in Metamorphoses and his other epic poems.1 In Ars Amatoria (‘The Art of Love’) Ovid also mentioned ‘the seventh-day feast that the Syrian of Palestine [Palaestino Syro] observes’, with reference to followers of Judaism in Palestine, who were in the 1st century AD one of the many religious groups in the country. Ovid and other Roman writers did not confine the term Palaestina and Palaestino to the coastal region known as Philitia, but included the interior of the country. In c. 90 AD another famous 1st century Greco-Roman author, Dio Chrysostom (c. 40–c. 115

AD), mzungumzaji mashuhuri, mwanafalsafa na mwanahistoria wa Dola ya Roma (alizaliwa Prusa, eneo la Uturuki ya leo), alinukuliwa na Sinesius – askofu wa Kigiriki wa Ptolemais, katika Libya ya leo, mwanzoni mwa karne ya 4 – akitaja Bahari ya Chumvi kuwa iko ‘ndani ya Palestina’ (Dio Chrysostom 1951, Vol. 5: 378‒379).

AD), an orator, philosopher, historian of the Roman Empire (born at Prusa, present-day Turkey), was quoted by Synesius – Greek bishop of Ptolemais, in modern Libya, in the early 4th century – referring to the Dead Sea as located ‘in the interior of Palestine’ (Dio Chrysostom 1951, Vol. 5: 378‒379).

Mshairi mwingine wa Kirumi wa karne ya kwanza BK, Publius Papinius Statius, katika Silvae, anataja 'liquores Palaestini' (divai ya Palestina) (Zeiner 2005: 104; Feldman 1996: 565), ambayo ilizalishwa kwa wingi na ilijulikana sana katika eneo lote la Mediterania. Umaarufu wake ulitokana kwa kiasi fulani na matumizi ya viungo vya Kusini mwa Arabia na mimea ya huko, pamoja na Balsam yenye harufu nzuri ya Palestina, katika utengenezaji wa divai nchini Palestina na katika eneo la Kiarabu kwa ujumla, jambo ambalo Statius aliliita liquores Arabes (Zeiner 2005: 104). Katika kipindi kilichofuata cha Ubyzantini, uzalishaji mkubwa wa Palaestini liquores katika Palaestina kubwa ulisababisha biashara ya kimataifa ya bidhaa hiyo, na divai ya Palestina ikasafirishwa kote katika eneo la Mediterania na Mashariki ya Karibu. Ingawa ilikatazwa kidini, aina ya ushairi wa divai (al-Khamriyyat) ikawa mada inayojirudia katika ushairi wa Kiarabu wa kitambo wa kipindi cha Abbasi cha Zama za Kati. Mbinu za kale za kutengeneza divai ziliendelea kuwepo Palestina hadi kipindi cha kisasa, ilhali kichaka cha balsam kiliripotiwa kulimwa Galilaya mwanzoni mwa karne ya 19 (Burckhardt 1822: 323).

Another classical Roman poet of the 1st century AD, Publius Papinius Statius, in the Silvae, refers to ‘liquores Palaestini’ (Palestinian wine) (Zeiner 2005: 104; Feldman 1996: 565), which was produced in large quantities and was widely known throughout the Mediterranean region. Its fame was partly derived from the application of south Arabian spices and local herbs and the Palestinian aromatic Balsam2 to wine-making in Palestine and the Arab region as a whole, something which Statius called liquores Arabes (Zeiner 2005: 104). In the course of the subsequent Byzantine period, large-scale production of Palaestini liquores in greater Palaestina led to international commerce in the commodity, and Palestinian wine was exported around the Mediterranean region and in the Near East. Although religiously discouraged, the genre of wine poetry (al-Khamriyyat) became a recurring theme in classical Arabic poetry of the Abbasid period in the Middle Ages. Ancient methods of wine-making survived in Palestine into the modern period, while the balsam shrub was reported to be cultivated in the Galilee in the early 19th century (Burckhardt 1822: 323).

