Bir necha asrlar davomida hozirgi Iordaniyaning Qizil dengiz bo‘yidagi port shahri al-ʿAqaba bo‘lgan Aylah Jund Filastin islom ma’muriy viloyatining tarkibiga kirgan. Bu viloyatning hokimlari (vali) Makkadan Aylah va al-Ramla orqali Damashqqa va undan ham narigacha boradigan musulmon hojilarining karvonlari xavfsizligini ta’minlash bilan ham shug‘ullangan. Umaviylar davriga oid tangalar va yozuvlar shuni ko‘rsatadiki, Aylah Jund Filastin viloyatidagi dastlabki islomiy shaharlardan biri bo‘lgan. Dastlab Rim va Vizantiya shahri bo‘lib, Aelas deb atalgan Aylahning xarobalari hozirgi port shahri al-ʿAqabaning hududida joylashgan (Ramadan 2010b). “Filastindagi Aylah” (“Vizantiya Palestinasidagi Aelas”) nomi 1948 yildan keyingi Isroil aholi punktlarini joylashtirish toponimik loyihasi doirasida yaqin atrofdagi yangi Isroil aholi punkti Eilat deb nomlanishiga ham sabab bo‘lgan.

For several centuries Aylah, the present-day Jordanian port city of al-ʿAqabah on the Red Sea, was part of the Islamic administrative province of Jund Filastin, whose governors (walis) were also in charge of looking after the safety of the caravans of Muslim pilgrims from Mecca through Aylah and al-Ramla to Damascus and beyond. Umayyad numismatic and epigraphic evidence shows that Aylah was an early Islamic town in the province of Jund Filastin. Originally a Roman and Byzantine town called Aelas, now the ruins of Aylah lie within the present-day port city of al-ʿAqabah (Ramadan 2010b). ‘Aylah in Filastin’ (‘Aelas in Byzantine Palaestina’) was also the reason, within the Israeli settler toponymic project post-1948, for calling the nearby new Israeli settlement Eilat.

Janubiy "Aelas" Vizantiya Falastinida, ya'ni Islom Jund Filastinida "Aylah" deb atalgan, shimoliy "Iliya-Filastin" (Quddus) dan aniq farqlanishi kerak. Islom davrida Iliya-Filastin Rimliklar va Vizantiyaliklar davrida Aelia Capitolina deb atalgan. Aylah (Aelas) Vizantiya va musulmonlar hukmronligi davrida ham gullab-yashnagan falastinlik port shahar bo'lib, Hind va Janubiy Arabiston ziravor savdosining markazida joylashgan edi. Islomiy futuhotlardan keyin shuhrat topgan Aylah-Filastin Qizil dengizda strategik jihatdan joylashgan bo'lib, o'rta asr Yevropa geograflariga "Mare Mecca" yoki "Makka dengizi" va "Sinus Arabicus" yoki "Arabiston ko'rfazi" nomi bilan ham ma'lum edi. U yirik savdo port shahriga aylanib, Makkaga va Makkadan yil sayin o'tadigan musulmon hojilarining karvonlaridan (Lev 2006: 591) hamda al-Sham hududini Arabiston yarim oroli va Hind okeani bilan bog'lagan aloqalardan katta foyda ko'rdi. Ma'lum bo'lishicha, Umaviylar davridagi "Aylah Filastinda" tangalari Qizil dengiz shahri va undan tashqarida foydalanish uchun Iliya-Filastinda ham zarb etilgan (Ramadan 2010a, 2010b). X asr falastinlik geograf al-Maqdisiy Aylah-Filastinga tashrif buyurgach, uni "Xitoy dengizidagi Falastinning port shahri" deb ta'riflagan (Ramadan 2010a, 2010b). Arab yozma manbalari, Umaviylar davridagi numizmatik va epigrafik dalillar hamda Vizantiya manbalarining birgalikda ko'rib chiqilishi Jund Filastin – katta arab viloyati – Palaestina Prima va Palaestina Tertia viloyatlarining birlashuvidan qanday paydo bo'lganini yaxshi tasavvur qilish imkonini beradi. Shu nuqtai nazardan, falastinlik tarixchi Qaysariya Maritimalik Prokopiy 560-yilda allaqachon shunday yozganini ta'kidlash o'rinlidir:

