Falastin G'arb tasavvurida, muqaddas adabiyotida va tarixiy tasvirlarida doimo alohida o'rin tutgan (Said 1980: 9). Bu eng qadimgi klassik adabiyot va yunon yozuvchilarining, ayniqsa miloddan avvalgi V–IV asrlardagi Gerodot va Aristotelning asosiy asarlaridan boshlangan. Aynan miloddan avvalgi V asrda yashagan Gerodotning (taxminan miloddan avvalgi 484–425 yillar) asarlarida...

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)

bu nom Παλαιστίνη (Palaistinê yoki Phalastin) yunoncha shaklini oldi

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

...va bu nom mintaqa nomi sifatida ishlatilgan. Gerodot Falastin, Falastin-Suriya va "Falastin suriyaliklari" haqida gapiradi va u finikiyaliklarni "Falastin suriyaliklari"dan ajratadi (Gerodot 1841: 135). U, shuningdek, bugungi kunda Yaqin Sharq bilan bog'liq bo'lgan mintaqaning fizik geografiyasini quyidagicha tasvirlaydi:

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:

U boshqa [mintaqa] Fors davlatidan boshlanib, Eritreya dengiziga qadar cho'ziladi. U avval Forsni, so'ngra Ossuriyani, Ossuriyadan keyin esa Arabistonni o'z ichiga oladi. U Arabiya ko'rfazida tugaydi, ya'ni tugaydi deb hisoblanadi, garchi haqiqatda u to'xtamasdan davom etsa ham...

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 ...

Forslar va Finikiya o'rtasida keng va serhosil hudud joylashgan bo'lib, men tasvirlayotgan mintaqa Finikiyadan boshlab Falastin-Suriya sohili bo'ylab Misrgacha cho'zilib, o'sha yerda tugaydi, shu tariqa bizning [O'rta er] dengizi bo'yida davom etadi. Bu butun hududda atigi uchta xalq yashaydi. (Herodot 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)

Uning Παλαιστίνη (Palaistinê yoki Phalastin) nomli geografik tasvirida

In his geographic representation of Παλαιστίνη (Palaistinê or Phalastin)

Gerodot bu atamani faqat Filistiya, ya'ni Karmeldan G'azogacha bo'lgan qirg'oq bo'yidagi yerga nisbatan emas, balki mamlakatning ichki qismlariga ham nisbatan keng ma'noda ishlatadi (Herodot 1841: 135). Masalan, u va Aristotel bu atamani Iordan vodiysidan narigi, ya'ni "Sharqiy Falastin" deb ataladigan Iordan daryosining sharqidagi hududlarni ham o'z ichiga oladigan tarzda qo'llaganlar. Gerodot Falastinni nafaqat Suriyaning avtonom okrugi sifatida tilga oladi, balki uni bugungi kunda biz biladigan mamlakat sifatida geografik jihatdan tavsiflaydi, shu bilan birga Sinay va shimoldagi ayrim qo'shni hududlarni hamda Iordan daryosining sharqidagi yerlarni ham qamrab oladi. Gerodot yana shuni qo'shimcha qiladi: Falastinning janubiy dengiz portlari, Kadiтisdan Iyenisusgacha (yoki Ienysos, hozirgi G'azo sektoridagi Xon Yunis), arablar tomonidan egallangan edi (Herodot 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).

Геродотнинг Палестина (Palaistinê) ҳақидаги тушунчаси Галилеяни ҳам ўз ичига олган ва Палестинага кенг маънода ишора қилган. Амалда бу тушунча Финикия билан Миср оралиғидаги Левант ҳудудига тегишли бўлган (Jacobson 1999). Палестинанинг бу классик тушунчаси мамлакатнинг замонавий тасвирларига ҳам таъсир кўрсатган. Геродот маълумотларига кўра, милоддан аввалги 450 йилга оид Палестина харитаси 1897 йилда Буюк Британиядаги энг муҳим ва нуфузли нашриётчилардан бири бўлган Жон Мюррей томонидан қайта тикланган.

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.

Gerodot Falastin haqidagi kengroq tasavvuri ham janubdagi Idumeya viloyatining kengayishini aks ettirardi. Bu kengayish Bobil podshosi Nabonid temir davri Edomini vayron qilganidan keyin yuz bergan edi. Ba'zi olimlar idumeylarni nabatey arab kelib chiqishli deb hisoblaganlar. Idumeyaning markazi avval Hebron (al-Xalil) shahrida, keyinchalik esa janubiy tog' etaklaridagi Lakishda joylashgan bo'lib, uning chegaralari Transiordaniya platosidan O'rta er dengizigacha cho'zilgan edi. Miloddan keyingi 132-yilda rimliklar hukmronligi davrida Idumeya Yahudiya va Jalil viloyatlariga qo'shildi va butun janubiy Levant nomini ifodalash uchun lotincha Palaestina shakli ishlatila boshlandi.