Jina la kiutawala la mkoa mpya, ‘Syria Palaestina’, karibu hakika lilichochewa na kazi za wanahistoria, wanajiografia na washairi wa kale wa Ugiriki na Roma, ambao walichangia pakubwa katika kueneza na kupanua jina Palaestina tangu kazi ya Herodotus katika karne ya 5 KK. Hadrian, anayeonwa na wengi kuwa mwanabinadamu wa kuiga mtindo wa zama za kale na mmoja wa Maliki wa Roma waliokuwa wakuu na mashuhuri zaidi, alipenda utamaduni, historia-andishi na fasihi ya Kigiriki (Birley 1997). Wakati wa utawala wake, alisafiri sana pamoja na jeshi la Roma na kutembelea karibu kila mkoa wa dola, ikiwa ni pamoja na Palestina. Akiwa mpenzi wa Uhelenishaji wa kitamaduni, alitaka kuifanya Athene kuwa mji mkuu wa kitamaduni wa dola na aliamuru ujengwe kwa wingi mahekalu ya kifahari mjini humo. Hadrian alikuwa amehudumu kama Gavana wa Syria, jambo lililompa ufahamu wa karibu wa eneo hilo (Birley 1997: 75). Alikuwa amepitia Palestina na kuitembelea Gaza – mji wenye nguvu zaidi wa Filistia ya kale – alipokuwa njiani kuelekea Misri mwaka 130 BK: ‘Gaza ilianza kuweka tarehe kwenye sarafu zake kwa kutumia enzi mpya iliyoanza na kuwasili kwa Hadrian, ambayo inaweza kubainishwa hadi Julai. Sherehe ya “Hadrian” pia ilianzishwa huko’ (Birley 1997:

The administrative name of the new province, ‘Syria Palaestina’, was almost certainly inspired by the works of classical Greek and Roman historians, geographers and poets who had contributed so much to the spread and popularisation of the name Palaestina since the work of Herodotus in the 5th century BC. Considered by many to have been a classicising humanist, and one of the greatest and most accomplished of the Roman Emperors, Hadrian was fond of Greek culture, historiography and literature (Birley 1997). During his reign, he travelled extensively with the Roman military and visited nearly every province of the empire, including Palestine. An admirer of cultural Hellenisation, he sought to make Athens the cultural capital of the empire and ordered the construction of many opulent temples in the city. Hadrian had served as the Governor of Syria, giving him an intimate knowledge of the region (Birley 1997: 75). He had travelled through Palestine and visited Gaza – the most powerful city of old Philistia – on his way to Egypt in 130 AD: ‘Gaza began dating its coinage by a new era beginning with Hadrian’s arrival, which can be narrowed down to July. A “Hadrian festival” was also founded there’ (Birley 1997:

234). Safari ya Hadrian ilichochea zaidi utamaduni wa kuiga mtindo wa kale wa Kigiriki katika jiji hilo, pamoja na ujenzi wa mahekalu mengi ya Kigiriki huko.

234). Hadrian’s trip further encouraged the classicising culture of the city and the building of many Greek temples there.

Kasi ambayo jina jipya la jimbo la kiutawala la 'Syria Palaestina' lilikubalika kwa haraka linaonekana wazi si tu kwa wanahistoria na wanajiografia wa Kirumi wa kiserikali ambao mara nyingi walitetea hali iliyopo, bali pia kwa wanatheolojia wa awali wa Kikristo wenye makao yao Palestina, ambao mara nyingi walikuwa wenye msimamo mkali wa kifalsafa na wa kisiasa wa kupinga utawala uliopo. Mwanahistoria wa Kigiriki na Kirumi Appian wa Alexandria (takriban 95–takriban 165 BK), aliyeishi kabla, wakati wote na baada ya utawala wa Hadrian, aliandika katika Utangulizi wake wa Historia Romana (takriban 150 BK):

The speed with which the new name of the administrative province of ‘Syria Palaestina’ was widely adopted is evident in its use not only by establishment Roman historians and geographers who often defended the status quo, but also among Palestine-based early Christian apologists who were often philosophically radical and politically subversive. Greco-Roman historian Appian of Alexandria (c. 95–c. 165 AD), who flourished before, throughout and after the reign of Hadrian, wrote in his Preface to Historia Romana (c. 150 AD):