Southern ‘Aelas’ in Byzantine Palaestina, which became ‘Aylah’ in Islamic Jund Filastin, should be clearly distinguished from the northern ‘Ilya-Filastin’ (Jerusalem) under Islam (Aelia Capitolina under the Romans and Byzantine). Aylah (Aelas) was a vibrant Palestinian port town under both the Byzantines and Muslims and at the centre of the Indian and South Arabian spice trade. Rising to prominence after the Islamic conquests, Aylah-Filastin, located strategically on the Red Sea – also known to medieval European geographers as Mare Mecca, or the Sea of Mecca, and Sinus Arabicus, or the Gulf of Arabia – developed into a major trading port town and benefited hugely from the annual caravans of Muslim pilgrims to and from Mecca (Lev 2006: 591) and from the linking of the al-Sham region with the Arabian Peninsula and Indian Ocean. Apparently, Umayyad ‘Aylah in Filastin’ coins were also minted in Iliya-Filastin for the use in the Red Sea town and beyond (Ramadan 2010a, 2010b) and 10th century Palestinian geographer al- Maqdisi, after visiting Aylah-Filastin, described it as ‘a port of Palestine on China Sea’ (Ramadan 2010a, 2010b). The combination of Arabic written sources, Umayyad numismatic and epigraphic evidence and Byzantine sources gives us a good idea about the way the large Arab province of Jund Filastin emerged out of the combination of two provinces of Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Tertia. In this regard, it is worth noting that Palestinian historian Prokopios of Caesarea Maritima had already written in 560 AD:

Palestinaning chegaralari sharq tomonda, Qizil dengiz deb ataladigan dengizgacha cho‘ziladi. Hindistondan boshlanadigan bu dengiz Rim hududidagi shu nuqtada tugaydi. Uning sohilida Aelas (hozirgi ‘Aqaba) deb ataladigan shahar bor; aytganimdek, dengiz aynan shu yerda tugaydi va juda tor ko‘rfazga aylanadi. Bu yerdan dengizga kirganda o‘ng tomonda janub tomonga cho‘zilgan Misr tog‘lari joylashgan; boshqa tomonda esa odamlar yashamaydigan yurt shimol tomonga chegarasiz uzoqqa cho‘zilib ketadi. Kema ichkariga kirib borar ekan, ikki tomondagi quruqlik Iotabe deb ataladigan orolgacha ko‘rinib turadi; bu orol Aelas shahridan kamida ming stadiya uzoqlikda joylashgan.

The boundaries of Palestine extend toward the east to the sea which is called the Red Sea. Now this sea, beginning at India, comes to an end at this point in the Roman domain. And there is a city called Aelas [modern-day ‘Aqabah] on its shore, where the sea comes to an end, as I have said, and becomes a very narrow gulf. And as one sails into the sea from there, the Egyptian mountains lie on the right, extending toward the south; on the other side a country deserted by men extends northward to an indefinite distance; and the land on both sides is visible as one sails in as far as the island called Iotabe, not less than one thousand stades distant from the city of Aelas.

(Prokopios 2005)

(Prokopios 2005)

Aylah-Filastin orqali Islom ostidagi viloyatning kengligi va boyligi haqida tasavvur olish mumkin: Jund Filastin viloyati shimolda Marj Ibn ‘Amer serunum tekisligidan – Falastindagi boy don ombori va o‘sha paytda Quyi Jalilaning bir qismi hisoblangan hududdan – janubda al-‘Arish (Sinay)gacha hamda Qizil dengiz bo‘yidagi savdo shahri Aylah-Filastingacha cho‘zilgan edi. Aslida Jund Filastin viloyati Palaestina Prima va Palaestina Tertianing ko‘p qismini o‘z ichiga olgan (Avni 2014: 27). Palaestina Secunda o‘rnini egallagan Jund al-Urdun (جند الأردن), ya’ni “Iordaniya harbiy/ma’muriy viloyati” (Blankinship 1994: 84; Avni 2014: 27) poytaxti Falastindagi Tabariyya (Tiberias) shahri bo‘lib tashkil topdi. Rim Falastinida asos solingan va yunoncha nomi Τιβεριάς bilan tanilgan bu shahar Iso alayhissalom davrida Jalilaning mintaqaviy poytaxti bo‘lgan hamda bir necha asrlar davomida savdo, ipak sanoati va dam olish faoliyatining muhim markazi bo‘lib qolgan.

Aylah-Filastin under Islam gives us some indication of the vastness and wealth of the province of Jund Filastin which stretched from the fertile plain of Marj Ibn ‘Amer in the north – a rich granary in Palestine and a region which at the time was considered part of lower Galilee – to al-‘Arish in Sinai and to the trading town of Aylah-Filastin on the Red Sea. In fact, the province of Jund Filastin encompassed most of Palaestina Prima and Palaestina Tertia (Avni 2014: 27). Jund al-Urdun ( جند الأردن ), ‘the Military/ Administrative Province of Jordan’, replacing Palaestina Secunda (Blankinship 1994: 84; Avni 2014: 27), was formed with its capital in the Palestinian city of Tabariyyah (Tiberias). Founded in Roman Palestine and known by its Greek name, Τιβεριάς, the city had been the regional capital of Galilee at the time of Jesus and would remain a key Palestinian centre of trade, silk industry and leisure activities for several centuries to come.

