The name Palestine is sometimes used to describe the geographic area of the eastern Mediterranean region comprising parts of modern-day Israel and the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (for geographic usage, see Israel). The present entry will deal with the ancient usage of the term Palestine, although at times it will be necessary for comparison and explanation to juxtapose it with the geographic entity Israel.

Palestine reflects the Greek form (Palaistinē) of biblical peleshet (Prst/Plst of ancient Egypti…