Palestine in the ancient world was part of the region known as Canaan where the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah were located.

The term `Palestine' was originally a designation of an area of land in southern Canaan which the people known as the Philistines occupied a very SMALL part of.

The Canaanites, Canaanite-Phoenicians, and the Israelites, among others, established themselves in the area much earlier.

*The Philistines are thought to have come to the area toward the end of the Bronze Age c. 1276 BCE and established themselves on the southern coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea in an area afterwards known as Philistia.*

The whole of the region was referred to as `Canaan' in Mesopotamian texts and trade records found at Ebla and Mari as early as the 18th century BCE while the term `Palestine' does not appear in any written records until the 5th century BCE in the Histories of Herodotus. After Herodotus, the term `Palestine' came to be used for the entire region which was formerly known as Canaan.

The region is part of the so-called fertile crescent and human habitation there can be traced back to before 10, 000 BCE. The lands were originally inhabited by nomadic hunter-gatherers who most likely immigrated from Mesopotamia but became sedentary agriculturalists by the Early Bronze Age (c.3300-c.2000 BCE). In the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000-c.1550 BCE)) trade with other nations expanded and Canaan prospered and in the Late Bronze Age (c.1550-c. 1200 BCE) this affluence continued as the region was incorporated into the Egyptian Empire (c.1570-c.1069 BCE).

* In fact it’s common knowledge that these settlers were Greek (islanders) who moved in and occupied the area AFTER the Jews were there.

Of course they weren’t Arabs. If you’ve ever studied Ancient History at Uni you will know that because you are taught that the Philistines were Greeks (in fact they were islander Greeks ie sea faring people).

Note : Just so you ALL know (because you obviously don’t know as no one here appears to be of Mediterranean descent) even today as in right at this moment in time as I type ...mainland Greeks identify differently to islander Greeks. It’s still an US/THEM mentality. Mainland Greeks are recognised as being more cultured/highly educated and right wing conservatives who are deeply religious. Greek Islanders are viewed (and they are) casual, lazy generally under/uneducated left wing Communists who are more or less Atheists/Agnostics. If you are a mainland Greek you are expected to NOT marry an island Greek. They are soooo different. Oh Greek islanders speak strange dialects of the modern Greek language which makes them appear even more strange.

Context is everything. Without it you won’t be able to GET the full picture. So Ancient Greek sea farers sailed across the Mediterranean (that’s basically what they did 24/7 in order to trade) and over time they learned the different languages around them and forged alliances and soon some of them saw fit to migrate across into a VERY SMALL part of what we now misleadingly think might be Palestine. Those Ancient Greek sea farers were only a small bunch of people who inter married with the NON JEWISH people (remember the Jews were super strict regarding Jews vs Gentiles ie they were forbidden under the Old Testament to inter marry with non Jews (Gentiles) or even eat what Gentiles ate. So what did these Greek migrants do? They were Gentiles and as such they (eventually) married the Phoenicians (Ancient Lebs who were also Gentile Mediterranean sea farers so they had lots in common) and lo and behold over time ... the Ancient Greek sea farers (remember they were few in number to begin with hence why they only occupied a SMALL territory) were bred out as each generation married into the surrounding Phoenician (Ancient Leb) ethnic people. Today’s Palestinians are essentially Arabs. The Ancient Greek in them is gone. Occasionally I myself sometimes see a  Palestinian girl here or there who reminds me of a Greek cousin but 99% of the time I can see they’re a completely different ethnic identity. Also as 99% are Muslim Arabs (thanks Muhammad for coming along much later on only to cause further mayhem) their religion (which many of you Anglo Saxon Celts just don’t get for some reason) ie Islam is a further crucial key element of their ethnic identity. It dictates every aspect of their mentality and how they live day to day. It’s a very powerful force in Palestinian identity.

Meantime ... the Ancient Greek seafarers who decided NOT to migrate over stayed home and their descendants (assuming they never ultimately migrated to the USA or UK or Canada or Australia etc) are today still Greek and are mainly Greek Orthodox and as they’re islanders they’re still seen as being inferior to mainland Greeks ESPECIALLY if those mainland Greeks are from Athens, Sparta and the Greek Macedonian regions (my beautiful Mum was a Greek Macedonian girl so she was kinda upper class lol)

👆 A lot of this is learned in 1st year Ancient History at Uni. Admittedly it’s much easier if you ARE ethnically of Greek descent as you’re shoved into Greek school from the age of 4. Same applies with Italian School. God it was a tough gig being 4 yrs old and attending so many school lessons.

Anyway it’s all interesting and important esp if you’re going to jump into topics like this.

Cheers everyone (not you Mad Matty Moron).