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.

Gerodot Sokrat bilan zamondosh bo‘lgan va odatda "tarix otasi" deb ataladi (Sitseron, miloddan avvalgi I asr). U tarixiy mavzularni tizimli ravishda o‘rgangan birinchi tarixchi bo‘lib, materialni tarixiy hikoya shaklida tartibga solgan. Gerodotning "Tarix" (Histories, shuningdek The History, 1987) asari Yunon-Fors urushlarining kelib chiqishi haqidagi eng mashhur tarixiy matnlardan biri bo‘lib, dunyo bo‘ylab olimlar, tarixchilar va tarix talabalariga yaxshi tanish. "Tarix" hozirda G‘arb akademiyasining asosiy matni hisoblanadi. U qadimgi og‘zaki an'analar, siyosat, geografiya hamda Yunoniston, G‘arbiy Osiyo va Shimoliy Afrikada ma'lum bo‘lgan turli kuchlarning to‘qnashuvlarini aks ettiruvchi muhim manba vazifasini o‘taydi. Qadimgi Falastin va toponimik xotira masalasiga kelsak, zamonaviy G‘arb xristian yozuvlari qisman Gerodotning ushbu klassik asariga (1987) tayanadi.

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).

Ushbu klassik matnda (miloddan avvalgi 450-yillardan 420-yillargacha yozilgan) Gerodot "Suriyaning Palaistinê deb ataladigan tumani" haqida yozadi va qadimgi Falastin hududining joy nomlarini sanab o'tadi. Gerodotning o'zi miloddan avvalgi V asrning beshinchi o'nlikida Falastinga tashrif buyurgan. U "Falastin deb ataladigan Suriya qismi bo'ylab, men o'zim ko'rganman" deb, keng sayohat qilgan va mamlakat hamda uning xalqi haqida birinchi qo'ldan bilim olgan (Jacobson 1999). Gerodot Παλαιστίνη (Palaistinê), Suriya yoki oddiygina Palaistinê deb ko'p marta murojaat qiladi, bu atama Finikiya bilan Misr o'rtasidagi butun hududni o'z ichiga olgan maydonni anglatadi (qarang: Herodotus 2014: 724, Xarita 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).

Gerodot matnida asosiy shaharlar va portlar, keyinchalik Via Maris deb ataladigan yo‘l hamda u ko‘rgan va qayd etgan boshqa ko‘plab joylarning tavsifi berilgan. U Askalon shahrini batafsil tasvirlaydi, bu neolit davriga borib taqaladigan qadimiy dengiz porti shahri. Gerodot davrida Falastin ko‘p xudoli dinda edi, shuning uchun u Askalonda Afrodita Uraniya ibodatxonasi borligini tasvirlaydi. Bu nom «samoviy sevgi» va «ruhiy»ni anglatardi, Afrodita Pandemosning, ya’ni «barcha xalq uchun Afrodita»ning dunyoviyroq jihatidan farqli ravishda. Afrodita Uraniya kultи tana va ruh, ruhiy sevgi, go‘zallik, unumdorlik, nasl qoldirish va zavq bilan bog‘liq edi, uning muqaddas kaptarlari Rim davrida ham shahar tomlarida to‘planib yurardi (Lewin 2005: 156). Afrodita Uraniya kultи dengiz bilan ham bog‘liq bo‘lib, bir nechta Falastin shaharlarida, jumladan falastinliklar arab tilida ko‘pincha «Arus al-Bahr» (Dengiz kelinchagi) deb ataydigan qadimiy Yaffa portida mavjud edi.

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).

Klassik yunon tarixchilari Gerodot va Fukidid (taxminan miloddan avvalgi 460–taxminan miloddan avvalgi 400)

