history of Palestine

Encyclopædia Britannica’s long life offers incredible insight into how Britons understood their world 150—even 250—years ago. We provide here a snapshot of what Palestine meant at the time of our ninth edition, decades before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began. The entry is a particularly valuable artifact, not only because it predates today’s conflict, but also because of when it was written. At the time of the ninth edition’s publication (1870s–80s), a collapsing Ottoman Empire was instituting a massive land reform (see Tanzimat). The Ottoman state had begun selling off land for private ownership, spurring exploration and settlement by predominantly Christian Europeans who had centuries ago lost connection with the Holy Land. A British association called the Palestine Exploration Fund, founded in 1865 under the patronage of Queen Victoria, completed in 1877 a major survey of Palestine, which is referenced throughout the entry. This emerging European interest in Palestine—infused with endless curiosity about the history of the Old Testament and intoned with prospective commentary on the land’s commercial potential—coincided with the rise of Zionism, a movement that identifies Palestine as the Jewish homeland and led eventually to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. In delineating the borders of the Palestine region, the entry below uses as its starting point “the country seized and mainly occupied by the Hebrew people” in ancient times, indicating the importance placed on outlining Palestine according to biblical significance rather than geographic features or demographic considerations. The entry concludes with a comment, perhaps startling for a modern reader, that reflects a contemporary interest in settling Europeans in the area: “As long as the Turks hold rule over the country successful colonization is hardly possible.”

Written in this context, the entry contains insight into the framing of Palestine in the British consciousness a mere generation or two before Great Britain took control of Palestine in 1918. It was British rule (1918–48) that ultimately shaped the region as we know it today, including the delineation of its borders, partly according to the British vision of Palestine’s geography and history. British policies in that period also set in motion the battle over Palestine by two peoples, Jewish migrants returning to the land of their ancestors and the people (predominantly Arab Muslims, but also Jews and others) who were already living there.

Notably, the entry from the ninth edition does not talk about a Palestinian people. That is hardly because of a lack of inhabitants who identified themselves as originating in Palestine. On the contrary, it notes that the inhabitants believed themselves to be descended from the ancient Canaanites, indicating that they had a sense of indigeneity to the region. In the 19th century, however, the most important communities in navigating daily life in Ottoman Palestine were language, religion, and locality, and that is how the entry identifies its inhabitants. The entry estimates a sizable population of about 650,000—less than one-tenth of today’s combined population of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, but about one-fourth of what Albrecht Socin, the author, reckoned that the small territory could possibly handle. Notably, the entry considers ethnic diversity to be the historical norm of Palestine, and even during the Jewish period it lists Arabs, Phoenicians, Syrians, and Greeks as living in the region.

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Palestine: History of Palestine

Excerpts from the lengthy entry are reproduced below. The excerpts have been chosen to provide the reader with a general sense of the entry and to include passages that might most satisfy a modern curiosity. Ellipses have been added between excerpts and where text has been trimmed. Cross-references to current Britannica entries are provided for the reader’s convenience. The article, which starts on page 170 of volume 18, is available in its entirety through the National Library of Scotland and includes greater discussion on biblical history, geology, geography, and more.

“PALESTINE” in the ninth edition

“As Palestine, geographically considered, forms the southernmost third of Syria, its general geographical relations, as well as its geological structure, its botany, [et]c., will be treated under that heading. In the matter of climate, on the other hand, it holds a more or less independent position ; and this is more strikingly the case with its ethnographic characteristics, at least so far as the pre-Christian period is concerned.…

