Wabyzantine wa Kikristo waliibadilisha Palestina ya mijini kijamii, kidini, kiuchumi na kiusanifu, na kipindi hiki mahsusi, kuanzia karne ya 4 hadi mwanzoni mwa karne ya 7, kilisisitiza umuhimu wa Ukristo katika historia ya Palestina. Kuenea kwa haraka kwa dini hiyo mpya katika nchi zote zinazopakana na Palestina kulifanya kipindi hiki kuwa muhimu kwa sababu nyingine pia:

The Christian Byzantines transformed urban Palestine socially, religiously, economically and architecturally, and this particular period from the 4th to the early 7th century underscored the centrality of Christianity in Palestinian history. The fast spread of the new religion to all countries bordering Palestine made this period important for an additional reason:

ulikuwa kitovu cha dini imara, yenye kujiamini na inayokua, iliyozaliwa katika nchi hiyo, na ambayo iliendelea kuiona Palestina kuwa kitovu chake cha kiroho hata baada ya kuanzisha Kanisa Katoliki katika mji mkuu wa Dola ya Roma.

it was the centre of a strong, confident and growing religion which was born in the country, and continued to consider Palestine as its spiritual centre even after placing the Catholic Church in the capital city of the Roman Empire.

Mabaki ya fahari ya usanifu majengo wa miji ya Palestina chini ya Wabyzantine bado yanaweza kuonekana leo. Palestina ya Kibyzantine pia ilimzaa Julian wa Ascalon, mzaliwa wa mji wa kale wa pwani wa Palestina, ambaye alikuwa mbunifu mashuhuri wa Kipalestina. Kazi yake kuhusu masuala ya ukuaji na mipango ya mazingira yaliyojengwa, pamoja na kanuni za ujenzi na usanifu za Palestina ya karne ya 6, iliathiri upangaji miji wa Istanbul na ikadumu zaidi ya miaka 1400; kazi yake bado inaweza kuwa na umuhimu kwa upangaji miji wa kisasa unaozingatia mazingira (Hakim 2001).

The remnants of the architectural splendour of urban Palestine under the Byzantines can still be seen today. Byzantine Palestine also gave birth to Julian of Ascalon, a native of the ancient Palestinian coastal city, who became a renowned Palestinian architect and whose work on the growth and planning issues of the built environment and on construction and design rules in 6th century Palestine influenced Istanbul’s urban planning and endured for more than 1400 years; his work can still be relevant to modern environmental urban planning (Hakim 2001).

Baada ya Wakristo wa Byzantium kuchukua nafasi ya Warumi, Palaestina na miji yake mikubwa — Caesarea-Palaestina, Jerusalem, Gaza, Neapolis (Nablus), Scythopolis (Beisan), Tiberias na Beit Jibrin (Eleutheropolis) — zilipata ukuaji na ustawi wake mkubwa zaidi katika zama za kale. Katika kipindi chote cha Ukristo wa mwanzo na Byzantium, karne ya 4 hadi ya 7 BK, Palaestina ilibaki kuwa jina kuu na lililotumika kila mahali kwa eneo hili. Mikoa ya zamani ya Kirumi ya ‘Syria Palaestina’ iligawanywa na Wakristo wa Byzantium, ambao pia walipanga upya maeneo ya utawala wa nchi hiyo. Palaestina ilipangwa upya katika sehemu tatu. Kuenea kwa Ukristo unaozungumza Kigiriki na Kiaramu katika Mediterania ya Mashariki, Mashariki ya Karibu na Provincia Arabia ya Kirumi, pamoja na kuundwa kwa Palestina kubwa zaidi katika karne ya 4 BK, kulipanua zaidi dhana ya awali ya Kirumi ya Palestina na jina lililotumiwa na waandishi wa Kigiriki wa kale kama Herodotus kuanzia katikati ya karne ya 5 KK kuendelea. Palestina hii kubwa ilikuwa na Palaestina Prima (katikati ya nchi), Palaestina Secunda (sehemu kubwa ya Galilaya) na Palaestina Salutaris (kusini na kusini-mashariki).

