De Palestina

What is Palestine?

Where is Palestine?

Who were the ancient Palestinians?

Who are the Palestinians today?

Before we even begin to answer these questions, we must first acknowledge that the proper noun ‘Palestine’ is not an English word. The English word is a loanword, that is to say a word taken from language to another with little to no adaption. In this case the word ‘Palestine’ is a direct loanword from the Latin ⟨Palaestīna⟩.

A note on Latin pronunciation. In Latin the vowel ⟨ī⟩ represents in English orthography /ee/ as in ‘been’ and not the short vowel in ‘tin’.

The Latin word ⟨Palaestīna⟩ itself is a loanword from Greek. In Greek it is ⟨Παλαιστῑ́νη⟩. Lower minuscule developed between the 9th and 10th century of the Common Era (SOURCE**), So Palestine would have been written ⟨ΠΑλΑΙΣΤΙΝΗ⟩.

One really doesn’t need to have any grasp of Greek to understand it’s meaning. Only the ability to recognise patterns. The following table is arranged in order of the Greek alphabet. On the left is the Greek word, and on the right is the English equivalent. The part of speech is noted, whether the word is an adjective, noun or verb and its form in a Greek dictionary. For nouns that would be the nominative (subject) lemma (dictionary form), followed by the genitive ending, and then the relevant definite article (the) marking whether the noun is masculine, feminne or neuter.

So ⟨παλαιστής, -οῦ, ὁ⟩ in English means ‘wrestler’ and is a noun. ⟨παλαιστής⟩ is the nominative form, the genitive ending is ⟨-οῦ⟩ and it’s definite article is ⟨ὁ⟩ marking it has a masculine noun

παλαιμονέω /palaimonéo/	verb: wrestle, fight
πάλαισμα, -ατος, τὸ. /pálaisma, -atos, to/	noun: 1) bout or fall in wrestling; 2) artifice, trick; 3) struggle
παλαισμοσύνη, -ης, ἡ /palaismosýne, -es, he/	noun: the art of wrestling, the wrestler’s art
παλαιστέω /palaistéo/	verb: thrust away with the hand
παλαιστής, -οῦ, ὁ /palaistés, oú, ho/	noun: wrestler
παλαιστιαῖος, επίθ., -ᾱ, -ον /palaistiaíos, adj., -á, -on/	adjective: palm long
παλαιστικός, επίθ., -ή, -όν /palaistikós, adj., -é, ón/	adjective: expert in wrestling
Παλαιστῑ́νη, -ης, ἡ /Palaistíne, -es, he/	proper noun: 1) Israel; 2) Palestine (literally a Greek calque/translation of Israel)
παλαίστρᾱ, -ᾱς, ἡ palaístra, -as, he/	noun: palaestra, wrestling ground, wrestling school
παλαιστρίτης, -ου, ὁ /palaistrítes, -ou, ho/	noun: like a wrestler
παλαιστροφύλαξ, -ακος, ὁ /palaistrophýlaks, -akos, ho/	noun: palaistrophylax, superintendent of a wrestling-school
παλαίω, ρ. /palaio, r./	verb: 1) struggle, wrestle; 2) overcome; 3) endeavour
πάλη, -ης, ἡ /pále, -es, he/	noun: fight, struggle, wrestling

The English translations are not mine, but what is striking is that the word ⟨Παλαιστῑ́νη⟩ is strongly connected to ⟨παλαιστής⟩. If we remove the masculine nominative ending ⟨-ής⟩ which in Greek signifies …. of ⟨παλαιστής⟩ and we remove the ______ suffix ⟨-ῑ́νη⟩ of ⟨Παλαιστῑ́νη⟩ we are left with ⟨παλαιστ-⟩ being the root of both.

The question now to be asked is why did the Greeks connect the land to a wrestler, a struggler, an overcomer, and an endeavour. Why use such a connotation.

Endonyms & Exonyms

Before we proceed to investigate why the Greeks used the term ⟨Παλαιστῑ́νη⟩, a quick explanation of terminology. An ‘endonym’ is a name by which a group calls itself or its land and an exonym is a name by which foreigners refer to another people or land.

The following are a list of endonyms and exonyms in English. In the first column is the standard English name for the country. In the second column is the endonym, the name by which the speakers of the country call their country. The exonyms and corresponding endonymns habve no linguistical or etymological connection.

