Thursday, March 10, 2016

Local Means Indigenous

From the introduction of Łukasz Niesiołowski-Spanò's new book:




In the 12th century BCE revolutionary changes and major population movements took place in the eastern Mediterranean. One element of this complex process was the appearance of the warlike Sea Peoples on the coast of the Middle East. Among the groups that we know of the most important seem to be Philistines. It is no accident that the name of the region - Palestine - comes precisely from this ethnonym.

The book examines the impact of the Sea Peoples, especially the Philistines, on the local population, and on the Hebrews in particular. To determine the chronological sequence, the first part presents the biblical narrative in a synthetic way, and thus the Philistines’ role in the history of Israel and Judah. These considerations complement the study of geography, in which toponyms are discussed to establish a range of the Philistines’ impact.

Note:

a.  "Local people". By me that means indigenous. 

b.  Palestine comes from Philistines.  Philistines are the Sea People, not the Desert Arabs.

c.  Hebrews were local.

d.  This country is the Land of Israel and Judah.

But ---

Philistines are not Palestinians.

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1 comment:

Sheri Oz said...

It should also be pointed out that Philistia, another province and not a sovereign nation, covered only a sliver of land that was in what is now Gaza and up to and including present-day Ashkelon. I have come across people who thought Philistia covered the entirety of modern Israel and had no idea that The Kingdoms of Judea and Israel existed alongside Philistia.