Philistia in the context of "Region of Palestine"

The region of Palestine, also known as historic Palestine or land of Palestine, is a geographical area in West Asia. It includes the modern states of Israel and Palestine, and some definitions include parts of northwestern Jordan. Other names for the region include Canaan, the Promised Land, the Land of Israel, the Holy Land, and Judea.

The earliest written record referring to Palestine as a geographical region is in the Histories of Herodotus in the 5th century BCE, which calls the area Palaistine, referring to the territory previously held by Philistia, a state that existed in that area from the 12th to the 7th century BCE. The Roman Empire conquered the region in 63 BCE and appointed client kings to rule over it until Rome began directly ruling over the region and established a predominately-Jewish province named "Judaea" in 6 CE. The Roman Empire killed the vast majority of Jews in Judaea to suppress the Bar Kokhba revolt during 132-136 CE; shortly after the revolt, the Romans expelled and enslaved nearly all of the remaining Jews in the historical Judah region centered on Jerusalem, depopulating that area. Roman authorities renamed the province of Judaea to "Syria Palaestina" in c. 135 CE to punish Jews for the Bar Kokhba Revolt and permanently sever ties between Jews and the province. In 390, 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 in the 630s, the military district of Jund Filastin was established. While Palestine's boundaries have changed throughout history, it has generally comprised the southern portion of the wider Syria or Levant region.

Ekron (Philistine: 𐤏𐤒𐤓𐤍 *ʿAqārān, Hebrew: עֶקְרוֹן, romanized: ʿEqrōn, Arabic: عقرون), in the Hellenistic period known as Accaron (Ancient Greek: Ακκαρων, romanized: Akkarōn) was at first a Canaanite, and later more famously a Philistine city, one of the five cities of the Philistine Pentapolis, located in present-day Israel.

In 1957, Ekron was first identified with the mound of Khirbet el-Muqanna (Arabic) or Tel Miqne (Hebrew), near the depopulated Palestinian village of 'Aqir, on the basis of the large size of the Iron Age archaeological remains; the judgement was strengthened by the discovery in 1996 of the Ekron inscription. The tell lies 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of Jerusalem, and 18 kilometres (11 mi) north of Tel es-Safi, the almost certain site of the Philistine city of Gath, on the grounds of Kibbutz Revadim on the eastern edge of the Israeli coastal plain. The other main cities of the Philistine Pentapolis beyond Ekron and Gath were Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ashdod.

Philistines (Hebrew: פְּלִשְׁתִּים, romanized: Pəlištīm; LXX Koine Greek: Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: Phulistieím; Latin: Philistaei) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia.

There is evidence to suggest that the Philistines originated from a Greek immigrant group from the Aegean. The immigrant group settled in Canaan around 1175 BC, during the Late Bronze Age collapse. Over time, they intermixed with the indigenous Canaanite societies and assimilated elements from them, while preserving their own unique culture.

Gath or Gat (Hebrew: גַּת, romanized: Gaṯ, lit. 'wine press'; Latin: Geth, Philistine: 𐤂𐤕 *Gīt) was one of the five cities of the Philistine pentapolis during the Iron Age. It was located in northeastern Philistia, close to the border with Judah.Gath is often mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and its existence is confirmed by Egyptian inscriptions. Already of significance during the Bronze Age, the city is believed to be mentioned in the El-Amarna letters as Gimti/Gintu, ruled by the two Shuwardata and 'Abdi-Ashtarti. Another Gath, known as Ginti-kirmil (Gath of Carmel) also appears in the Amarna letters.

The site most favored as the location of Gath is the archaeological mound or tell known as Tell es-Safi in Arabic and Tel Zafit in Hebrew (sometimes written Tel Tzafit), located inside Tel Zafit National Park, but a stone inscription disclosing the name of the city has yet to be discovered. A Gittite is a person from Gath.

Ascalon or Ashkelon was an ancient Near East port city on the Mediterranean coast of the southern Levant of high historical and archaeological significance. Its remains are located in the archaeological site of Tel Ashkelon, within the city limits of the modern Israeli city of Ashkelon. Traces of settlement exist from the 3rd millennium BCE, with evidence of city fortifications emerging in the Middle Bronze Age. During the Late Bronze Age, it was integrated into the Egyptian Empire, before becoming one of the five cities of the Philistine pentapolis following the migration of the Sea Peoples. The city was later destroyed by the Babylonians but was subsequently rebuilt.

Ascalon remained a major metropolis throughout the classical period, as a Hellenistic city persisting into the Roman period. Christianity began to spread in the city as early as the 4th century CE. During the Middle Ages it came under Islamic rule, before becoming a highly contested fortified foothold on the coast during the Crusades. Two significant Crusader battles took place in the city: the Battle of Ascalon in 1099, and the Siege of Ascalon in 1153. The Mamluk sultan Baybars ordered the destruction (slighting) of the city fortifications and the harbour in 1270 to prevent any further military use, though structures such as the Shrine of Husayn's Head survived. The nearby town of al-Majdal was established in the same period. The village of Al-Jura existed adjacent to the deserted city until 1948.