Nikikusudia kuandika historia ya Warumi, nimeona ni vyema kuanza kwa kueleza mipaka ya mataifa yaliyo chini ya utawala wao ... Hapa, baada ya Misri, tunageuza njia yetu na kuchukua Palestina-Syria, na zaidi yake sehemu ya Arabia. Wafoinike wanashika nchi iliyo karibu na Palestina kando ya bahari, na zaidi ya eneo la Wafoinike ziko Coele-Syria, pamoja na sehemu zinazonyoosha kutoka baharini mpaka ndani ya nchi hadi mto Furati, yaani Palmira na jangwa la mchanga lililoko kuzunguka, likienea hadi kufikia Furati yenyewe.3

Intending to write the history of the Romans, I have deemed it best to begin with the boundaries of the nations under their sway ... Here [after Egypt] turning our course we take in Palestine-Syria, and beyond it a part of Arabia. The Phoenicians hold the country next to Palestine on the sea, and beyond the Phoenician territory are Coele-Syria, and the parts stretching from the sea as far inland as the river Euphrates, namely Palmyra and the sandy country round about, extending even to the Euphrates itself.3

Aina mpya ya utetezi wa Ukristo wa mapema ililenga kuitetea dini mpya kwa maneno ya kifalsafa, na kulinganisha Ukristo na falsafa ya Kigiriki. Miongoni mwa watetezi wa Ukristo wa mapema walikuwepo waandishi maarufu wenye makao yao huko Palestina, kama vile Justin Mfia Dini na Origen. Justin Mfia Dini alizaliwa katika familia ya kipagani huko Flavia Neapolis (Nablus), mji uliokuwa wakati huo ukizungumza zaidi Kigiriki, katika Mkoa wa Kirumi wa Syria-Palaestina (Parvis 2008). Wakati huo, Flavia Neapolis pia ilikuwa kitovu chenye kustawi cha falsafa ya Kigiriki na Uplatoni.

The new genre of early Christian apologetics focused on defending the new religion in philosophical terms and on equating Christianity with Greek philosophy. Early Christian apologists included prominent Palestine-based writers such Justine the Martyr and Origen. Justine the Martyr was born to a pagan family in Flavia Neapolis (Nablus), then a largely Greek-speaking town in the Roman Province of Syria-Palaestina (Parvis 2008). At the time, Flavia Neapolis was also a flourishing centre of Greek philosophy and Platonism.

Leo Justine anatambuliwa kuwa mfasiri mkuu wa dhana ya Kigiriki-Kikristo ya *logos* katika karne ya 2 BK (Rokeah 2002: 22). Baada ya kusilimu kuwa Mkristo, Justine alisafiri hadi Roma wakati wa utawala wa Antoninus Pius (138‒161 BK), akaanzisha shule yake mwenyewe ya falsafa ya Kikristo. Justine alikatwa kichwa huko Roma. Akiwa ameelekeza kazi yake kwa Antoninus, wanawe na Baraza la Seneti la Roma, *Apology* yake ya Kwanza (takriban 155 BK) ilitetea kwa shauku maadili ya imani ya Kikristo, na ilitoa hoja mbalimbali za kimaadili na kifalsafa ili kuwashawishi mamlaka za Roma waache kuwatesa wafuasi wa dhehebu hilo changa. Katika utangulizi wa *Apology* ya Kwanza, Justin pia anataja mji wake wa asili, ‘Flavia Neapolis huko Palestina’.4

Today Justine is regarded as the foremost interpreter of the concept of the Greco-Christian logos in the 2nd century AD (Rokeah 2002: 22). Following his conversion to Christianity Justine travelled to Rome during the reign of Antoninus Pius (138‒161 AD) and started his own Christian philosophical school. Justine was beheaded in Rome. Addressed to Antoninus, his sons and the Roman Senate, his First Apology (c. 155 AD) passionately defended the morality of the Christian faith and provided various ethical and philosophical arguments to convince the Roman authorities to abandon their persecution of the fledgling sect. In the introduction to the First Apology Justin also refers to his native city ‘Flavia Neapolis in Palestine’.4

