Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Jewish Homeland: From 1st to 20th Century-Ruled By Foreigners But Not By the People

Nadene Goldfoot
1,878 years went by from 70 CE to 1948, the land of Israel and Judah was ruled by foreign governments from afar.  People who lived there had no say.  The names were also changed.  

70-395 CE:  Romans Rule:  from Rome:   Tried to obliterate Jewish identity of the Land.  Changed the name to Palaestina and Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina.  Spoke Latin.

395-636 Byzantine Rule:  from Constantinople, head of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, spoke Greek. Emperor Justinian

636-1072 Arab Rule: from Saudi Arabia; Mecca, Medina,  The Land was divided by the Arabs into 2 military districts on both sides of the River Jordan, Filastin (Palestine), and urdun (Jordan).  Arabs only built the  town of Ramla  which became an administrative center.  Spoke Arabic

1072-1099 Seljuk Rule- Turks possibly from Khazaria , Spoke Turkish, many languages

1099-1291 Crusaders' Rule:  kings from Christian Europe,   The Land was named "the Kingdom of Jerusalem".  spoke English, French,

1291-1516  Mamluk Rule:  Egyptian slaves of Turkish and Mongol descent, drove out Crusaders The Land was divided into 3 districts; Mamlaka:  Safad, Gaza and Damascus.  There was no name for the Jewish Homeland. spoke Turkish, Mongolian, a little Arabic

1516-1917:  Ottoman Rule: from Turkey,  The Land was divided into separately administered districts of Sanjaks, Vilayets.  There was no name for the Land as a whole.  Sided with Germany in WWI, lost.  spoke Turkish

1918-1948:  British Rule:  Held the mandate from the League of Nations.  Renamed the land "Palestine."  Mandate extended on both sides of the Jordan.  In 1922 Britain partitioned territory into Palestine on West side and Transjordan on East side of Jordan River.  Transjordan later became Jordan.

May 14, 1948 Israel was pronounced a state among the other nations through the UN. Speaking Hebrew.

Resource:  Facts about Israel 1973 edition, page 26, 27.
Text:  Middle East Past & Present by Yahya Armajani and Thomas M. Ricks; Portland State U.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seljuk


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