Prehistory
The presence of humans in the area of Palestine dates back to the Paleolithic era, when the first humans of African and Asian origin migrated through the territories of present-day the Middle East approximately 44,000 years ago. This land, situated between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, is considered one of the earliest populated areas of the ancient world. By the end of Prehistory, during the Bronze Age, agricultural communities and the first significant cities emerged, such as Jericho, Gaza, and Jerusalem. This region, known as historical Palestine, is the origin of the Palestinian people, one of the Semitic peoples of the Mediterranean Levant who, according to the Bible, descended from Noah’s eldest son: Shem.
It is important to note that the Palestinian territory was populated through Semitic immigration in various waves from the Arabian desert starting in the fourth millennium BCE: Akkadians, Babylonians, Amorites, Canaanites, Arameans, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Moabites, Arabs, Himyarites, and Ethiopians, who were mainly herders and traders. Around 1150 BCE, the Philistines arrived. The Hebrew Bible mentions that they came from “Caphtor,” which some archaeologists believe may have been located in what is now Crete, although some modern interpretations of ancient Egyptian texts suggest they were the people known as “Peleset,” maritime invaders associated with a group known as the “Sea Peoples.”
From these texts and other archaeological remains, some scientists and historians have argued that the emergence of the Philistines was the result of a mass migration from a specific territory, such as Cyprus or Anatolia, while others claim they arrived from various places around the Mediterranean. Nonetheless, some have argued that the Philistines were always in the Levant, and others have even suggested that they were pirates. The area they inhabited was a transit zone, a crossroads between the great civilizations of the ancient world. This semi-arid region separates three semi-agricultural areas: Europe, Africa, and monsoonal Asia.
Therefore, it has always served a commercial function, connecting previously unknown agricultural worlds. The social structure upon which their civilization was based was primarily commercial. Through trade, we learn that the profits supporting the major cities often did not come from agricultural exploitation but from the advantages of long-distance commerce. The original Semitic world is described as follows:
The geographic-cultural horizon of Palestine was successively influenced by three centers of geopolitical power: Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Mediterranean, from which Hellenistic and Roman domination would emerge. Since then, the territory has frequently changed hands and has also been influenced by neighboring civilizations: Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Syria, among others. It was occupied several times by other Semitic peoples such as the Hebrews, Phoenicians, and Canaanites. Later, around 1150 BCE, the Philistines arrived, leading to the first conflicts between them and the Hebrews over control of the territory and resulting in the formation of the Hebrew kingdom as a response to a potential invasion. The areas of influence are detailed as follows:
In ancient times, Palestine was inhabited by Semitic peoples, the oldest of whom were the Canaanites. According to tradition, Abraham, a common ancestor of Jews and Arabs, traveled from Ur to Canaan. When the tribes of Israel arrived in Palestine after being imprisoned in Egypt, King David united them into a kingdom around 1000 BCE. The kingdom reached its greatest prominence during the reign of Solomon, the son of King David, who built the first temple on the hill of Jerusalem: Moriah. After Solomon’s death, a chronicle of civil wars and struggles with foreign tribes ensued.
Around 720 BCE, the Assyrians destroyed the kingdom of Israel and captured its inhabitants. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar attacked Judah around 600 BCE and invaded it in 587 BCE, destroying Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple. Most of the inhabitants were captured. Fifty years later, the Persian king Cyrus conquered Babylon, allowing the Jews to return to Palestine. Around 515 BCE, Solomon’s Temple was rebuilt. In 332 BCE, the Jews came under the rule of the Macedonians, who treated them harshly. Around 170 BCE, a Jewish revolt was suppressed, and the Second Temple was destroyed.
End of greek dominion and beginning of roman invasion
The Macedonian rule was followed by a period of relative independence. This period lasted until the Roman conquest by Pompey, who entered Jerusalem in 63 BCE. In 70 CE, Titus destroyed the city. All that remains of the Second Temple is the Western Wall, later known as the Wailing Wall. In the early second century CE, Emperor Hadrian prohibited Jews from entering Jerusalem, and from that moment on, Jews began to disperse throughout the world. From then until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, there was no Jewish government in Palestine. Although some Jews always lived in Palestine, their numbers varied according to the tolerance of successive rulers.
Division of the roman empire and beginning of byzantine dominion
After the division of the Roman Empire in the year 400, Palestine was under Byzantine rule until the Arab conquest in 637 CE, when the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock were built in the Desert of the Sun, on what was then the Temple of Solomon. After Mecca and Medina, Haram Al-Sharif became an extremely sacred place for Muslims. After the cessation of the Crusades from 1099 to 1190, the Arab ruler Saladin invited Jews to return to Palestine. In 1517, the country was conquered by the Turks, whose rule lasted until World War I. During this time, the Wailing Wall continued to be a place of Jewish worship.
British dominion
At the end of 1917, British troops occupied Palestine. It can be seen that, apart from the intervention of the Crusades, Palestine was successively governed by Arabs, then by Turks for more than 1,300 years, and during the Byzantine era. The population of Palestine is primarily Semitic Arab, including Muslims and Christians. There was also a small number of Semitic Jews. Both Arabs and Ottoman Turks granted Jews the right to continue practicing their religion and to maintain the spiritual ties of Judaism with Palestine.
During the British occupation in 1917, Jews made up less than one-tenth of the Palestinian population, 90 percent of which were Arabs, with all Muslims (80%) and Christians (10%). Palestinian Arabic traditions, customs, and language constitute the dominant culture in Palestine.