Jina rasmi la mkoa wa ‘Syria Palaestina’ pamoja na neno Palaestina viliendelea kwa miaka mingi kutumiwa sana na kwa kubadilishana na waandishi wa asili ya Kipalestina, na pia na waandishi, wanajiografia, wanahistoria na watawala wa Kirumi na Kigiriki, kurejelea eneo lililo kati ya Bahari ya Mediterania na Mto Yordani. Warumi walikuza zaidi ukuaji wa miji huko Palestina, na mkoa wa ‘Syria Palaestina’ wenyewe ulikuwa na mtandao wa barabara uliopangwa vizuri na mfumo bora wa usafiri, ikiwa ni vipengele vya msingi vya utawala sahihi wa kifalme. Umuhimu wa Provincia Palaestina unaonekana kutokana na ukweli kwamba Warumi walitumia rasilimali kubwa katika miundombinu ya miji na mfumo wa usafiri wa nchi hiyo, katika nguvu kazi na ujuzi wa kiteknolojia wa ujenzi wa barabara. Katika sehemu kubwa ya kipindi hiki cha Provincia Palaestina ya Kirumi, Yerusalemu ulitumika kama mojawapo ya vitovu viwili vya utawala na utamaduni wa nchi hiyo – kitovu kingine kikiwa mji wa Kaisaria-Palaestina – na kuwa makao ya Gavana wa Kirumi na mahakama ya kifalme.

Both the official administrative name of the province of ‘Syria Palaestina’ and the term Palaestina continued for many years to be widely and interchangeably used by native Palestinian and Roman and Greek writers, geographers, historians and imperial administrators to refer to the area between the Mediterranean Sea and River Jordan. The Romans promoted further urbanisation in Palestine and the province of ‘Syria Palaestina’ itself had a well-organised road network and an efficient traffic system as basic elements of proper imperial administration. The importance of Provincia Palaestina can be seen by the fact that the Romans invested great resources in the urban infrastructure and transport system of the country, in labour and technological skill in road building. During much of this period of Roman Provincia Palaestina Jerusalem served as one of the two administrative and cultural hubs of the country – the other one being the city of Caesarea-Palaestina – and the seat of the Roman Governor and the royal court.

Ikiendelea na mapokeo marefu ya Kihelenistiki ya kubadilisha majina ya mahali na majina ya watu huko Palestina – mapokeo ambayo yalifuatwa kwa bidii ndani ya nchi na watawala wa Kiyahudi wa Kirumi na wasomi wa umma kuanzia Mfalme Herodi (Herod) Mkuu hadi Yosefo – mji wa Yerusalemu ulibadilishwa jina na Mfalme Hadrian (jina kamili kwa Kilatini: Publius Aelius Hadrianus Augustus).

Continuing the long Hellenistic tradition of changing place names and personal names in Palestine – a tradition which was actively pursued internally by Roman Jewish rulers and public intellectuals from King Herodes (Herod) the Great to Josephus – the city of Jerusalem was renamed by Emperor Hadrian (full name in Latin: Publius Aelius Hadrianus Augustus)

kama Aelia Capitolina (Wilkinson 1975). Capitolina ilitolewa wakfu kwa Jupiter Capitolinus, mungu mkuu wa dini rasmi ya dola ya Roma, wakati Aelia ilirejelea jina la pili la Hadrian mwenyewe na jina la Lucius Aelius Caesar, baba wa Mfalme Lucius, ambaye Hadrian alimchukua kama mwana na kumteua kuwa mrithi wa kiti cha ufalme, lakini alifariki kabla ya Hadrian. Jambo la mwisho lilichochea mila ya Kihelenistiki ya kubadilisha majina ya miji ya Palestina. Baadaye Aelia Capitolina ilibaki jina rasmi la Yerusalemu kwa zaidi ya karne tano hadi mwaka 638 BK, wakati Waarabu walipoiteka mji huo na kuhifadhi sehemu ya kwanza ya jina kama Iliya. Kwa kweli, inaonekana kwamba Waarabu walianza kutumia jina Iliya katika 'kipindi cha mapema sana', muda mrefu kabla ya ushindi wa Kiislamu wa mji huo (Gil, M.