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

Yunon tarixchilari va geograflari (miloddan avvalgi), Ahd-i Qadimning mualliflaridan farqli o'laroq, miflarni (muthos) aql-mulohazaga asoslangan haqiqatdan (logos) ajratishga, xudolar tarixini insonlar tarixidan ajratishga intilgan; ular siyosiy va afsonaviy hikoyalar o'rniga yer ustidagi faktlarni afzal ko'rganlar. Ularning tarixlari ham kuchli darajada geo-etnografik xarakterga ega edi. Geo-etnografiya Gerodot bayonining, xususan qadimgi Falastin va uning aholisi haqidagi hikoyasining markazida turadi. Yunon tarixchilari va geograflari O'rta er dengizi va Qizil dengizning xalqaro savdo yo'li ekanini, shuningdek Falastin uchun boylik manbai bo'lganini yaxshi anglashgan. Gerodot Falastinning janubidagi O'rta er dengizi port shaharlarini, shuningdek Sinay yarim orolining shimolini egallagan arablarni eslatib o'tadi (Gerodot 1841: 135). Bu arablar O'rta er dengizining sharqiy qismidan Janubiy Arabistonga, Qizil dengiz orqali esa Hindistonga boradigan tutatqi savdo yo'lini nazorat qilganlar — bu qadimgi dunyoning "xushbo'y tutatqi yo'li" bo'lib, O'rta er dengizi dunyosini sharqiy va janubiy tutatqi, ziravor va boshqa hashamatli tovarlar manbalari bilan bog'lagan yirik quruqlik va dengiz savdo yo'llari tarmog'ini tashkil etgan. Falastin va Misrning O'rta er dengizi portlaridan boshlanib, Arabiston va undan tashqariga cho'zilgan, Nabatey arablarini (va miloddan avvalgi VII asrdan milodiy II asrgacha, eng yuksak davrida Petrani) qamrab olgan uzoq masofali quruqlik tutatqi savdosi miloddan avvalgi VII asrdan milodiy II asrgacha gullab-yashnagan.

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.

Shunday qilib Gerodot filistlar va u uchrashgan boshqa guruhlar bilan bo‘lgan ko‘plab suhbatlarini hamda ularning hayoti haqida o‘rgangan qiziqarli faktlarini qayd etadi, jumladan, erkaklarning sunnat qilish odatini, bu odat dastlab ko‘p xudolik e’tiqodiga bog‘liq bo‘lib, misrliklardan o‘rganilgan: “Suriyaliklar, ya’ni falastinliklar” “misrliklarning odatini o‘rganganliklarini tan olishadi” (Herodotus 1858, II kitob, 104-bob; 1836, 1-jild, II kitob: 247). Misrda erkaklarning sunnat qilinishi haqida eng qadimgi hujjatlashtirilgan dalillar miloddan avvalgi 2345–2182 yillarga oid (Jahon sog‘liqni saqlash tashkiloti 2007: 3). Quddus Ibroniy universitetining qadimgi tarix professori, Gumanitar fanlar fakultetining dekani (1972‒1975) Devid Ashери (1925‒2000) “Gerodot haqida sharh, 1–4-kitoblar” asarida yozadi:

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:

"Suriyaliklar deb atalgan Falastinliklar" Gerodot davrida Finikiyaliklar, Filistlar, arablar, misrliklar va, ehtimol, boshqa xalqlarning aralashmasi edi ... Balki sunnat qilingan "Suriyaliklar deb atalgan Falastinliklar" Sinay qirg'og'idagi arablar va misrliklardir; Gerodot davrida qirg'oq hududida yahudiylar kam edi. (Asheri va boshqalar 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)

Gerodot, Falastin va Suriya hamda qirg‘oq mintaqasidan tashqariga keng sayohat qilgan bo‘lsa-da, Yahudiya haqida yozmaydi va yahudiylarga murojaat qilmaydi. U Falastinda Kan’on, kan’oniylar yoki isroilliylar kabi atamalarni eslatmaydi; mamlakatdagi yakkaxudolik (monoteizm) haqida ham hech narsa tasvirlamaydi. Birinchidan, arxeologik dalillar ko‘rsatganidek, yakkaxudolik Falastin va Yaqin Sharqda ancha keyinroq rivojlangan (Masalha 2007). Ikkinchidan, muhim jihati shundaki, Eski Ahd diniy-mafkuraviy aqidalarining ko‘pchiligi Gerodotdan asrlar o‘tib shakllangan.

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.

Qadimgi filistin va yunon tilidagi Palaistinê, Tantur (Tantura) va Ascalon ('Asqalan) toponimlari mahalliy falastin arab an'anasida va o'rta asr arab tarixchilari, geograflari hamda sayyohlarining asarlarida saqlanib qolgan. "Ascalan" falastinliklar orasida 'Asqalan (yoki Majdal 'Asqalan) nomi bilan tanilgan bo'lib, 1950 yilda Isroil armiyasi tomonidan aholisi ko'chirilgan (Masalha 1997). Bu, asosan, Falastinning qishloq va shaharlarining mahalliy nomlari Falastinning qadimgi, o'rta asr va zamonaviy tarixi davomida nisbatan barqaror bo'lganini ko'rsatadi.

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.