Exonym ⟨ἔξω⟩ + ⟨ὄνυμα⟩ exo- + -onym (external) + name	Exonym ⟨ἔξω⟩ + ⟨ὄνυμα⟩ exo- + –onym (external) + name Endonym ⟨ἔνδο–⟩ + ⟨ὄνυμα⟩ endo- + -onym (internal) + name
Finland	Suomi
Germany	Deutschland
Greece	Ἑλλάς (Classical Greek) Ελλάδα (Modern Greek)
Scotland	Alba
Wales	Cymru

This is not unique to the English speaking world. More pertinent to this discussion is the use of Endonyms and Exonyms in the Ancient Greek world

English	Greek Exonym	Endonym
Egypt	Αἴγυπτος	kmt (black soil land) tꜣwj (lit. two lands)
Phoenicia	Φοινῑ́κη	כנען
Syria	Συρίᾱ	𒀸𒋩𒆠 Aššūr אַשּׁוּר

The last example ⟨Συρίᾱ⟩ /syria/ is not really a Greek exonym but a Greek rendering of Akkadian ⟨Aššūr⟩ /asshour/ with the clipping of the inital syllable ⟨aš⟩

National Myths

Did Arthur really pull the sword from the stone, was there ever a sword? Did Merlin or even Arthur even exist?

Did an arrow really hit Harold in the eye killing him in the Battle of Hastings? Did Edward the Confessor really promise William the throne?

Were Romulus and Remus really the offspring of a human and the Roman God Mars? Were they left to die in the open, then rescued and nursed by a she-wolf? Did Romulus really kill his brother over where they should build Rome? Are they the real founders of Rome? Did they exist?

Did Paris really choose Aphrodite over Athena and Hera? Did Aphrodite really make Helen fall in love with Paris because he chose her over the others? Did they really flee to Troy? Did the Greeks really lay seige to Troy over this? Did Paris really kill Achilles with an arrow to his heel, the one part of Achilles body which was vulnerable? Did the Greeks take the city through means of a wooden horse? Did the Trojan Aeneas manage to flee to eventually to Italy and become the ancestor of the Romans?

Where the Egyptian Pharoahs really divine?

Is there some truth to any of the national myths above, have they been embellished and who really cares. The main thing is that people at the time believed them to be true.

Why is this relevant to a discussion on Palestine? Well as we have already discerned ⟨Παλαιστῑ́νη⟩ in Greek and to the ancient Greeks connoted and connotes the idea of a wrestler, a struggler, an overcomer, and an endeavour.

So were there a people living in ⟨Παλαιστῑ́νη⟩ who had some sort of national myth about a wrestler? This doesn’t have to be true, its veracity is as relevant as any of the myths aforementioned.

Nomenclature

Israel / Canaan / hebrew

Palestinian National Myth

After having mentioned the national myths of the English, Greeks and Romans we now return to the national myth of Palestine. As mentioned earlier, it is irrelevant whether what is recorded occurred or didn’t. Whether you belive in the Bible or don’t. This article does not deal with the veracity of the story only that the story exists.

The wrestler, of whom the land is named after, is none other than Jacob. Jacob of the Bible, the son of Isaac. Whether Jacob and Isaac or his father Abraham ever lived is irrelevant. Was Priam the father or Hecuba and Paris? Was Uther Pendragon the father of Arthur, who knows, who cares.

The following is the Hebrew with Masoretic vowel marks, the English rough translation and what is called the Greek Septuagint rendering of Genesis Chapter 32

The table below is of the key words in all three languages

verse	Masoretic	English	Greek
25	וַיֵּאָבֵק /wayye’abek/	he wrestled verb: wrestle, overcome, endeavour, contend	ἐπάλαιεν /epálaien/ παλαίειν /palaíein/
26	בְּהֵאָבְקוֹ /be’heabeko/ lit. ‘in his wrestling’	as he wrestled	ἐν τῷ παλαίειν /en toi palaíein/ lit. ‘in the wrestling’
28	יַעֲקֹב /Ya’akob/	Jacob	Ἰακώβ /Iakób/
29	יִשְׂרָאֵל /yisrael/	Israel	Ἰσραὴλ /Israél/
29	שָׂרִיתָ /sareetha/	you have mastered, overcome, prevailed, strived, wrestled	δυνατός

A Hebrew / Phoenician – English translation of terms related to wrestling.

Phoenician	English
שָׂרֹ֫ה	contend, v.
נֶאֱבַק	fight, v.
נֶאֱבַק, שָׂרֹ֫ה	struggle, v.
הֵאָֽבְקוּת, מַאֲבָק, נַפְתּוּלִים /heabukouth, ma’abak, naphtouleem/	wrestle, n.
הִתְאַבֵּ֫ק, הִתְגּוֹשֵׁ֫שׁ, נֶאֱבַק, נִפְתַּ֫ל /hith’abbek, hithgoshesh, niphtal/	wrestle, v.
מִתְגּושֵׁ֫שׁ /mithgoshesh/	wrestler, n.
הֵאָֽבְק֫וּת, הִתְגּושְׁש֫וּת /heabukouth, hithgoshushouth/	wrestling, n.