By Palestine is to be understood in general the country seized and mainly occupied by the Hebrew people. That portion of territory is consequently excluded which they held only for a time, or according to an ideal demarcation (cf. Numbers xxxiv., from the older source) by which the land of the Israelites was made to extend from the “river of Egypt” to Hamath ; but, on the other hand, that other ancient tradition is accepted which fixes the extreme borders at Dan (at the foot of Hermon) in the north and at Beersheba in the south, thus excluding the Lebanon district and a portion of the southern desert. In like manner, though with certain limitations to be afterwards mentioned, the country east of Jordan stretched from the foot of Hermon to the neighbourhood of the Arnon. Towards the west the natural boundary—a purely ideal one so far as occupation by the Israelites was concerned—was the Mediterranean, but towards the east it is difficult to fix on any physical feature more definite than the beginning of the true steppe region. That the territory of Israel extended as far as Salcah (east of Boṣra at the foot of the Ḥauran Mountains) is the statement of an ideal rather than an historical frontier (Josh. xiii. 11). Palestine thus lies between 31° and 33° 20′ N. lat. ; its south-west point is situated about 34° 20′ E. long., some distance south of Gaza (Ghazza), its north-west point about 35° 15′ E. long., at the mouth of the Líṭány (Ḳásimíye). As the country west of the Jordan stretches east as far as 35° 35′ it has a breadth in the north of about 23 miles and in the south of about 80 miles. Its length may be put down as 150 miles ; and, according to the English engineers, whose survey included Beersheba, it has an area of 6040 square miles. For the country east of the Jordan no such precise figures are available. The direct distance from Hermon to Arnon is about 120 miles, and the area at the most may be estimated at 3800 square miles. The whole territory of Palestine is thus of very small extent, equal, in fact, to not more than a sixth of England. The classical writers ridicule its insignificant size.…

Climate and Vegetation.—Palestine may be considered part of the subtropical zone. At the summer solstice the sun stands 10 degrees south of the zenith ; the shortest day is thus one of ten hours, the longest of only fourteen. In a few points, as already remarked, there is a difference between Palestine and the rest of Syria. The extensive maritime plain and the valley of the Jordan give rise to important climatic contrasts. From its vicinity to the sea the former region is naturally warmer than the highlands.…Of course it was the same in antiquity ; climate, rainfall, fertility, and productiveness cannot have seriously altered. Even if we suppose that there was a somewhat richer clothing of wood and trees in the central districts of the country, yet on the whole the general appearance must have been much the same as at present. To the stranger from the steppes arriving at a favourable season of the year Palestine may still give the impression of a land flowing with milk and honey. The number of cisterns and reservoirs is proof enough that it was not better supplied with water in ancient times ; but, on the other hand, the numerous ruins of places which were still flourishing during the Roman period show that at one time (more especially in the southern districts, which now possess but few inhabited localities) cultivation must have been carried on more extensively and thoroughly. In general the country enjoyed the greatest security, and consequently the greatest prosperity, under Western rule, which even protected the country east of Jordan (at present partly beyond the control of the Government) from the inroads of the Bedouins. The Romans also did excellent service by the construction of roads, portions of which (as well as Roman milestones and bridges) still exist in good preservation in many places. Thus it cannot be denied that the resources of the country were formerly better developed than at present. Like all the lands of the nearer East, Palestine suffers from the decay of the branches of industry which still flourished there in the Middle Ages. The harbours are not of sufficient size for large vessels ; that of Ḥáifa alone is capable of any development. The road from Yáfá to Jerusalem is the only one in the country fit for carriages. The proposal to construct a railway along this route (for which a firman was granted in 1875) is renewed from time to time ; but it will be hard to carry it out, as, in spite of the pilgrims (who, besides, are restricted to one period of the year), the passenger traffic is not large enough to be remunerative, and commercial traffic there is almost none. At the same time the formation of means of communication would increase the productiveness of the country. The culture of olives and export of oil are especially capable of expansion. As regards the industrial arts, souvenirs for the pilgrims, rosaries, carved work in olive wood and mother-of-pearl, [et]c., are produced at Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and to some extent are exported. Wheat from the Ḥauran is also shipped at Acre and elsewhere, but neither exports nor imports are commercially important. The salt farming, which could easily be carried on at the Dead Sea and the deposit of salt to the south of it, is hampered by the difficulty of bringing the produce up the steep paths to the top of the mountains. In the valley of the Jordan all the products of the tropics could with little trouble be cultivated. Bee-keeping still receives attention, but might also be extended.

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Political Geography.—Evidence of an early occupation of Palestine is afforded by the stone monuments (cromlechs and circles of stones), which are found more especially in the country east of Jordan, but also in the country to the west. To what period they belong in this part of the world is as doubtful as it is elsewhere ; but it may be remarked that stories of a gigantic primeval population once prevailed in Palestine. To what race these people may have belonged is, however, unknown. For thousands of years Palestine was an object of conflict between the vast monarchies of western Asia. As Egypt, whenever she sought to extend her power, was from the very position of the country naturally led to make herself mistress of the east coast of the Mediterranean, so, on the other hand there were no physical boundaries to prevent the westward advance into Palestine of the Asiatic empires. For both Egypt and the East indeed the country formed a natural thoroughfare, in time of war for the forces of the contending powers, in time of peace for the trading caravans which carried on the interchange of African and Asiatic merchandise.

