Talk:Palestine (region)
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I like this phrase:
- the eastern boundary was the poorly-defined place where the Syrian desert began.
Now I begin to understand better why there might be different and varying definitions of Palestine in use. --Uncle Ed (El Dunce) 18:13, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)
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Proposed merge
This page concerns nearly the same subject as definitions of Palestine. I propose that the two be merged into one. --Zero 12:41, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
- I agree as regards the definitions of Palestine section of that article, but I'm not so sure about definitions of Palestine. Great to see you around again, by the way! - Mustafaa 13:27, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
- I don't understand your comment, Mustafaa. Well, except the part about Zero, and I agree with that. :-) Jayjg | (Talk)</sup> 19:21, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
Renamed: Region of Palestine -> Palestine (region)
As I said elsewhere, I really believe this is the the article which should be under the title of Palestine (with an appropreate disambiguation message linking to various related terms).
Unfortunately, there currently seems not to be much support for that, so for now we'll have to do with "Palestine (region)". The title "Region of Palestine" was inappropreate - it's not an established term, as most sources simply use the term "Palestine" when referring to the region. -- uriber 20:37, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Origin of term Philistine?
Quoth the article:
The name "Palestine" comes from the Philistine people, who are first recorded by the ancient Egyptians as P-r/l-s-t (conventionally Peleset)...
But:
The Philistines (meaning "invaders" in Hebrew)..."
It makes no sense that the Egyptians would use a Hebrew word to as their name for this group. One of these explanations must be wrong. Someone who knows Hebrew ought to be able to work it out... --Jfruh 19:55, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- See folk etymology... - Mustafaa 20:03, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- There is no evidence whatever that "Palestine" is either an Egyptian word or a Hebrew word. The "derivation" of it from other Hebrew words is pure speculation. Such "derivations" are claimed for every single name in the Bible, sometimes with good cause but often with no evidence beyond wishful thinking. Next, the Egyptian usage predated the period when Hebrew is regarded as having evolved as a distinguishable language, so it cannot have come from Hebrew strictly speaking. However, it could in principle have come from a pre-Hebrew Semitic word that later became part of Hebrew. The argument that the Egyptians would not use a Hebrew (read Semitic) word is incorrect; they often recorded such words. There is no solid argument for the derivation of the word from Egyptian either. A common theory (again, with little justification) is that the word is what the Philistines called themselves and that its roots belong in the Philistine language. There are not sufficient archaelogical remains from the Philistines known for this problem to be resolved. --Zero 00:19, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)
- Right, the article seems to be saying (or implying) that the term as found in Egyptian is an Egyptian version of what the Phillistines called themselves, in which it would make no sense for the name to mean "invaders" in Hebrew, since they obviously wouldn't have called themselves that. My point is that the article seems to be saying two mutually contradictory things. The question of whether Philistine (or, really Palestina) in Hebrew actually means "invader" ought to be an easy one to answer. If there's no firm scholarly consensus, then the article should say that, rather than asserting two contradictory things as true. --Jfruh 02:18, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Philistine kingdoms
The article mentions Philistine cities but does not indicate the political organization of the region. Did the Philistines/Palestinians have "kingdoms" or some other form of state as the Jews were reported to have in Israel.24.64.166.191 05:47, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)
