Xristian Vizantiyaliklar Falastinning shaharlarini ijtimoiy, diniy, iqtisodiy va me'moriy jihatdan o'zgartirdilar. Miloddan avvalgi 4-asrdan 7-asrning boshigacha bo'lgan bu davr Falastin tarixida xristianlikning markaziy o'rnini yanada aniq ko'rsatdi. Yangi dinning Falastinga chegaradosh barcha mamlakatlarga tez tarqalishi esa bu davrni yana bir sabab bilan muhim qildi:

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:

Bu yer kuchli, ishonchli va rivojlanayotgan dinning markazi edi, bu din shu mamlakatda paydo bo‘lgan va hatto Katolik cherkovi Rim imperiyasining poytaxtiga joylashtirilganidan keyin ham Falastinni o‘zining ma’naviy markazi deb hisoblashda davom etgan.

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.

Vizantiya hukmronligi davridagi shahar Falastinining me'moriy hashamatining qoldiqlari bugun ham ko'rinib turibdi. Vizantiya Falastini yana bir mashhur shaxsni — qadimiy Falastin qirg'oq shahri Ashkelon mahalliy aholisi bo'lgan Julian of Askelonni ham yetishtirdi. U taniqli falastinlik me'mor bo'lib, uning qurilgan muhitning o'sishi va rejalashtirish masalalari hamda VI asr Falastinidagi qurilish va loyihalash qoidalari bo'yicha ishi Istanbul shaharsozligiga ta'sir ko'rsatgan va 1400 yildan ortiq vaqt davomida saqlanib qolgan; uning ishi bugungi kunda ham ekologik shaharsozlik uchun dolzarb bo'lishi mumkin (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).

Vizantiya nasroniylari Rim hukmronligini almashtirganidan keyin Falastin va uning yirik shaharlari – Qaysariya-Falastin, Quddus, G'azo, Neapol (Nablus), Skifopol (Baysan), Tiberiya va Bayt Jibrin (Yeleuteropol) – qadimiy davrda eng katta o'sish va farovonlikka erishdi. Milodning IV–VII asrlarida, ilk nasroniylik va Vizantiya davrida Falastin bu hudud uchun hukmron va keng qo'llaniladigan nom bo'lib qoldi. Rimning sobiq "Suriya Falastin" viloyatlarini nasroniy vizantiyaliklar bo'lib tashladilar va mamlakatning ma'muriy hududlarini ham qayta chizdilar. Falastin uch bo'linmaga qayta tashkil etildi. Sharqiy O'rtayer dengizi, Yaqin Sharq va Rimning Arabiston viloyatida yunon va aramiy tillarida so'zlovchi nasroniylikning tarqalishi hamda milodning IV asrida Buyuk Falastinning tashkil etilishi Rimning dastlabki Falastin tushunchasini yanada kengaytirdi, shuningdek, miloddan avvalgi V asrning o'rtalaridan boshlab Gerodot kabi klassik yunon yozuvchilari qo'llagan atamani ham kengaytirdi. Bu Buyuk Falastin mamlakat markazidagi Falastin Prima, Galileyaning katta qismini o'z ichiga olgan Falastin Sekunda va janubdagi hamda janubi-sharqdagi Falastin Salyutaris viloyatlaridan iborat edi.

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).

Xristian Vizantiyaliklar Falastinni katta miqyosda qayta tashkil etdilar. Vizantiyaning o‘zi (Konstantinopol deb nomlanib, keyinchalik Istanbul deb ataldi)

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

4-asrda imperator qarorgohiga aylangach ahamiyat kasb etgan va 476-yildan keyin yunon tilida so‘zlashuvchi Sharqiy Rim imperiyasi Vizantiya imperiyasi nomi bilan mashhur bo‘ldi. Sharqiy Rim imperiyasi tomonidan milodiy 284–305-yillar atrafida Kengaytirilgan Falastinning tuzilishi va uning rasmiy ma’muriy qayta tashkil etilishi natijasida lingua franka tili yunon tili bo‘lgan «Uch Falastin» viloyatlari vujudga keldi. Falastinning bu uch ma’muriy viloyati 4-asrdan 7-asrning boshlarigacha mavjud bo‘ldi.

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 (Filistiya, Yahudiya va Samariyani birlashtirgan bo‘lib, janubda Rafahdan shimolda Hayfa ko‘rfazigacha cho‘zilgan), poytaxti Kesariya-Palaestina edi. 630-yillarda, Arab musulmon qo‘shinlari Falastinni egallagach, dastlab Kesariyani Jund Filastin viloyatining poytaxti sifatida saqlab qolishdi (Falastinning rasmiy ma’muriy markazi).

• 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).

Poytaxt vaqtincha Lidda shahriga ko‘chirildi. Lidda, shuningdek, Filastin hokimi (wali Filastin, ‘ والي فلسطين ’) bo‘lgan Umayyad Sulaymon ibn ‘Abd al-Malikning ham vaqtinchalik poytaxti edi, to u yangi ar-Ramla shahrini qurguniga qadar. 715–717 yillarda xalifa bo‘lgach, Sulaymon ibn ‘Abd al-Malik Filastin poytaxtini doimiy ravishda ar-Ramlaga ko‘chirdi.

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, Yaffadan taxminan 20 kilometr janubi-sharqda joylashgan bo'lib, al-Sham–al-Fustat, ya'ni Damashq–Eski Qohira yo'lida strategik jihatdan muhim o'rinda edi; Qohira esa musulmonlar hukmronligi davrida Misrning birinchi poytaxti bo'lgan. Ar-Ramla uch yarim asrdan ortiq vaqt davomida, XI asrning oxirigacha, Arab musulmon viloyati Jund Filastinning ma'muriy poytaxti va mamlakat uchun iqtisodiy markaz bo'lib qoldi.