One of the oldest of the still extant historical documents in regard to the geography of Palestine is the inscription on the pylones of the temple of Karnak, on which Thothmes III. (in the beginning of the 16th century b.c.) has handed down an account of his military expedition to western Asia. Many of the topographical names of Palestine there mentioned are certainly hard to identify ; a number, however, such as Iphu for Yáfá, Luden for Lydda, Magedi for Megiddo, [et]c., are beyond dispute. The lists show that these names are of extreme antiquity, dating from before the Hebrew immigration. There is also a hieratic papyrus of the 14th century b.c., which contains a description of a carriage journey through Syria made by an Egyptian officer, possibly for the collection of tribute. Bethshean and the Jordan, among other localities, appear to be mentioned in this narrative, but the identification of most of the names is very dubious. Another foreign source of information as to the geography of Palestine can only be alluded to—the records contained in the cuneiform inscriptions, which mention a number of the most important towns:—Akku (Akko, Acre), Du’ru (Dor), Magidu (Megiddo), Yappu (Jaffa), Asdudu (Ashdod), Iskaluna (Askalon), Hazzatu (Ghazza, Gaza), Altaku (Eltheke), Ursalimmu (Jerusalem), and Samarina (Samaria), and—of course only from the 8th century, when they came into hostile contact with Assyria—the countries of Judah, Moab, Ammon, and Edom.

The information supplied by the Old Testament enables us to form only an extremely imperfect conception of the earliest ethnographic condition of the country. The population to the east of the Jordan was already, it is clear, sharply marked off from that to the west. In the latter region dwelt an agricultural people which had already reached no inconsiderable degree of civilization. Closely related to the Phœnicians, they were distinguished as Canaanites from the name of their country, which originally applied to the maritime belt and afterwards to the whole cis-Jordan territory (vol. iv. p. 62). Though for particular reasons they are placed among the Hamitic races in Gen. x., many modern investigators are of opinion that, according to our principles of ethnographic classification, they were Semitic ; their language, at any rate, was very similar to Hebrew. The separation of Canaanites from Semites may have been due, in part at least, to the fact that a deep contrast made itself felt between them and the Hebrews, though they were only, perhaps, an older result of Arabic emigration.…

A great deal of trouble has been expended—more especially since the rise of a more scientific exploration of the country—in verifying the old place-names which are known from the Bible, the writings of Eusebius, and the Talmud. The task is rendered much easier by the fact that in Palestine, as in every country where the ethnographic conditions have not been too violently revolutionized, a large number of ancient names of places have been preserved in use for thousands of years, often with only insignificant changes of form—a state of matters to which the continuous existence in the country of Semitic-speaking people has powerfully contributed. The identification of the ancient with the modern names demands none the less thorough historical and philological investigation. Through the labours of Robinson and Guérin we now possess a list of the names in use at least in the country west of Jordan. The list of six thousand names collected during the English survey by Lieuts. Conder and Kitchener is particularly rich,—though it must be borne in mind that the orthography in many cases has not been determined with sufficient accuracy, and that a revision of the collection on the spot by a trained Arabic scholar would be desirable. By the help of this abundant material many of the ancient place-names can undoubtedly be assigned to their localities, and in part at least, the direction of the tribal boundaries as they were conceived by the author of the lists preserved in the book of Joshua can be followed. In regard to a large number of places, Joshua leaves us to mere conjecture ; and the investigations and combinations hitherto effected are (in the opinion of the present writer) far from sufficient for the construction of such a map of ancient Palestine as the Palestine Exploration Fund has published. The difficulties of the case are further increased by the fact that the ancient localities were at an early date fixed by tradition. An undoubted example of this is furnished by the grave, of Rachel between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the localizing of which goes back to an ancient gloss on Gen. xxxv. 19. Even in the case of apparently well-established identifications such as Beitin = Bethel, the question may be raised whether in reality artificial tradition may not have been at work, and ancient Bethel have to be sought elsewhere. Too much care, therefore, cannot be brought to bear on the reconstruction of the ancient geography of Palestine.…