After the Christian Byzantines replaced the Romans, Palaestina and its major cities – Caesarea-Palaestina, Jerusalem, Gaza, Neapolis (Nablus), Scythopolis (Beisan), Tiberias and Beit Jibrin (Eleutheropolis) – experienced their greatest growth and prosperity in Antiquity. Throughout the early Christian and Byzantine period, the 4th to the 7th centuries AD, Palaestina remained the dominant and universally applied name for this region. The former Roman provinces of ‘Syria Palaestina’ were split by the Christian Byzantines, who also redrew the administrative regions of the country. Palaestina was reorganised into three subdivisions. The spread of Greek- and Aramaic-speaking Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East and Roman Provincia Arabia1 and the creation of greater Palestine in the 4th century AD further expanded the early Roman concept of Palestine and the designation employed by classical Greek writers such as Herodotus from the mid-5th century BC onwards. This greater Palestine consisted of Palaestina Prima (in the centre of the country), Palaestina Secunda (much of the Galilee) and Palaestina Salutaris (in the south and south-east).

Wabyzantine wa Kikristo walifanya mabadiliko makubwa katika mpangilio wa Palestina. Byzantium yenyewe (iliyobadilishwa jina na kuitwa Constantinople, na baadaye Istanbul)

The Christian Byzantines came up with a major reconfiguration of Palestine. Byzantium itself (renamed Constantinople and later Istanbul)

ilipata umaarufu baada ya kuwa makazi ya kifalme katika karne ya 4, na Dola ya Mashariki ya Roma inayozungumza Kigiriki ikajulikana kama Dola ya Byzantium baada ya mwaka 476 BK. Kuundwa kwa Palestina kubwa zaidi na upangaji upya wa kiutawala wa Palestina iliyopanuliwa na Dola ya Mashariki ya Roma takriban mwaka 284–305 BK kulizaa majimbo ya 'Palestina Tatu' ambayo lugha yake ya mawasiliano ilikuwa Kigiriki. Majimbo haya matatu ya kiutawala ya Palestina yalidumu kuanzia karne ya 4 hadi mwanzo wa karne ya 7.

came to the fore upon becoming the imperial residence in the 4th century and the Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire came to be known as the Byzantine Empire after 476 AD. The creation of greater Palestine and the official administrative reorganisation of expanded Palestine by the Eastern Roman Empire around 284–305 AD produced ‘Three Palestine’ provinces whose lingua franca was Greek. These three administrative provinces of Palestine lasted from the 4th to the early 7th centuries:

• Palaestina Prima (inayojumuisha Filistia, Yudea na Samaria), ikienea kutoka Rafah upande wa kusini hadi ghuba ya Haifa upande wa kaskazini, huku Kaisaria-Palaestina ikiwa mji mkuu wake. Katika miaka ya 630 BK, wakati majeshi ya Waarabu Waislamu yalipoidhibiti Palestina, awali yalibakisha Kaisaria kuwa mji mkuu wa mkoa wa Jund Filastin (kituo rasmi cha utawala wa Palestina).

• Palaestina Prima (combining Philistia, Judaea and Samaria), extending from Rafah in the south to the bay of Haifa in the north, with Caesarea- Palaestina for its capital. In the 630s AD when the Arab Muslim armies took control of Palestine they initially kept Caesarea as the capital of the province of Jund Filastin (the official administrative centre of Palestine).

Mji mkuu ulihamishiwa kwa muda hadi Lydda, ambao pia ulikuwa mji mkuu wa muda wa Sulaiman bin ‘Abd al-Malik, gavana wa Umayyad wa Filastin (wali Filastin, ‘ والي فلسطين ’), mpaka alipojenga mji mpya wa al-Ramla. Alipokuwa khalifa katika miaka ya 715‒717, Sulaiman bin ‘Abd al-Malik alihamisha mji mkuu wa Filastin kabisa hadi al-Ramla.

