Hebraization of Palestinian place names: Difference between revisions

{{short description|The renaming of geographical sites in Palestine/Israel}}

[[Hebrew-language]] names were coined for the [[place names of Palestine|place-names of Palestine]] throughout different periods: under the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate]]; after the establishment of [[Israel]] following the [[1948 Palestinian exodusexpulsion and flight]] and [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]; and subsequently in the [[Palestinian territories]] occupied by Israel in 1967.<ref name="Kadman2015">{{cite book|author=Noga Kadman|title=Erased from Space and Consciousness: Israel and the Depopulated Palestinian Villages of 1948|date=7 September 2015|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-01682-9|pages=91–|chapter=Naming and Mapping the Depopulated Village Sites|ref=none|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FIdNCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA100}}</ref>{{sfn|Benvenisti|2000|p=11}} A 1992 study counted {{circa}} 2,780 historical locations whose names were Hebraized, including 340 villages and towns, 1,000 Khirbat (ruins), 560 wadis and rivers, 380 springs, 198 mountains and hills, 50 caves, 28 castles and palaces, and 14 pools and lakes.<ref>Study by Palestinian geographer [[:ar: شكري عراف |Shukri Arraf]] (1992), "The Palestinian locations between two eras/maps" (Arabic). Kufur Qari’: Matba’at, Al-Shuruq Al-Arabiya; quoted in {{harvnb|Amara|2017|p=106}}</ref> Palestinians consider the Hebraization of place-names in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] part of the Palestinian [[Nakba]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sa’di|first=Ahmad H.|date=2002|title=Catastrophe, Memory and Identity: Al-Nakbah as a Component of Palestinian Identity|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30245590|journal=Israel Studies|volume=7|issue=2|pages=175–198|doi=10.2979/ISR.2002.7.2.175|jstor=30245590|quote=, Al-Nakbah is associated with a rapid de-Arabization of the country. This process has included the destruction of Palestinian villages. About 418 villages were erased, and out of twelve Palestinian or mixed towns, a Palestinian population continued to exist in only seven. This swift transformation of the physical and cultural environment was accompanied, at the symbolic level, by the changing of the names of streets, neighborhoods, cities, and regions. Arabic names were replaced by Zionist, Jewish, or European names. This renaming continues to convey to the Palestinians the message that the country has seen only two historical periods which attest to its "true" nature: the ancient Jewish past, and the period that began with the creation of Israel.|authorlink=Ahmad H. Sa'di|s2cid=144811289}}</ref>