Shahar, shuningdek, Arab-yahudiylik va qadimgi ibroniy tilining diniy ta'lim markazi bo'lgan – o'sha paytda ibroniy tili kundalik so'zlashuv tili emas, balki ibodat tili (lashon hakodesh) edi, va u Tabariyada Arab tili va Islomning global ta'siri ostida kodifikatsiya qilingan. Islom davrida Tabariyaning ko'p madaniyatli, shahvoniy va dam olish shahri sifatidagi shuhrati shunchalik ulkan bo'ldiki, ko'plab tabiiy issiq buloqlar va issiq shifobaxsh hammomlar yaqinida joylashgan bu shahar tufayli Galiley dengizi arab tilida "Tabariya dengizi" (Bahr Tabariyyah, keyinroq Buhayrat Tabariyyah) nomi bilan mashhur bo'ldi. Palaestina Secunda kabi, Jund al-Urdun tarkibiga Galileyaning ko'p qismi va Transiordaniyadagi ayrim hududlar kirgan.

The city was also a seat of religious learning for Arab-Judaism and ancient Hebrew – then a language of liturgy (lashon hakodesh) rather than a day-to day spoken language – was codified in Tabariyyah under the globalising impact of Arabic and Islam. Under Islam the fame of Tabariyyah as a multicultural, hedonistic and leisure city –situated in the proximity of many natural thermal springs and hot health baths – became so great that the Sea of Galilee became known in Arabic as the ‘Sea of Tiberias’ (Bahr Tabariyyah and later Buhayrat Tabariyyah). Like Palaestina Secunda, Jund al-Urdun included most of the Galilee and some territories in Transjordan.

Jund al-Urdun ning umumiy hajmi zamonaviy Falastin Mandati hududining taxminan uchdan bir qismini tashkil etardi. Ba'zi kichik o'zgarishlar bilan bu ma'muriy bo'linish 1099-yilda salibchilarning mamlakatga bostirib kirishigacha deyarli o'zgarishsiz qoldi, garchi Fotimiylar davrida Jund al-Urdun amalda ar-Ramlada joylashgan Falastin harbiy hokimi (متولي حرب فلسطين) tomonidan boshqarilgan bo'lsa ham.

The overall size of Jund al-Urdun was about one-third of modern Mandatory Palestine. With some minor changes this administrative division of Palestine remained largely unchanged until the Crusader invasion of the country in 1099, although under the Fatimids Jund al-Urdun was effectively ruled from al-Ramla by the Military Governor of Palestine .(متولي حرب فلسطين)

Albatta, o'rta asr arablari Eski Ahd va Yangi Ahd bilan tanish edilar. Lekin ular mamlakatning haqiqiy tarixiy va rasmiy ma'muriy nomini — Filastin (Palestine) nomini tanladilar, Eski Ahddagi mafkuraviy "Kan'on" atamasini emas, va Filastinning turli-tuman merosini hamda Levant mintaqasining umumiy merosini qabul qilib, qadrladilar. O'rta asr arab tilidagi Filastin toponimi qadimgi fransuzcha Philistin atamasi bilan bir xil edi; bu atama lotincha Philistina yoki Philistinus yoki Palaestina so'zlaridan kelib chiqqan bo'lib, o'z navbatida viloyatning rimcha nomi Palaestinadan olingan. Bu nom esa qadimgi nomga asoslangan bo'lib, uning xotirasi Eski Ahdda va turli qadimgi tillarda saqlanib qolgan: akkadcha Palashtu va misrcha Parusata.

Of course, the medieval Arabs were familiar with the Old Testament and New Testament. But they opted for the real historical and official administrative name of the country: Palestine (Filastin) rather than for the ideological Old Testament term ‘Cana’an’, and they embraced and cherished the diverse heritage of Palestine and the shared heritage of the Levant. The medieval Arabic toponymy of Filastin was identical to the Old French term Philistin, which came from Latin Philistina or Philistinus or Palaestina which, in turn, derived from the Roman name of the province, Palaestina, based on the ancient name with its memory preserved in the Old Testament and a variety of ancient languages, the Akkadian Palashtu and Egyptian Parusata.