The capital was temporarily moved to Lydda, which was also the temporary capital of Suleiman ibn ‘Abd al-Malik, the Umayyad Governor of Filastin (wali Filastin, ‘ والي فلسطين ’ ), until he built the new city of al-Ramla. Becoming Caliph in 715‒717, Suleiman ibn ‘Abd al-Malik permanently transferred the capital of Filastin to al-Ramla.

Ar-Ramla, takriban kilomita 20 kusini-mashariki mwa Yafa, ilikuwa katika eneo la kimkakati kwenye barabara kuu ya al-Sham-al-Fustat, yaani Dameski–Kairo ya Kale, ambayo ya mwisho ilikuwa mji mkuu wa kwanza wa Misri chini ya utawala wa Waislamu. Ar-Ramla ilibaki kuwa mji mkuu wa kiutawala wa mkoa wa Waarabu Waislamu wa Jund Filastin, na kitovu cha kiuchumi cha nchi hiyo kwa zaidi ya miaka mia tatu na hamsini, hadi mwishoni mwa karne ya 11.

Al-Ramla, approximately 20 kilometres south-east of Jaffa, was located strategically on the highway of al-Sham-al-Fustat, Damascus‒old Cairo, the latter being the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule. Al-Ramla remained the administrative capital of the Arab Muslim province of Jund Filastin and an economic hub for the country for over three and a half centuries until the late 11th century.

• Palaestina Secunda (ikiwa ni pamoja na sehemu kubwa ya Galilaya na Milima ya Golan, sehemu za Peraea2 na baadhi ya miji ya zamani ya Decapolis ya Warumi katika Palestina ya Mashariki3), ikiwa na Scythopolis (Beisan) kama mji mkuu wake.

• Palaestina Secunda (including most of the Galilee and the Golan Heights, parts of Peraea2 and some of the cities of the former Roman Decapolis of Eastern Palestine3), with Scythopolis (Beisan) for its capital.

Palaestina Salutaris (iliyoundwa katika karne ya 4 na baadaye ikajulikana pia kama Palaestina Tertia) ilijumuisha Mkoa wa zamani wa Roma wa Arabia (Ward 2008), Idumaea, Naqab/Negev, sehemu za Sinai, kusini-magharibi mwa Transjordan, kusini mwa Bahari ya Chumvi na Arabia Petraea,4 ambayo mji mkuu wake wa Kinabatea mwanzoni mwa karne ya 2 BK ulikuwa Petra. Ilitenganishwa na Arabia Petraea katika karne ya 6 BK (Shahin 2005: 8). Petra ikawa mji mkuu wa Palaestina Salutaris. Cha kuvutia ni kwamba jina la "Palestina Tatu" (Prima, Secunda na Tertia) liliongozwa na uwakilishi wa kitamaduni wa Kigiriki na Kikristo wa mapema wa "Tatu katika Moja". Mfano maarufu zaidi wa dhana hii ya Kigiriki-Byzantine ulikuwa fundisho la kitheolojia la Utatu, ambalo lilikubaliwa na kuandikwa rasmi katika Baraza la Nisea mwaka 325 BK. Muhimu zaidi, "Palestina Tatu" hazikufikiriwa kuwa mikoa iliyojitenga kabisa. Kisiasa, kijeshi, kitamaduni na kikanisa zilifikiriwa, kuendelezwa, kusimamiwa na kutetewa kama mikoa ya "Tatu katika Moja" ya Palaestina. "Palestina Tatu" ziliunganishwa kwa karibu katika maeneo manne tofauti:

