Some Observations on the Name of Palestine
When Herodotus in the fifth century B.C.E. mentions Palestine he refers only to the coastal area, so called because it had been inhabited by the Philistines; or he is speaking loosely, since the only part of the area that he had visited was apparently along the coast. During the Persian and Ptolemai...
| Published in: | Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
College
1990
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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| RelBib Classification: | TB Antiquity |
| Further subjects: | B
Regional studies
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| Summary: | When Herodotus in the fifth century B.C.E. mentions Palestine he refers only to the coastal area, so called because it had been inhabited by the Philistines; or he is speaking loosely, since the only part of the area that he had visited was apparently along the coast. During the Persian and Ptolemaic periods, the entire area between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean from Cilicia to Egypt is called Coele-Syria. The term Judaea, as used by such writers as Hecataeus of Abdera, Clearchus of Soli, and even the anti-Jewish Manetho in the early third century B.C.E. refers to that part of the area inhabited predominantly by Jews. That the official term for this region is Judaea may be seen from military diplomas and other inscriptions, as well as from coins, prior to the time of Hadrian. It is so designated in the official letter of the Emperor Claudius to the Alexandrians in the first century, as well as by such writers as Plutarch, Tacitus, and Suetonius at the beginning of the second century. Moreover, writers on geography in the first century clearly differentiate Judaea from Palestine. Even vicious anti-Jewish writers, such as Apion, Chaeremon, and Seneca in the first century, generally do not use the term Palestine. Jewish writers, notably Philo and Josephus, with few exceptions refer to the land as Judaea, reserving the name Palestine for the coastal area occupied by the Philistines. It is only centuries later, in perhaps the fifth century, that we find the name Palestine in a rabbinic work. Occurrences of the adjective Palestinian in such poets as Tibullus, Ovid, and Statius are due to metrical considerations; Palestinian as a noun does not occur in all antiquity. Coins of Hadrian issued before the Bar Kochba rebellion in 132 C.E. refer to Judaea; within a few years after the rebellion the name of Judaea was officially changed to Palestine, the aim being to obliterate the Jewish character of the land, with the name of the nearest tribe being applied to the entire area. Yet, even after the name was officially changed, some inscriptions, as well as such literary figures as Galen and Celsus in the second century, Dio Cassius and Origen in the third century, and Eusebius and Jerome in the fourth century, still refer to Judaea. |
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| ISSN: | 0360-9049 |
| Contains: | In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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