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This rich and magisterial work traces Palestine's millennia-old heritage, uncovering cultures and societies of astounding depth and complexity that stretch back to the very beginnings of recorded history. Starting with the earliest references in Egyptian and Assyrian texts, Nur Masalha explores how Palestine and its Palestinian identity have evolved over thousands of years, from the Bronze Age to the present day. Drawing on a rich body of sources and the latest archaeological evidence, Masalha shows how Palestine's multicultural past has been distorted and mythologised by Biblical lore and the Israel–Palestinian conflict. In the process, Masalha reveals that the concept of Palestine, contrary to accepted belief, is not a modern invention or one constructed in opposition to Israel, but rooted firmly in ancient past. Palestine represents the authoritative account of the country's history.
This rich and magisterial work traces Palestine's millennia-old heritage, uncovering cultures and societies of astounding depth and complexity that stretch back to the very beginnings of recorded history. Starting with the earliest references in Egyptian and Assyrian texts, Nur Masalha explores how Palestine and its Palestinian identity have evolved over thousands of years, from the Bronze Age to the present day. Drawing on a rich body of sources and the latest archaeological evidence, Masalha shows how Palestine's multicultural past has been distorted and mythologised by Biblical lore and the Israel–Palestinian conflict. In the process, Masalha reveals that the concept of Palestine, contrary to accepted belief, is not a modern invention or one constructed in opposition to Israel, but rooted firmly in ancient past. Palestine represents the authoritative account of the country's history.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
About the Author-
Professor Nur Masalha is a Palestinian academic and historian and former Director of the Centre for Religion and History at St. Mary's University, London. He is currently a Member of the Centre for Palestine Studies, SOAS, University of London. He is the Editor of "Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies," published by Edinburgh University Press. He is also the author and editor of numerous books on Palestine, including, Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History (2018); An Oral History of the Palestinian Nakba (with Nahla Abdo, 2018); Theologies of Liberation in Palestine-Israel: Indigenous, Contextual, and Postcolonial Perspectives (2014); The Zionist Bible: Biblical Precedent, Colonialism and the Erasure of Memory (2013); The Palestine Nakba: Decolonising History, Narrating the Subaltern, Reclaiming Memory (2012); The Bible and Zionism (2007); The Politics of Denial: Israel and the Palestinian Refugee Problem (2003): Imperial Israel and the Palestinians: The Politics of Expansion (2000); A Land Without a People (1997); Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of 'Transfer' in Zionist Political Thought, 1882-1948 (1992). Professor Masalha also currently serves as a judge on the panel for the Palestine Book Award (London).
Table of Contents-
Introduction 1. The Philistines and Philistia as a Distinct Geo-political Entity: Late Bronze Age to 500 BC 2. The Conception of Palestine in Classical Antiquity and During the Hellenistic Empires (500?135 BC) 3. From Philistia to Provincia 'Syria Palaestina' (135 AD?390 AD): The Administrative Province of Roman Palestine 4. The (Three in One) Provincia Palaestina: The Three Administrative Provinces of Byzantine Palestine (4th?Early 7th Centuries AD) 5. Arab Christian Palestine: The Pre-Islamic Arab Kings, Bishops and Poets and Tribes of Provincia Palaestina (3rd?Early 7th Centuries AD) 6. The Arab Province of Jund Filastin (638?1099 AD): Continuities, Adaption and Transformation of Palestine under Islam 7. Between Egypt and al-Sham: Palestine during the Ayyubid, Mamluk and Early Ottoman Periods 8. Palestinian Statehood in the 18th Century: Early Modernities and Practical Sovereignty in Palestine 9. Being Palestine, Becoming Palestine: Rediscovery and New Representations of Modern Palestine and their Impact on Palestinian National Identity 10. Settler-colonialism and Disinheriting the Palestinians: The Appropriation of Palestinian Place Names by the Israeli State
Reviews-
August 13, 2018 Masalha, a historian at SOAS University of London, unravels the convenient Western romanticization of Palestine before 1948 as “a land without a people for a people without a land,” a territory bursting with ancient Jewish artifacts whose few remaining residents were nomadic shepherds belonging to the Ottoman territory of Greater Syria. On the contrary, as this volume meticulously and methodically documents, “traditionally and throughout the Middle Ages, the name Filastin had indicated both an exact geographic location and the identity of the (predominantly, but not exclusively) Arab Muslim population.” Masalha sheds light on the quotidian realities of four millennia of continuous habitation, from the tradition of desert monasticism that first flourished in the centuries after Jesus’s death to the artistic, intellectual, and mercantile flowering of Mamluk Jerusalem. Opting for scholarly precision rather than fiery rhetoric, this volume laments that “history and collective memory are often a tapestry of stories woven by social elites, with a disregard for the voices of ordinary people” and celebrates its subjects’ “multicultural identity and diversity,” which stand “in sharp contrast to the anachronism of monocultural Zionism.” The result is a sharp, powerfully understated denunciation of Israel’s founding mythology. Masalha’s narratives provide ballast and backstory to the contemporary claims of the dispossessed.