• Palaestina Salutaris (created in the 4th century and later became known also as Palaestina Tertia) included the former Roman Provincia Arabia (Ward 2008), Idumaea, the Naqab/Negev, parts of Sinai, south-west of Transjordan, south of the Dead Sea and Arabia Petraea,4 whose Nabataean capital at the beginning of the 2nd century AD was Petra. It was split from Arabia Petraea in the 6th century AD (Shahin 2005: 8). Petra became the capital of Palaestina Salutaris Interestingly, the naming of the ‘Three Palestines’ (Prima, Secunda and Tertia) was inspired by classical and early Christian representation of ‘Three in One’. The most famous analogy of this Greco-Byzantine concept was the theological idea of Trinity which was settled and codified at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. Crucially the ‘Three Palestines’ were not conceived as totally separate provinces. Politically, militarily, culturally and ecclesiastically they were conceived and evolved, managed and defended as ‘Three in One’ provinces of Palaestina. The ‘Three Palestines’ were closely linked in four different areas:

1. Kisiasa, kijeshi na kikanisa walitawaliwa na Palaestina Prima. Mji mkuu wa Palestina ya Kibyzantine na wa Palaestina Prima ulikuwa Caesarea-Palaestina, ‘Kaisaria ya Palestina’ (von Suchem 1971: 7, 111; 2013; Gilman et al. 1905). Mji huu pia uliitwa ‘Kaisaria kando ya Bahari’, au Caesarea Maritima. Tangu kuundwa kwa Israeli mwaka 1948, wanahistoria wa Magharibi wamependa kuepuka kutaja jina la kihistoria la mji wa Kipalestina, Caesarea-Palaestina, na kutumia jina Caesarea Maritima pekee. Lakini, kama tutakavyoona hapa chini, kumbukumbu ya kijamii ya Caesarea-Palaestina imehifadhiwa katika kumbukumbu za kikanisa na na kanisa Katoliki pamoja na Kanisa la Kiorthodoksi la Kipalestina.

1. Politically, militarily and ecclesiastically they were dominated by Palaestina Prima. The capital of Byzantine Palestine and of Palaestina Prima was Caesarea-Palaestina, ‘Caesarea of Palestine’ (von Suchem 1971: 7, 111; 2013; Gilman et al. 1905). This city was also called ‘Caesarea by the Sea’, or Caesarea Maritima. Since the creation of Israel in 1948 historians in the West have tended to avoid referring to the historic name of the Palestinian city, Caesarea-Palaestina, and use only the name Caesarea Maritima. But, as we shall see below, the social memory of Caesarea-Palaestina has been preserved in ecclesiastical records and by both the Catholic and Palestinian Orthodox churches.

2. Kiutamaduni, walikuwa chini ya ushawishi wa vituo viwili muhimu zaidi vya kitamaduni huko Palestina na Mediterania ya Mashariki: Kaisarea-Palaestina5 (au Kaisarea Maritima) na Gaza, ambavyo vyote viwili pia vilikuwa katika Palaestina Prima.

2. Culturally, they came under the influence of the two most important cultural centres in Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean: Caesarea- Palaestina5 (or Caesarea Maritima) and Gaza, which were both also located in Palaestina Prima.

3. Kijeshi na kimkakati waliongozwa na Dux Palaestinae, ‘kamanda wa kijeshi wa Palestina’, ambaye makao yake makuu yalikuwa Caesarea-Palaestina na ambaye aliongoza Palestina yote.

3. Militarily and strategically they were commanded by Dux Palaestinae, the ‘military commander of Palestine’, whose headquarters were in Caesarea-Palaestina and who commanded all Palestine.

4. Kwa upande wa kanisa, kuanzia katikati ya karne ya tano kuendelea, "Palestina Tatu" ziliunganishwa chini ya Patriarkia moja huru ya Palestina nzima yenye makao yake Aelia Capitolina (Yerusalemu), yenye mamlaka ya kidini yaliyotambuliwa rasmi juu ya "Palestina Tatu".