An English – Hebrew / Phoenician – Greek translation of terms related to wrestling.

Phoenician	English
הֵאָֽבְק֫וּת, נ	noun: wrestle, wrestling
מַאֲבָ֫ק, ז	noun: wrestle
שָׂרָ֫ה, נ’, ר’ שָׁרוֹת /sara/ Gk. Σάρρα, Σάρα	proper noun: Sara noun: 1) noble woman, princess; 2) ambassadress, female minister
שָׂרֹ֫ה, פ״ע, [], שְׂר֫וֹת, שָׂ֫רָה, יִשְׂרֶ֫ה, שׂרֶ֫ה [־], תע’ ‹___› /saro/	verb: 1) contend, strive, struggle; 2) persist, persevere; 3) be ruler
יִשְׂרָאֵ֫ל /yisrael/	proper noun: Israel
שָׂרַי

Philistine

While Palestine ⟨Παλαιστῑ́νη⟩ is an entirely Greek word, there is another noun which appears conspicuously similar, and that is ‘Philistine’. This though, only occurs in the Latin script.

The word Philistine entered the Latin script, like ‘Palestine’ from Greek, and as soon as it is any such similarity disappear. The noun in Late Latin is ⟨Philistaeus⟩ or ⟨Philistinus⟩, both of which are borrowed into Latin from Koine Greek ⟨Φιλισταῖος⟩ and ⟨Φυλιστῖνοι⟩ respectively.

	Palestine	Philistine	Philistine	Philistia
original language	Greek	Phoenician	Phoenician	Phoenician
Full form	Παλαιστῑ́νη /Palaistine/ [pa.lai̯s.ti.nɛː]	Φιλισταῖος /Philistaios/ [pʰi.lis.tâi̯.os]	Φυλιστῖνοι /phylistinoi/ [pʰy.lis.t]	פְּלָֽשֶׁת ⟨pălā́šeṯ⟩ /pelasheth/ [pæˈ lɑːʃɛθ]
base form (i)	Παλαιστ /Palaist/	Φιλιστ /Philist/	Φυλιστ /Phylist/
base form (iI)	Παλαι /Palai/ [pa.lai̯]	Φιλι /Phil/ [pʰi.li]	Φυλι /Phyli/ [pʰy.li]
Original	Παλαιστῑ́νη /Palaistine/ [pa.lai̯s.ti.nɛː]	>>>	>>>	𐤐𐤋𐤔𐤕 ࠐࠋࠔࠕ ⟨palaštu⟩ ~ ⟨pulaštu⟩ ~ ⟨pilaštu⟩ /palashtu ~ pulashtu ~ pilashtu/
corrected* Arabic spelling	بَلَيْسْطِبنَة فَلَيْسْطِبنَة	فَلَسْتُ فُلَسْتُ فِلَسْتُ	فَلَسْتُ فُلَسْتُ فِلَسْتُ	فَلَسْتُ فُلَسْتُ فِلَسْتُ
corrected* Phoenician spelling	פְּלֵיסְטִין פְּלֵיצְטִין פְּלַיְסְטִין פְּלַיְצְטִין	פְּלָֽשֶׁת ⟨pălā́šeṯ⟩ (original)	פְּלָֽשֶׁת ⟨pălā́šeṯ⟩ (original)	פְּלָֽשֶׁת ⟨pălā́šeṯ⟩ (original)

		Philistine	Philistine
Full form	Παλαιστῑ́νη /Palaistine/ [pa.lai̯s.ti.nɛː]	Φιλισταῖος /Philistaios/ [pʰi.lis.tâi̯.os]	Φυλιστῖνοι /phylistinoi/ [pʰy.lis.t]
base form (i)	Παλαιστ /Palaist/	Φιλιστ /Philist/	Φυλιστ /Phylist/
base form (iI)	Παλαι /Palai/ [pa.lai̯]	Φιλι /Phil/ [pʰi.li]	Φυλι /Phyli/ [pʰy.li]
Arabised (unattested)	بَلَيْ فَلَيْ بَلَيْسْطِبنَة فَلَيْسْطِبنَة	فِلِ فِلِسْطَيَةٌّ	فُلِ فِلِ فِلِسْطَــ فُلِسْطَــ
Canaanised	פְּלַי פָּלַי	פְּלִ פִּלִ	פְּלִ פִּלִ