Israel appropriating historical sites for colonial ends
Contributed by Arab Educational Institute on 23.04.2011:
Sarah Irving
The Electronic Intifada
18 April 2011
Moves by the Israeli government and settler movement to appropriate historical sites undermine Palestinian cultural rights and highlight how Israel exploits archaeological claims for colonial ends.
Last spring, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron a(...)
Sebastya: John the Baptist, Almond Blossom, and Roman Columns
Contributed by This Week In Palestine on 05.03.2007:
By Dr. Ali Qleibo
Myth and history interweave in a single magical moment in Sebastya. Perched on a mountaintop surrounded by a range of mountains of olives that cascade into the endless horizon, Sebastya is a typical Hellenistic/Roman/Byzantine and Crusader fortress. The spectacular panorama that the ancient capital of Samaria commands rolls up the mountain and into the acropolis. The (...)
Shechem -Mamurta -Mabartha -Neapolis
Contributed by This Week In Palestine on 05.03.2007:
By Dr. Ibrahim El-Fanni
Neapolis
Neapolis is surrounded on all sides by extensive, fertile agricultural lands and copiously watered by several sources within the city limits. These circumstances, highly favourable for human habitation, coupled with the location of the city at the foot of the sacred Mount Gerzim and at one of the central crossroads in Samaria, have made it the ca(...)
Al-Jib – Ramallah
Contributed by This Week In Palestine on 18.02.2007:
Past the village of Bir Nabala lies the picturesque village of Al-Jib (the biblical Gibeon). The ancient Tell is a rocky hill situated in the midst of a beautiful, intensely cultivated plain. Al-Jib was identified as biblical Gibeon and this was confirmed by the discovery of inscribed jar-handles on the site.
On the southern edge of the village, a path leads to an impressive water pool(...)
Tell Umm Amer A Potential World Heritage Site – Gaza
Contributed by This Week In Palestine on 18.02.2007:
The site of Tell Umm Amer (Khirbet Umm Al-Tutt) is located in Al-Nusairat village on the coast, east of the shore rifts and on the south bank of Wadi Gaza, 8.5 kilometres south of Gaza city.
The first settlement on the site was established during the Roman era on Wadi Gaza, close to the seashore. It appears on the Madaba map with the name of Tabatha, dating from the Byzantine to the ea(...)
The Name of Bethlehem throughout the World
Contributed by Turathuna Bethlehem University on 23.01.2007:
Auspiciously and in search of blessings, the name of Bethlehem has been given to many cities in the world. The following list which is not comprehensive shows the countries which gave the name of Bethlehem to one of their cities.
1- Argentine
2- Uruguay
3- Amazonian Brazil (the district of Para)
4- Paraguay
5- Portugal
6- Colombia
7- Mexico
(...)
Sites and Shrines in Palestine
Contributed by This Week In Palestine on 24.11.2006:
By Hamdan Taha
The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is responsible for an area that contains over six thousand cultural heritage sites, including archaeological sites, religious sites, historical buildings, and villages and towns of significant vernacular architecture. These sites are distributed over the whole territory and range in date from the Palaeolithic period to modern times(...)
The Ekron Inscription: Re-reading the first Philistine text
Contributed by This Week In Palestine on 25.02.2006:
This Week in Palestine
October 2005
By Zakaria Mohammed
Ten years ago a major archaeological event occurred in Palestine: the Ekron Inscription was unearthed. It is the first real Philistine inscription to be discovered until now. After 2,500 years of silence, the people who gave Palestine its name climbed the stage to speak again. They uttered two sentences of about 80 l(...)
Stealing Palestinian History
Contributed by This Week In Palestine on 25.02.2006:
This Week in Palestine
October 2005
By Kevin Chamberlain
While the world’s media has been concentrating on the hardships suffered by the Palestinian people as a result of the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, considerably less publicity has been given to the systematic destruction of Palestine’s rich cultural heritage resulting from the occupation.
Foll(...)