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History of Palestine

About 2000 BC, a Semitic people of remarkable industry, enterprise and intelligence occupied Palestine as well as Lebanon. They were called "Canaanites", and Palestine and Lebanon then both became known as "the land of Canaan".

The Canaanites settled mainly along the coastline, leaving the hinterland sparsely populated, unlike the rest of the Semites who had settled the Near East.

as middlemen and as manufacturers. They brought goods inland and from Iraq, Syria and Arabia, then sailed off and resold them elsewhere. This eastern Mediterranean strip soon became the most prosperous Trading area in the ancient world, especially Ugarite and Sidon were probably the most prosperous of the Canaanite seaports.

Canaanite mythology marks 'Baal' as the greatest Canaanite deity. He appears as a warrior god, "the prince", lord of earth", and "the Rider on the clouds". He is a thunder and lightening storm-god that sends rain on earth to fertilize "Ishtar", the goddess of earth, to give birth to vegetation. His daughters 'Mist' and 'Dew', and his father 'Dajan', the personification of corn. Elsewhere, Baal is said to be the son of the god 'Ei'.

About 1900 BC, the Canaanites marked a remarkable invention, the Alphabet where they used 22 letter system for their writing. Through them the Alphabet was transmitted to the Greeks and the rest of the European nations. In addition to the most formidable fighting machine of ancient times- the Chariot; it was pulled along by two horses and manned by two men, one to manoeuvre and the other to shoot arrows.

Concerning their literature, it was rich and full of lyrics and legends related mostly to religious rituals and choruses.

The Canaanites ruled Egypt through an aristocratic class of chariot warriors, making their capital the fortress town of Avaris, off the Nile Delta. They influenced Egypt in many ways, especially their language, which was subsequently sprinkled with Canaanite words. The Canaanites deities were also extensively worshipped in the eastern Delta; the chief god was Sun-Baal, for whom they built a great temple in Avaris. The Hyskos kings seem to have fully appreciated that it was better to exploit the country than to devastate it. They retained the temple scribes and other officials of the native rulers and, contrary to common belief, were tolerant of the Egyptians and their Customs.

ABRAHAM

It was probably during the Hyskos rule of Egypt when the prophet Abraham was born in Iraq, in a town called Ur. Briefly, here is the story of Abraham's children.

Accompanied by his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot, Abraham left Iraq for Egypt. In Egypt Abraham took a second wife, Hagar who gave birth to his first descendent, Ismail who all settled in Hebron and although there were houses there, Abraham and his family continued living in tents as always.

When Sarah delivered Isaac, she demanded from Abraham to banish both Hagar and Ismail. Abraham did so, settling them in Mecca in western Arabia where, with Ismail, he built the 'Kaaba'. Ismail had twelve sons who multiplied as Ishmaelite Arabs who moved towards the fertile plains of Palestine. And not to forget that centuries later prophet Mohammed was born of the Ishmaelites in Mecca.

Isaac, Abraham's second son, who was called also Israel, had twelve sons. They multiplied as the 'twelve tribes of Israel', apparently living in the Nile Delta region.

Lot on the other hand moved his flock to Sodom by the Dead Sea to avoid problems with his uncle. His descendents formed the two tribes "Moab", and "Ammon" controlling the river Jordan.