Many existing [[Toponymy|place names]] in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]are based on unknown etymologies. Some are [[Arabicized|Arabised]]descriptive, formssome survivals of ancient [[Nabataean]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Canaanite languages|Canaanite]] place-namesor usedother duringnames, antiquity;and manythe ofoccasional thename originalwas namesunaltered canfrom bethe forms found in the [[Hebrew Bible]] and theor [[Talmud]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Conder|first=C. R.|date=1881|editor-last=Palmer|editor-first=E. H.|title=Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft/page/128/mode/1up?view=theater|journal=Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund|volume=|issue=|pages=iv-v|doi=|issn=|quote=To determine the exact meaning of Arabic topographical names is by no means easy. Some are descriptive of physical features, but even these are often either obsolete or distorted words. Others are derived from long since forgotten incidents, or owners whose memory has passed away. Others again are survivals of older Nabathean, Hebrew, Canaanite, and other names, either quite meaningless in Arabic, or having an Arabic form in which the original sound is perhaps more or less preserved, but the sense entirely lost. Occasionally Hebrew, especially Biblical and Talmudic names, remain scarcely altered.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Rainey, |1978, |p.230=7}}: “What surprised western scholars and explorers the most was the amazing degree to which biblical names were still preserved in the Arabic toponymy of Palestine”</ref> Most of these names have been handed down for thousands of years though their meaning was understood by only a few. During [[Classical antiquity|classical]] and [[late antiquity]], the ancient place-names metamorphosed into [[Aramaic]] and [[Greek alphabet|Greek]],<ref name="books.google.com">Mila Neishtadt. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Lai8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA282 'The Lexical Substrate of Aramaic in Palestinian Arabic,'] in Aaron Butts (ed.) ''Semitic Languages in Contact,'' [[Brill Publishers|BRILL]] 2015 pp.281-282:'As in other cases of language shift, the supplanting language (Arabic) was not left untouched by the supplanted language (Aramaic) and the existence of an Aramaic substrate in Syro-Palestinian colloquial Arabic has been widely accepted. The influence of the Aramaic substrate is especially evidence in many Palestinian place names, and in the vocabularies of traditional life and industrials: agriculture, flora, fauna, food, tools, utensils etc.'</ref><ref name="auto">{{harvnb|Rainey, |1978, |p.231=8}}: “In the majority of cases, a Greek or Latin name assigned by Hellenistic or Roman authorities enjoyed an existence only in official and literary circles while the Semitic- speaking populace continued to use the Hebrew or Aramaic original. The latter comes back into public use with the Arab conquest. The Arabic names Ludd, Beisan, and Saffurieh, representing original Lod, Bet Se’an and Sippori, leave no hint concerning their imposing Greco-Roman names, viz., Diospolis, Scythopolis, and Diocaesarea, respectively”</ref> the two major languages spoken in the region before the advent of [[Islam]].<ref name="auto"/><ref>Mila Neishtadt. [https://name="books.google.com"/books?id=Lai8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA282 'The Lexical Substrate of Aramaic in Palestinian Arabic,'] in Aaron Butts (ed.) ''Semitic Languages in Contact,'' [[Brill Publishers|BRILL]] 2015 pp.281-282:'As in other cases of language shift, the supplanting language (Arabic) was not left untouched by the supplanted language (Aramaic) and the existence of an Aramaic substrate in Syro-Palestinian colloquial Arabic has been widely accepted. The influence of the Aramaic substrate is especially evidence in many Palestinian place names, and in the vocabularies of traditional life and industrials: agriculture, flora, fauna, food, tools, utensils etc.' </ref><ref>[[Nur Masalha]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=Cb2rDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT46 ''Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History,''] [[Zed Books]] 2018 {{isbn|978-1-786-99275-8}}p.46:'Latin remained the official language of the government in the 6th century, whereas the prevalent language of merchants, farmers, seamen and ordinary citizens was Greek. Also, Aramaic -closely related to Arabic - was a prevalent language among the (predominantly Christian) Palestinian peasantry which constituted the majority of population in the country. Greek, however, became the [[lingua franca]] of late Byzantine Palestine, shortly before the advent of Islam. Consequently, the [[Hellenisation]] of Palestinian toponyms was not uncommon in Late Antiquity. A well known example of Hellenisation from Late Antiquity is the work of the 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and translator Josephus who spoke Aramaic and Greek and who became a Roman citizen. Both he and Greco-Roman Jewish writer [[Philo of Alexandria]] used the toponym Palestine. He listed local Palestinian toponyms and rendered them familiar to Graeco-Roman audiences. Medieval Muslims and modern Palestinians preserved Greco-Roman toponyms such as [[Nablus]] (Greek: Neapolis/Νεάπολις), Palestine, Qaysariah ([[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]]/Καισάρεια), but not [[Amman|Philadelphia]].'</ref> Following the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant]], Arabized forms of the ancient names were adopted.

