Place names in Palestine have been the subject of much scholarship and contention, particularly in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict. The significance of place names in Palestine lies in their potential to legitimize the historical claims asserted by the involved parties, all of whom claim priority in chronology, and who use archaeology, map-making, and place names as their proofs.[1]

The importance of toponomy, or geographical naming, was first recognized by the British organization, the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF), who mounted geographical map-making expeditions in Palestine in the late nineteenth century. Shortly thereafter, the British Mandatory authorities set out to gather toponomic information from the local Arab population, who had been proven to have preserved knowledge of the ancient place names which could help identify archaeological sites.[2]

Palestinian place names are generally Arabised forms of ancient Semitic names or newer Arabic language formations.[3] The cultural interchange fostered by the various successive empires to have ruled Palestine is apparent in its place names. Any particular place can be known by the different names used in the past, with each of these corresponding to a historical period.[4] For example, what is today known as Tzippori, was known under Hellenistic rule as Sepphoris, under Roman rule as Diocaesarea, and under Arab and Islamic rule as Saffuriya.

History

The indigenous population of Palestine used Semitic languages, like Hebrew, Samaritan, Palestinian Syriac, Jewish Aramaic and Arabic, for thousands of years.[5] Almost all place names in Palestine have Semitic roots, with only a few place names being of Latin origin, and hardly any of with Greek or Turkish origins.[5] The oldest names with their Semitic roots continued to be used by the indigenous Palestinian population, though during the period of classical antiquity in Palestine, many names were changed due to influence of local ruling elites well versed in Greek and Latin.[4] With the Arab expansion into Palestine, many of the preclassical Semitic names were revived, though often the spelling and pronunciation were modified. Of course, for places where the old name had been lost or for new settlements built during this period, new Arabic names were coined.[4]

Though oft visited by European travellers who composed travel accounts describing its topography and demography, towards the end of Ottoman imperial rule, there was still much confusion over the place names in Palestine.[6] Existing Turkish transliterations of the Arabic and Arabicized names made studies into the etymology of the place names even more challenging.[6] Surveys conducted by Western biblical geographers, such as Edward Robinson, who identified more than 100 biblical place names, and Claude Conder of the PEF, contributed to the shape of the borders of British Mandate in Palestine.[7]

With the establishment of Israel, in parts of Palestine, place names have since been Hebraized or are referred to by their revived Biblical names.[4] Even sites with only Arabic names and no pre-existing ancient Hebrew names or associations were given new Hebrew names.[8]

References

  1. ^ Kramer and Harman, 2008, pp. 1-2
  2. ^ Benvenisti and Kaufman-Lacusta, 2000, p. 16.
  3. ^ Cheyne and Black, 1902, p. 3318.
  4. ^ a b c d Miller and Hayes, 1986, p. 29.
  5. ^ a b Ellenblum, 2003, p. 256.
  6. ^ a b Kramer and Harman, 2008, p. 128.
  7. ^ Swedenburg, 2003, p. 49.
  8. ^ Swedenburg, 2003, p. 50.

Bibliography

  • Benvenisti, Meron; Kaufman-Lacusta, Maxine (2000), Sacred Landscape: The Buried History of the Holy Land Since 1948, University of California Press, ISBN 0520211545, 9780520211544 ((citation)): Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  • Cheyne, Thomas Kelly; Black, John Sutherland (1902), Encyclopædia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religious History, the Archæology, Geography, and Natural History of the Bible, Macmillan Company
  • Ellenblum, Ronnie (2003), Frankish Rural Settlement in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521521874, 9780521521871 ((citation)): Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  • Krämer, Gudrun; Harman, Graham (2008), A History of Palestine: From the Ottoman Conquest to the Founding of the State of Israel, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691118973, 9780691118970 ((citation)): Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  • Miller, James Maxwell; Hayes, John Haralson (1986), History of Ancient Israel and Judah, Westminster John Knox Press
  • Swedenburg, Ted (2003), Memories of Revolt: The 1936-1939 Rebellion and the Palestinian National Past, University of Arkansas Press, ISBN 1557287635, 9781557287632 ((citation)): Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
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