as Aelia Capitolina (Wilkinson 1975). Capitolina was dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus, the chief deity of the Roman state religion, while Aelia referred to Hadrian’s own second name and to the name of Lucius Aelius Caesar, the father of Emperor Lucius, who was adopted by Hadrian and named heir to the throne, but died before Hadrian. The latter accelerated the Hellenistic tradition of renaming Palestine cities. Subsequently Aelia Capitolina remained the official name of Jerusalem for more than five centuries until 638 AD when the Arabs conquered the city and kept the first part of the name as Iliya. In fact, it seems that the Arabs began to use the name Iliya at a ‘very early period’, long before the Islamic conquest of the city (Gil, M.

1997: 114). Jina la ‘Jerusalem’ karibu likafutika kabisa; Aelia Capitolina ikawa jina la kawaida la mji huo. Toleo lake la Kiarabu, Iliya, bado lilikuwa likitumika katika vyanzo vya Kiarabu vya karne ya 10, pamoja na jina lingine la Kiarabu la Jerusalem, Bayt al-Maqdis (al-Maqdisi 2002: 135, 144; Drijvers 2004: 2). Hata hivyo, karne moja baadaye, wakati wa kipindi cha Wafatimid, msafiri Mwislamu Nasir Khusro (Khusrau), ambaye alitembelea Jerusalem mwaka 1047, aliripoti kwamba watu wa Palestina na al-Sham kwa ujumla waliuita al-Bayt al-Muqaddas (Mji Mtakatifu) kwa jina al-Quds (Khusrau 1888). Hili pia ndilo jina la kisasa na la sasa la mji huo linalotumiwa na Wapalestina.

1997: 114). The name ‘Jerusalem’ almost became extinct; Aelia Capitolina becoming the common name for the city. Its Arabic version, Iliya, was still being used in medieval Arabic sources in the 10th century, together with the other Arabic name for Jerusalem, Bayt al-Maqdis (al-Maqdisi 2002: 135, 144; Drijvers 2004: 2). However, a century later, during the Fatimid period, Muslim traveller Nasir Khusro (Khusrau), who visited Jerusalem in 1047, reported that the people of Palestine and al-Sham as a whole called al-Bayt al-Muqaddas (the Holy City) by the name al-Quds (Khusrau 1888). This is also the modern and current name of the city used by the Palestinians.

Aelia Capitolina, kutokana na umuhimu wake chini ya utawala wa Warumi na baadaye wa Wabyzantine, ilitumika kama mahali pa kuanzia kwa barabara kuu zisizopungua saba. Barabara hizi saba baadaye zilionyeshwa kwa upana katika kuta na malango ya Ottoman ya karne ya 16 ya Mji Mkongwe wa al-Quds. "Nguzo ya Hadrian" inaonekana katika Ramani ya Mosaiki ya Sakafu ya Madaba ya karne ya 6 (angalia sura ya 4). Jina hilo pia limebaki katika kumbukumbu ya kijamii ya Wapalestina wa kisasa na katika jina la lango la Ottoman lenye mvuto zaidi la Mji Mkongwe wa Yerusalemu: Bab al-‘Amud (kwa tafsiri halisi, "Lango la Nguzo"), linalojulikana pia kama Lango la Damascus.

Aelia Capitolina, due to its centrality under both the Romans and later the Byzantines, served as a starting point for no fewer than seven highways. These seven highways were later broadly reflected in the 16th century Ottoman walls and gates of the Old City of al-Quds. The ‘Hadrian Column’ can be seen in the Madaba Floor Mosaic Map of the 6th century (see chapter 4). The name has also survived in local modern Palestinian social memory and in the naming of the most spectacular Ottoman Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem: Bab al-‘Amud (literally, the ‘Column Gate’), also known as Damascus Gate.