Overview Situated at a strategic location between
Egypt,
Syria and
Arabia, and the birthplace of
Judaism and
Christianity, the region has a long and tumultuous history as a crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics. The region has been controlled by numerous peoples, including
ancient Egyptians,
Canaanites,
Israelites,
Assyrians,
Babylonians,
Achaemenids,
ancient Greeks,
Romans,
Parthians,
Sasanians,
Byzantines, the Arab
Rashidun,
Umayyad,
Abbasid and
Fatimid caliphates,
Crusaders,
Ayyubids,
Mamluks,
Mongols,
Ottomans, the
British, and modern
Israelis and
Palestinians.
Ancient period '', showing "Palestine under David and Solomon about 1015 - 930 BC" was used at the
Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) during negotiations over the boundaries of the
Mandate for Palestine. The region was among the earliest in the world to see human habitation, agricultural communities and
civilization. In the late 4th millennium BCE, during the
Early Bronze Age, there were areas of permanent Egyptian settlement in the southern Levant; land beyond these areas was inhabited by the Egyptians seasonally. The area of permanent settlement included
Tell es-Sakan on the Mediterranean coast, which is the oldest known fortified Egyptian settlement and was likely the administrative centre of the region. During the
Bronze Age, independent
Canaanite city-states were established, and were influenced by the surrounding civilizations of ancient Egypt,
Mesopotamia,
Phoenicia,
Minoan Crete, and Syria. Between 1550 and 1400BCE, the Canaanite cities became vassals to the Egyptian
New Kingdom who held power until the 1178BCE
Battle of Djahy (Canaan) during the wider
Bronze Age collapse. Three cities listed in the Egyptian
Onomasticon of Amenope (c. 1100 BCE) -
Gaza,
Isdud (
Ashdod) and
Asqalan - are mentioned in association with a people named as
Peleshet (
Philistines). This is the first indication for the emergence of the
Philistine pentapolis, five city-states each ruled by a king, and that for some 550 years, exercised some independence, even when subjected to overarching and alternating Egyptian or Assyrian imperial rule. It is theorized that
Israelites emerged from a dramatic social transformation that took place in the people of the central hill country of Canaan around 1200BCE, with no signs of violent invasion or even of peaceful infiltration of a clearly defined ethnic group from elsewhere. During the
Iron Age, two related kingdoms,
Israel and Judah emerge. The
Kingdom of Israel emerged as an important local power by the 10th century BCE before falling to the
Neo-Assyrian Empire in 722BCE. Israel's southern neighbor, the
Kingdom of Judah, emerged in the 8th or 9th century BCE and later became a client state of first the Neo-Assyrian and then the
Neo-Babylonian Empire before a revolt against the latter led to its destruction in 586BCE. The region of Palestine as a whole became part of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from which was itself replaced by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in . In 587/6BCE,
Jerusalem was besieged and destroyed by the second Babylonian king,
Nebuchadnezzar II, who subsequently
exiled the Judeans to Babylon. The Kingdom of Judah was then
annexed as a Babylonian province. The Philistines were also exiled. The defeat of Judah was recorded by the Babylonians. In 539BCE, the
Babylonian empire was conquered by the
Achaemenid Empire. According to the
Hebrew Bible and implications from the
Cyrus Cylinder, the exiled Jews were eventually allowed to
return to Jerusalem. The returned population in Judah were allowed to self-rule under Persian governance, and some parts of the fallen kingdom became a Persian province known as
Yehud. Except Yehud, at least another four Persian provinces existed in the region: Samaria, Gaza, Ashdod, and Ascalon, in addition to the Phoenician city states in the north and the Arabian tribes in the south. During the same period, the
Edomites migrated from Transjordan to the southern parts of
Judea, which became known as
Idumaea. The
Qedarites were the dominant Arab tribe; their territory ran from the
Hejaz in the south to the Negev in the north through the period of Persian and Hellenistic dominion.