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 (shu jumladan Galiley va Golan balandliklarining aksar qismi, Peraeaning ayrim qismlari hamda Sharqiy Falastindagi sobiq Rim Dekapolisining ayrim shaharlari), poytaxti Skifopol (Bisan).

• 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 (yaratilgan IV asrda, keyinchalik Palaestina Tertia nomi bilan ham tanilgan) Rimning sobiq Provincia Arabia viloyatini (Ward 2008), Idumaea, Naqab/Negev, Sinay yarim orolining bir qismini, Transiordaniyaning janubi-g'arbini, O'lik dengizning janubini va Arabia Petraeani o'z ichiga olgan. Arabia Petraeaning Nabatey poytaxti, miloddan avvalgi 2-asr boshida, Petra edi. U VI asr miloddan keyin Arabia Petraeadan ajratilgan (Shahin 2005: 8). Petra Palaestina Salutarisning poytaxtiga aylangan. Qizig'i shundaki, "Uch Falastin" (Prima, Secunda va Tertia) nomlanishi klassik va ilk nasroniy tasvirlaridagi "Uchta birda" g'oyasidan ilhomlangan. Bu yunon-vizantiya tushunchasining eng mashhur o'xshatishi Trinity (Uch birlik) ilohiyot g'oyasi bo'lib, u miloddan keyingi 325 yilda Nikeya Kengashida belgilangan va kodlangan. Muhimi shundaki, "Uch Falastin" alohida-alohida to'liq viloyatlar sifatida tasavvur qilinmagan. Siyosiy, harbiy, madaniy va cherkov jihatidan ular Palaestinaning "Uchta birda" viloyatlari sifatida tasavvur qilingan, boshqarilgan va himoya qilingan. "Uch Falastin" to'rtta turli sohada chambarchas bog'liq edi:

• 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. Siyosiy, harbiy va cherkov jihatdan ular Palaestina Prima tomonidan boshqarilgan. Vizantiya Falastini va Palaestina Primaning poytaxti Caesarea-Palaestina, ya'ni "Falastin Kesariyasi" edi (von Suchem 1971: 7, 111; 2013; Gilman et al. 1905). Bu shahar "Dengiz bo'yidagi Kesariya" yoki Caesarea Maritima deb ham atalgan. 1948 yilda Isroil davlati tashkil topganidan beri G'arb tarixchilari Falastin shahrining tarixiy nomi bo'lgan Caesarea-Palaestinani eslatishdan qochib, faqat Caesarea Maritima nomidan foydalanishga moyil bo'ldilar. Ammo quyida ko'rib chiqqanimizdek, Caesarea-Palaestina haqidagi ijtimoiy xotira cherkov yozuvlarida va ham Katolik, ham Falastin pravoslav cherkovlari tomonidan saqlanib kelingan.

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. Madaniy jihatdan ular Falastin va Sharqiy O'rta er dengizi hududidagi ikki eng muhim madaniy markaz – Qayсariya-Falastina5 (yoki Qayсariya Maritima) va G'azo ta'siri ostiga tushdi; bu ikkala shahar ham Falastin Prima viloyatida joylashgan edi.

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. Harbiy va strategik jihatdan ularga Dux Palaestinae — "Falastin harbiy qo‘mondoni" boshchilik qilar edi. Uning qarorgohi Caesarea-Palaestina shahrida bo‘lib, u butun Falastinga qo‘mondonlik qilardi.

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. Cherkov jihatdan, V asrning o‘rtalaridan boshlab "Uch Falastin" bitta yagona, mustaqil butun-Falastin Patriarxati — Eliya Kapitolina (Quddus) ostida birlashtirildi, u "Uch Falastin" ustidan rasman tan olingan diniy yurisdiksiyaga ega edi.

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’.

Falastin Prima uchta viloyatidan eng kattasi, iqtisodiy jihatdan eng qudratlisi va madaniy jihatdan eng rivojlangani edi. Uning Aelia Capitolina va Caesarea-Palaestina episkoplari mustaqil (avtokefal yoki "o'z boshliqli") Butun Falastin cherkovini boshqarardi. Notitia Dignitatum ("Lavozimlar ro'yxati") — Vizantiya imperiyasining ma'muriy tuzilishini batafsil bayon etuvchi, 5-asr boshlariga oid noyob imperator kantseleriya hujjatidir.

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.

U'da Palaestina Secunda va Palaestina Salutaris praeses tomonidan boshqarilgani, Palaestina Prima esa proconsul yuqori unvoniga ega bo'lgan hokim tomonidan boshqarilgani qayd etilgan (Ward 2008: 89‒90). Bularni Dux Palaestinae bilan adashtirmaslik kerak — bu «Falastinning harbiy qo'mondoni» bo'lib, Caesarea-Palaestinada joylashgan va V–VI asrlarda «Uchta Falastin» garnizonini boshqargan (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 amal qilgan davr miloddan avvalgi 390-yildan VII asrning boshlarigacha davom etdi. 614-yilda Palaestina Prima va Palaestina Secunda Sosoniy forslari tomonidan bosib olindi. Vizantiyaliklar uchta Falastin viloyatining nazoratini yana bir bor va qaytarib bo'lmas tarzda 636–638-yillarda, musulmonlarning Bilad al-Sham va Falastinni fath etishi davomida yo'qotdilar. Falastin va Bilad al-Shamning shahar tuzilishi sosoniylar va islom fathlari natijasida katta darajada zarar ko'rmadi (Walmsley 2000: 273). Vizantiya davrida Palaestina Prima va Palaestina Tertia (Salutaris) ni birlashtirgan katta Falastin yoki Provincia Palaestina yadrosi islom davrida Jund Filastin viloyati nomi bilan tanildi.

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.