Palestine (region)

Palestine (Παλαιστίνη, Palaistínē; Palaestina; فِلَسْطِينَ, , , ; פלשתינה, Palestīna) is a geographic region in West Asia. It is usually considered to include Israel and the State of Palestine (i.e. West Bank and Gaza Strip), though some definitions also include part of northwestern Jordan. The first written records referring to Palestine emerged in the 12th-century BCE Twentieth dynasty of Egypt, which used the term "Peleset" for the neighboring people or land. In the 8th century BCE, the Assyrians referred to the region as "Palashtu" or "Pilistu". In the Hellenistic period, these names were carried over into Greek, appearing in the Histories of Herodotus in as "Palaistine". The Roman Empire initially used other terms for the region, such as Judaea, but renamed the region Syria Palaestina after the Bar Kokhba revolt. During the Byzantine period, the region was split into the provinces of Palaestina Prima, Palaestina Secunda and Palaestina Tertia. Following the Muslim conquest of the Levant, the military district of Jund Filastin was established. Palestine's boundaries have changed throughout history, but it has generally comprised the southern portion of wider regional designations such Syria or the Levant. It conceptually overlaps with several historical and cultural terms, including Canaan, and the Promised Land, Holy Land and Land of Israel in Judeo-Christian tradition. As the birthplace of Judaism and Christianity, the region of Palestine has a tumultuous history as a crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics. In the Bronze Age, it was inhabited by the Canaanites; the Iron Age saw the emergence of Israel and Judah, two related kingdoms inhabited by the Israelites. It has since come under the sway of various empires, including the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Revolts by the region's Jews against Hellenistic rule brought a brief period of regional independence under the Hasmonean dynasty, which ended with its gradual incorporation into the Roman Empire (later the Byzantine Empire).