Classical antiquity , also known as Caesarea Palestinae, built under
Herod the Great at the site of a former
Phoenician naval station, became the capital city of
Roman Judea, Roman
Syria Palaestina and Byzantine
Palaestina Prima provinces. In the 330s BCE, Macedonian ruler
Alexander the Great conquered the region, which changed hands several times during the
wars of the Diadochi and later
Syrian Wars. It ultimately fell to the
Seleucid Empire between 219 and 200BCE. During that period, the region became heavily
hellenized, building tensions between Greeks and locals. In 167BCE, the
Maccabean Revolt erupted, leading to the establishment of an independent
Hasmonean Kingdom in Judea. From 110BCE, the Hasmoneans extended their authority over much of Palestine, including
Samaria,
Galilee,
Iturea,
Perea, and Idumea. The Jewish control over the wider region resulted in it also becoming known as
Judaea, a term that had previously only referred to the smaller region of the
Judaean Mountains. During the same period, the Edomites fully assimilated. Between 73 and 63BCE, the
Roman Republic extended its influence into the region in the
Third Mithridatic War. Pompey conquered Judea in 63BCE, splitting the former Hasmonean Kingdom into five districts. In around 40BCE, the
Parthians conquered Palestine, deposed the Roman ally
Hyrcanus II, and installed a puppet ruler of the Hasmonean line known as
Antigonus II. By 37BCE, the Parthians withdrew from Palestine. Palestine is generally considered the "Cradle of
Christianity". Christianity, a religion based on the
life and
teachings of
Jesus of Nazareth, arose as a messianic sect from within
Second Temple Judaism. The three-year
Ministry of Jesus, culminating in his
crucifixion, is estimated to have occurred from 28 to 30CE, although the
historicity of Jesus is disputed by a minority of scholars. in
Jerusalem, after being rebuilt by
Herod. It was destroyed by the
Romans in 70 CE during the
First Jewish-Roman War. In the first and second centuries CE, the province of Judea became the site of two large-scale
Jewish revolts against Rome. During the
First Jewish-Roman War, which lasted from 66 to 73CE, the Romans
razed Jerusalem and destroyed the
Second Temple. After the revolt, the Romans enacted a few punitive measures, including restrictions on Jewish religion and practice, and forbade Jews from inhabiting the area surrounding Jerusalem. The city was rebuilt as a
Roman colony called
Aelia Capitolina. Around this time, the Roman authorities renamed the province of Judaea as
Syria Palaestina. Some scholars contend that this was intended to sever the symbolic and historical connection between the Jewish people and the land. Other interpretations have also been proposed. Between 259 and 272, the region fell under the rule of
Odaenathus as King of the
Palmyrene Empire. Following the victory of Christian emperor
Constantine in the
Civil wars of the Tetrarchy, the Christianization of the Roman Empire began, and in 326, Constantine's mother
Saint Helena visited
Jerusalem and began the construction of churches and shrines. Palestine became a center of Christianity, attracting numerous monks and religious scholars. The
Samaritan Revolts during this period caused their near extinction. In 614CE, Palestine was annexed by another Persian dynasty; the
Sassanids, until returning to Byzantine control in 628CE.
Early Muslim period Palestine was conquered by the
Rashidun Caliphate, beginning in 634CE. In 636, the
Battle of Yarmouk during the
Muslim conquest of the Levant marked the start of Muslim hegemony over the region, which became known as the military district of
Jund Filastin within the province of
Bilâd al-Shâm (Greater Syria). In 661, with the
Assassination of Ali,
Muawiyah I became the Caliph of the Islamic world after being crowned in Jerusalem. The
Dome of the Rock, completed in 691, was the world's first great work of Islamic architecture. The majority of the population was Christian and was to remain so until the conquest of Saladin in 1187. The Muslim conquest apparently had little impact on social and administrative continuities for several decades. The word 'Arab' at the time referred predominantly to Bedouin nomads, though Arab settlement is attested in the Judean highlands and near Jerusalem by the 5th century, and some tribes had converted to Christianity. The local population engaged in farming, which was considered demeaning, and were called
Nabaț, referring to
Aramaic-speaking villagers. A
ḥadīth, brought in the name of a Muslim freedman who settled in Palestine, ordered the Muslim Arabs not to settle in the villages, "for he who abides in villages it is as if he abides in graves". The
Umayyads, who had spurred a strong economic resurgence in the area, were replaced by the
Abbasids in 750.