4. Ecclesiastically, from the mid-5th century onwards the ‘Three Palestines’ were united under one single independent all-Palestine Patriarchate of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem) with officially recognised religious jurisdiction over the ‘Three Palestines’.

Kati ya majimbo matatu ya nchi ya Palaestina, Palaestina Prima ilikuwa kubwa zaidi, yenye nguvu zaidi kiuchumi na iliyoendelea zaidi kiutamaduni. Maaskofu wake wa Aelia Capitolina na Caesarea-Palaestina walitawala Kanisa huru la Palaestina Yote (autocephalous au 'lenye kichwa chake chenyewe'). Notitia Dignitatum ('Orodha ya Ofisi') ni hati ya kipekee ya ofisi ya kifalme ya karne ya 5 mapema, inayoeleza kwa kina mpangilio wa kiutawala wa Himaya ya Byzantium.

Of the three provinces of the country Palaestina Prima was the largest, most powerful economically and most developed culturally. Its bishops of Aelia Capitolina and Caesarea-Palaestina dominated the independent (autocephalous or ‘self-headed’) All Palaestina Church. The Notitia Dignitatum (‘the List of Offices’) is a unique early 5th century imperial chancery document that details the administrative organisation of the Byzantine Empire.

Inaeleza kwamba Palaestina Secunda na Palaestina Salutaris zilisimamiwa na praeses,6 wakati Palaestina Prima iliongozwa na gavana aliyebeba cheo cha juu cha proconsul (Ward 2008: 89‒90). Hili lisichanganywe na Dux Palaestinae, ‘kamanda wa kijeshi wa Palestina’, ambaye alikuwa na makao yake Caesarea-Palaestina na aliamuru kikosi cha askari cha ‘Palestina Tatu’ katika karne ya 5 na ya 6 (Shahid 1995: 192‒193; Röhricht 1890: 7).7

It notes that Palaestina Secunda and Palaestina Salutaris were administered by a praeses,6 while Palaestina Prima was presided over by a governor who bore the high rank of proconsul (Ward 2008: 89‒90). This should not be confounded with the Dux Palaestinae, the ‘military commander of Palestine’, who was based in Caesarea-Palaestina and commanded the garrison of the ‘Three Palestines’ in the 5th and 6th centuries (Shahid 1995: 192‒193; Röhricht 1890: 7).7

Palaestina Prima ilidumu kuanzia mwaka 390 BK hadi mwanzoni mwa karne ya 7. Mwaka 614, Palaestina Prima na Palaestina Secunda zote mbili zilitekwa na Wasasani wa Uajemi. Wabyzantini walipoteza tena na kwa kudumu udhibiti wa majimbo matatu ya Palestina katika miaka ya 636–638 BK, wakati wa ushindi wa Waislamu katika Bilad al-Sham na Palestina. Muundo wa miji ya Palestina na Bilad al-Sham ulibaki bila madhara makubwa kutokana na ushindi wa Wasasani na Waislamu (Walmsley 2000: 273). Kiini cha Palestina kubwa, au Provincia Palaestina, chini ya Wabyzantini – ambacho kiliunganisha Palaestina Prima na Palaestina Tertia (Salutaris) – kilijulikana kama mkoa wa Jund Filastin chini ya Uislamu.

Palaestina Prima lasted from 390 AD until the early 7th century. In 614, both Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Secunda were conquered by the Persian Sassanids. The Byzantines lost control of the three Palestine provinces again and irreversibly in 636‒638 AD in the course of the Muslim conquest of Bilad al-Sham and Palestine. The urban structure of Palestine and Bilad al-Sham remained largely unscathed by the Sassanid and Islamic conquests (Walmsley 2000: 273) and the core of greater Palestine, or Provincia Palaestina, under the Byzantines – which combined Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Tertia (Salutaris) – became known as the province of Jund Filastin under Islam.