Already in the book of Kings (that is, by the time of the exile) the name Shomeron (Samaria) is applied to the territory of the northern kingdom, for mention is made of the “towns of Samaria.” In the apocryphal books of the Old Testament, Judæa and Samaria (Σαμαρειτις, Σαμαρις, Σαμαρεια) are opposed to each other ; but the limits of the two divisions at the time of Christ, and for centuries previously, can hardly be laid down. Thus in Josephus the Mediterranean coast as far as Acre is assigned to Judæa ; towards the south this country was bounded by Idumea ; in the north it extended to about 8 miles to the south of Nábulus (Shechem). Whether Samaria extended from the Jordan to the sea is uncertain ; in the north it reached the southern edge of the plain of Esdraelon, the frontier town being ‘En Gannim (Jennín). Galilee…was originally the district in the neighbourhood of Kedes, afterwards distinguished as Upper Galilee. The Jewish population was there largely mixed with Phœnicians, Syrians, Greeks, and even Arabs. The whole maritime region to the north of Dor was still called Phœnicia in the time of the Romans, and thus does not strictly belong to Palestine in our sense of the word. Along the coast, as well as more especially in the north of the country, numerous Greek colonies were established ; how strong the foreign influence must have been in Samaria and Galilee is evident from the preservation of so many Greco-Roman names like Neapolis (Nábulus), Sebaste (Sebastíye), Tiberias (Tabaríye). Elsewhere too, in the south for example, the old nomenclature was altered: Ælia was substituted for Jerusalem, Azotus formed from Ashdod, and so on ; but the old names were always retained in the mouth of the people. The north of the country and the trans-Jordan region were much more thoroughly brought under the influence of the Greeks and Romans than the south. The Greek towns in some cases date from the time of Alexander the Great, and others were founded by the Ptolemies ; but most of them owe their origin to the Seleucids. One district of the trans-Jordan region retained at that period its old name in the Greek form of Peræa. Josephus says that this district extended from the Jordan to Philadelphia (Rabbath Ammon, ‘Ammán) and Gerasa (Jerash), went southward as far as Machærus (Mkaur on the Zerka Ma‘in), and north as far as Pella (Fáḥil opposite Beisan). Adjoining Peræa, and mainly to the east of Jordan, lay the Decapolis, which was not, however, a continuous territory, but a political group of cities occupied by Greek republics distinguished from the tetrarchies with their Jewish-Syrian-Arabic population in the midst of which they were scattered. The largest of these cities was Scythopolis (Beisan) ; others were Hippos, Gadara (Mkés), Philadelphia, Dion, Gerasa, [et]c. ; but ancient authorities do not agree about the names. Little requires to be said about the division of the country in later Roman times. In the 5th century a threefold partition began to prevail:—Palæstina Prima (roughly equal to Judæa and Samaria), Palæstina Secunda (the countries about the upper Jordan and the Lake of Gennesaret), and Palæstina Tertia or Salutaris (Idumea and Moab). In the time of the crusades the same names were applied to three divisions (at once political and ecclesiastical) of the country west of Jordan,—Palæstina Prima or Maritima being the coast region as far as Carmel (with Cæsarea as its archbishop’s see), Palestina Secunda comprising the mountains of Judah and Ephraim (with the patriarchal see of Jerusalem), and Palæstina Tertia corresponding roughly to Galilee (with its bishop’s see at Nazareth). The country east of Jordan was called Arabia, and was in like manner divided into three parts lying north and south of each other.

The Arabians retained the name Filistín, and they divided the country into two principal portions,—the Jordan district (chiefly the northern parts) and Filistín proper, which extended from the Lake of Gennesaret to Aila and from Lejjún to Refaḥ. Under the Turks Palestine was till quite recently subject to the governor of Syria ; the greater part of it now forms an independent vilayet. The chief districts are (each with its town) Gaza, Hebron, Yáfá, Ludd (with Ramla), Nábulus, Sha‘rawíye, Jennín (with Beisan), Ḥaifa, Acre, Tabaríye, Náṣira, Safed ; and in the country east of Jordan ‘Ajlún, Belká es-Salṭ, Kerak, and Ma‘án.…