Ramla became the administrative centre for the following centuries, while Tiberias became a thriving centre of Muslim scholarship. From 878, Palestine was ruled from Egypt by semi-autonomous rulers for almost a century, beginning with the Turkish freeman
Ahmad ibn Tulun, for whom both Jews and Christians prayed when he lay dying and ending with the
Ikhshidid rulers. Reverence for Jerusalem increased during this period, with many of the Egyptian rulers choosing to be buried there. However, the later period became characterized by persecution of Christians as the threat from Byzantium grew. The
Fatimids, with a predominantly
Berber army, conquered the region in 970, a date that marks the beginning of a period of unceasing warfare between numerous enemies, which destroyed Palestine, and in particular, devastating its Jewish population. Between 1071 and 1073, Palestine was captured by the
Great Seljuq Empire, only to be recaptured by the Fatimids in 1098.
Crusader/Ayyubid period fortress in
Acre was destroyed in 1291 and partially rebuilt in the 18th century. The Fatimids again lost the region to the
Crusaders in
1099. The Crusaders set up the
Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099–1291). Their control of Jerusalem and most of Palestine lasted almost a century until their
defeat by
Saladin's forces in 1187, after which most of Palestine was controlled by the
Ayyubids, except for the years 1229–1244 when Jerusalem and other areas were retaken by the
Second Kingdom of Jerusalem, by then ruled from
Acre (1191–1291), but, despite seven further crusades, the Franks were no longer a significant power in the region. The
Fourth Crusade, which did not reach Palestine, led directly to the decline of the Byzantine Empire, dramatically reducing Christian influence throughout the region.
Mamluk period The
Mamluk Sultanate was created in Egypt as an indirect result of the
Seventh Crusade. The
Mongol Empire reached Palestine for the first time in 1260, beginning with the
Mongol raids into Palestine under
Nestorian Christian general
Kitbuqa, and reaching an apex at the pivotal
Battle of Ain Jalut, where they were pushed back by the Mamluks.
Ottoman period In 1486, hostilities broke out between the Mamluks and the
Ottoman Empire in a battle for control over western Asia, and the Ottomans conquered Palestine in 1516. Between the mid-16th and 17th centuries, a close-knit alliance of three local dynasties, the
Ridwans of
Gaza, the
Turabays of
al-Lajjun and the
Farrukhs of
Nablus, governed Palestine on behalf of the
Porte (imperial Ottoman government). , constructed in
Acre in 1784, is the largest and best preserved
caravanserai in the region. In the 18th century, the
Zaydani clan under the leadership of
Daher al-Umar ruled large parts of Palestine autonomously until the Ottomans were able to defeat them in their
Galilee strongholds in 1775–76. Daher had turned the port city of
Acre into a major regional power, partly fueled by his monopolization of the
cotton and
olive oil trade from Palestine to Europe. Acre's regional dominance was further elevated under Daher's successor
Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar at the expense of
Damascus. ,
Kitab-ı cihannüma [Istanbul, 1732] by
Katip Celebi. '
Ard Filastin ("The Land of Palestine") is depicted as lying between the two capitals of Jerusalem and Damascus, both bestowed the honorific
Sharif (
Quds Sharif and
Sham Sharif) In 1830, on the eve of
Muhammad Ali's invasion, the Porte transferred control of the sanjaks of Jerusalem and Nablus to
Abdullah Pasha, the governor of Acre. According to Silverburg, in regional and cultural terms this move was important for creating an Arab Palestine detached from greater Syria (
bilad al-Sham). According to Pappe, it was an attempt to reinforce the Syrian front in face of Muhammad Ali's invasion. Two years later, Palestine was conquered by Muhammad Ali's Egypt, but Egyptian rule was challenged in 1834 by a
countrywide popular uprising against