International Socialism
Nur Masalha has produced an impressive work that challenges those who are trying to erase the Palestinians from history.
Middle Eastern Monitor
The attention to detail, as well as the rigorous explanation is impeccable. Every reading, or re-reading, of this book, will provoke new contemplation.
Publishers' Weekly
A sharp, powerfully understated denunciation of Israel's founding mythology. Masalha's narratives provide ballast and backstory to the contemporary claims of the dispossessed.
Socialist Review
Masalha has done an extraordinary job, collating evidence from an abundance of rich sources, to give us a stunning narrative substantiating these identities.
Counterpunch
The most comprehensive English language history of Palestine to date. This book is a painstakingly researched and well-documented deconstruction of the myths too many Zionists and their western apologists have convinced the world to be factual history.
New York Times Review of Books
Masalha has now admirably unearthed this forgotten Palestine. He settles securely and authoritatively into a narrative that commands respect and is not impaired by the passion behind it ... Masalha's confidence that all will not be extinguished offers hope in the face of a still-uncertain future. He has written his history to encourage the survivors and to enlighten those who sympathise with them. He strives to keep alight the flame of Palestinian culture that, despite every attempt to snuff it out, still burns brightly in the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish and in the world he never left behind.
Ghada Karmi, author of Return: A Palestinian Memoir
A work of broad and impressive scholarship. It fills a critical gap in our knowledge of Palestinian history and provides a long overdue corrective to traditional histories.
Haim Bresheeth, SOAS, University of London
This book by Nur Masalha is the fullest and richest text he has produced to date, bringing together his decades of work as a historian to produce a master narrative on Palestine.
Hamdan Taha, archaeologist and former Deputy Minister for Tourism and Antiquities, Palestine
A significant contribution to the restoration of the history of ancient Palestine, written by a prolific indigenous historian of international repute. Brilliantly explicating the relationship between history and colonial ideology in Palestine, with this book Masalha puts Palestinian history back on track.
Ilan Pappé, author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
An amazing book, long overdue. A tour de force which demystifies the distortions and fabrications around Palestine and the people living in it.
Karl Sabbagh, author of Palestine: A Personal History
It is the first true history of Palestine, and should be read by anyone with an interest in the Middle East.
Mazin Qumsiyeh, Founder and Director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History
A masterpiece of history writing. It serves to set the record straight, methodically and rigorously debunking the myth that Palestine is a new concept.
Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University
This erudite, comprehensive study of Palestine explodes many myths. Essential reading for a proper understanding of the efforts to deny the deep historical rootedness of this name, and of its indigenous people.
Rosemary Sayigh, author of The Palestinians: From Peasants to Revolutionaries
Masalha's meticulous and multifaceted coverage of the history of Palestine from the late Bronze Age to modern times is essential reading for all who hope to understand its people's irrepressible struggle against occupation and exile.
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