Population.—There are no trustworthy estimates of the number of inhabitants in the country at any period of its history. Certain districts, such as Galilee, have, there is no doubt, from early times been much more populous than certain other districts ; the desert of Judah and some portions of the country east of Jordan must all along have been very sparsely peopled. The figures given in the book of Numbers indicate that the whole country contained about 2½ million souls,—it being assumed that the statistics do not refer to the time of the wandering in the wilderness, and that the details may be suspected of being artificially adjusted. The number 2½ to 3 millions may indeed be taken as a maximum ; the population can hardly ever have been more than four times its present strength, which is estimated at 650,000 souls. Thus, in the most flourishing period, about 250 to 300 inhabitants would go to the square mile, while at present there may be about 65, a number which is rather above than below the mark. Lists based on information collected by the Turkish Government give much lower figures, viz., for the sanjak of Jerusalem (with the districts Jerusalem, Yáfá, Hebron), 276 places with about 24,000 houses (families) ; for the sanjak Belka (with the districts of Nábulus, Jennín, Ajlún, and Es-Salt), 317 places and 18,984 houses ; for the sanjak ‘Akka (Acre) (with the districts ‘Akka, Ḥaifa, and Safed), 160 places with 11,023 houses,—making a total of 753 places with 54,237 houses. Reckoning five persons per house, this gives a population of 271,185, exclusive of the small number of Bedouins. Detailed statistics there are none as regards the relative strength of the Bedouin element, and the peasantry, the numerical representation of the different religions, or any matter of this sort.

The ethnographico-geographical sketch given above has shown how the population of Palestine even at an early date was a very mingled one ; for even when they arrived in the country foreign elements were present among the Israelites, and later on they absorbed or were absorbed by the Canaanites. The Philistines, Moabites, and others in course of time were merged in the new nationality. From the period of the exile colonies from the east settled in the country, and so powerful did the Aramæan contingent gradually grow that Aramæan became the popular tongue. Next were added Greek and Roman colonies. The Arabic element exerted considerable influence even before the days of Islam ; with the Mohammedan conquest it became the dominant power, though it was only by slow degrees that it obtained numerical superiority. The Arab tribes transplanted to Palestine their old distinctions, especially that between Northern and Southern Arabs (Ḳais and Yemen…). The Arab peasantry is still divided into clans ; for example, the districts of the Beni Hasan and Beni Malik to the west of Jerusalem, those of the Beni Hárith, Beni Zeid, and Beni Murrá to the north, and that of Beni Sálim to the east. Till recently the relations of the separate clans of fellahin was one of mutual hostility, and, unhindered by the Turkish Government, they engaged in sanguinary conflicts. In manners and in language (though Arabic is universally in vogue) the Palestine peasants retain much that is ancient. It is extravagant, however, to maintain from the traditions they preserve that primeval Canaanite elements still exist among them. The prevalent type, in fact, is Syro-Arabic, or in many districts pure Arabic ; and their superstitious customs are partly remains of Syrian beliefs, partly modern Arabic reproductions, under similar external conditions, of ancient superstitions. These remarks are applicable to the saint worship at present spread through the whole Oriental world. The fellahin are on the whole a diligent frugal race, not destitute of intelligence. If well treated by a just Government which would protect them from the extortions of the nomadic tribes, they would be the means, with the assistance of the capitalist, of greatly improving the cultivation of the country, especially in the various lowland districts. They choose their own village sheiks, who derive most of their authority from the reputation of their virtues, their bravery, and their liberality. The Bedouins, i.e., wandering tribes of pure Arab origin, also play an important part in the country. Till quite recently they used to visit certain settled districts and exact black mail from the peasants ; and they find their undisputed domain in those districts which are incapable of cultivation, and fit only for cattle rearing, and in other fertile portions which for various reasons are not occupied by the husbandman.…As the Turkish race does not fall to be treated in connexion with Palestine, it simply remains to mention the Frankish (European) elements. During the Middle Ages these were not unimportant, especially along the coast ; numerous ruined churches, are still to be seen as the last and only memorials of crusaders colonies…Nor must the missionary efforts be forgotten which in our own times have been again specially directed to Palestine. As regards the Roman Catholic Church, the Franciscans have maintained their position in the Holy Land even in troublous times, and have not only established schools and printing presses but protected the Christian sanctuaries and taken care of pilgrims and travellers. On the whole it may be said that, in comparison with that of the Roman and Greek Churches, the influence of Protestants is outwardly small. A German sect called the Templars settled in Palestine some years ago, and has now colonies at Yáfá, Sarona, Jerusalem, and Ḥaifa. The colonists, about 1000 in number, have to contend with many and grievous difficulties, and are deficient in capital. Wine-growing is the most lucrative branch of their activity. As long as the Turks hold rule over the country successful colonization is hardly possible.