conscription and other measures considered intrusive by the population. Its suppression devastated many of Palestine's villages and major towns. In 1840, Britain intervened and returned control of the Levant to the Ottomans in return for further
capitulations. The death of
Aqil Agha marked the last local challenge to Ottoman centralization in Palestine, and beginning in the 1860s, Palestine underwent an acceleration in its socio-economic development, due to its incorporation into the global, and particularly European, economic pattern of growth. The beneficiaries of this process were Arabic-speaking Muslims and Christians who emerged as a new layer within the Arab elite. In the southern coastal plain, Palestinian villagers developed
distinctive methods of cultivating sandy dunefields (
rimāl) known as
mawāṣī. These sunken-garden systems supported vineyards, figs, olives, and vegetables, and by the
Late Ottoman period had transformed formerly marginal landscapes into productive agricultural zones. From 1880 large-scale Jewish immigration began, almost entirely from Europe, based on an explicitly
Zionist ideology. There was also a
revival of the Hebrew language and culture.
Christian Zionism in the United Kingdom preceded its spread within the Jewish community. The government of Great Britain publicly supported it during
World War I with the
Balfour Declaration of 1917.
British Mandate period The British began their
Sinai and Palestine Campaign in 1915. The war reached
southern Palestine in 1917, progressing to Gaza and around
Jerusalem by the end of the year. The British
secured Jerusalem in December 1917. They moved into the Jordan valley
in 1918 and a campaign by the Entente into northern Palestine led to victory at
Megiddo in September. The British were formally awarded
the mandate to govern the region in 1922. The Arab Palestinians rioted in
1920,
1921,
1929, and revolted in
1936. In 1947, following World War II and
The Holocaust, the British Government announced its desire to terminate the Mandate, and the
United Nations General Assembly adopted in November 1947 a
Resolution 181(II) recommending partition into an Arab state, a Jewish state and the Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem. A
civil war began immediately after the Resolution's adoption. The
State of Israel was
declared in May 1948.
Arab–Israeli conflict In the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, Israel captured and incorporated a further 26% of the Mandate territory,
Jordan captured the regions of
Judea and
Samaria, renaming it the "
West Bank", while the
Gaza Strip was
captured by Egypt. Following the
1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight, also known as
al-Nakba, the 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes were
not allowed to return following the
Lausanne Conference of 1949. In the course of the
Six-Day War in June 1967, Israel captured the rest of Mandate Palestine from Jordan and Egypt, and began a policy of establishing
Jewish settlements in those
territories. From 1987 to 1993, the
First Palestinian Intifada against Israel took place, which included the
Declaration of the State of Palestine in 1988 and ended with the
1993 Oslo Peace Accords and the creation of the
Palestinian National Authority. In 2000, the
Second Intifada (also called al-Aqsa Intifada) began, and Israel built a
separation barrier. In the 2005
Israeli disengagement from Gaza, Israel withdrew all settlers and military presence from the Gaza Strip, but maintained military control of numerous aspects of the territory including its borders, air space and coast. Israel's ongoing military occupation of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem continues to be the world's
longest military occupation in modern times. In 2008
Palestinian hikaye was inscribed to UNESCO's list of
intangible cultural heritage; the first of four listings reflecting the significance of Palestinian culture globally. In November 2012, the status of Palestinian delegation in the
United Nations was upgraded to
non-member observer state as the
State of Palestine. == Boundaries ==