The Hebraization of place-names was encouraged by the Israeli government, aiming to strengthen the connection of [[Jews]], most of whom had [[Aliyah|immigrated in recent decades]], with the land.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Cohen|first1=Saul B.|last2=Kliot|first2=Nurit|date=1992-12-01|title=Place-Names in Israel's Ideological Struggle over the Administered Territories|url=https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.1992.tb01722.x|journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers|volume=82|issue=4|pages=653–680|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.1992.tb01722.x|issn=0004-5608}}</ref> As part of this process, many ancient Biblical or Talmudic place-names were "restored.";<ref name="Miller29">Miller and Hayes, 1986, p. 29.</ref> however, enthusiasm since cooled after mistakes were identified by archeologists.<ref name=Rainey11>{{harvnb|Rainey|1978|p=11}}: "Today there are Hebrew names not only for modern communities such as kibbutzim, settlement towns, etc., but for topographical features (hills, water sources, etc.), and antiquity sites as well. The majority of these are Hebraized forms of the former Arabic name, e.g., Arabic Tell 'Arâd is [[Tel Arad|Tel ʿArad]], Tell Jezer is now [[Gezer|Tel Gezer]], Khirbet Mešâš has become [[Tel Masos]]. Frequently, the new Hebrew form is not really cognate to the Arabic but was chosen for its general resemblance; Tell el-Fâr: "The Mound of the Mouse" has been promoted to [[:he:תל פר|Tel Par]]: "The Mound of the Bull." The earlier enthusiasm for restoring biblical names to their ancient sites has cooled down somewhat, especially after Tell [[Iraq al-Manshiyya|(ʿArâq) el-Menšîyeh]], changed to Tel Gat, was proved not to be a suitable candidate for [[Gath (city|Gath of the Philistines]]. Now the site is called [[Tel Erani|Tel ʿErani]] after the epithet of Sheikh Ahmed el-ʿAreinī, whose tomb is located there."</ref> In someother cases, evenHebraizations were chosen because the Hebrew was a [[homophone]] of the Arabic despite having a different meaning,<ref name=Rainey11/> and sites with only Arabic names and no pre-existing ancient Hebrew names or associations have beenwere given new Hebrew names, thereby losing the historical tradition.<ref name="Swedenburgp50">Swedenburg, 2003, p. 50.</ref><ref name="Miller29" /> However, inIn some instances, the [[Palestinian Arabic]] place name was preserved in the [[modern Hebrew]], despite there being a different Hebrew tradition regarding the name, as in the case of [[Banias]], and where,which in classical Hebrew writings, the place is called ''Paneas''.<ref>[[Zev Vilnay|Vilnay, Zev]] (1954), p. 135 (section 9). Cf. ''Targum Shir HaShirim'' 5:4; etc. The reason for the hard-sounding "b" in the Arabic pronunciation of Banias has to do with the fact that, in the Arabic language, there is no hard "p" sound; the "p" being replaced by "b".</ref> Municipal direction sign-posts and maps produced by state-run agencies sometimes note the traditional Hebrew name and the traditional Arabic name alongside each other, such as "[[Nablus]] / [[Shechem]]" and "[[Silwan]] / Shiloach", ''inter alia''etc.<ref>[https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files2/library/20140515_welcome_to_shiloach_pool_full.jpg Sign welcoming visitors to Siloam (Shiloach), printed both in Hebrew and Arabic with traditional names], [[B'Tselem]], 16 September 2014</ref> In certain areas of Israel, particularly mixedthe Jewish–Arab[[mixed cities]], there is a growing trend to restore the original Arabic street names whichthat were Hebraized after 1948.<ref name="Rekhess">{{cite journal |jstor=10.2979/israelstudies.19.2.187 |quote=A new trend that has become particularly popular in recent years in mixed Jewish-Arab cities, is attempts to restore original Arabic street names, “Hebraized” after 1948|doi=10.2979/israelstudies.19.2.187|title=The Arab Minority in Israel: Reconsidering the "1948 Paradigm"|year=2014|last1=Rekhess|journal=Israel Studies|volume=19|issue=2|pages=187–217|s2cid=144053751}}</ref><ref name="OA">{{cite web|author=Ofer Aderet|url=http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/a-stir-over-sign-language-1.375919|title=A stir over sign language: A recently discovered trove of documents from the 1950s reveals a nasty battle in Jerusalem over the hebraization of street and neighborhood names. This campaign is still raging today.|work=[[Haaretz]]|date=29 July 2011|access-date=18 December 2011}}</ref>

|footer=In the 19th century, the contemporary Palestinian Arabic toponyms were used to identify ancient locations. These two examples were the most notable lists created during the period.<ref>{{harvnb|Rainey, |1978, |p.231=8}}</ref>

Modern Hebraization efforts began from the time in the [[First Aliyah]] in 1880.<ref name="Fields2017">{{cite book|last=Fields|first=Gary|title=Enclosure: Palestinian Landscapes in a Historical Mirror|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l3UpDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA222|date=5 September 2017|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-29104-1|pages=222|ref=none}}</ref> In the early 1920s, the [[HeHalutz]] youth movement began a Hebraization program for newly established settlements in [[Mandatory Palestine]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Boaz Neumann|title=Land and Desire in Early Zionism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jIcSHW1hpeEC&pg=PA167|year=2011|publisher=UPNE|isbn=978-1-58465-968-6|page=167|ref=none}}</ref> These names, however, were applied only to sites purchased by the [[Jewish National Fund]] (JNF), as they had no sway over the names of other sites in Palestine.

Seeing that directional signposts were frequently inscribed only in the Arabic language with their English transliterations (excluding their equivalent Hebrew names), the Jewish community in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], led by prominent Zionists such as [[David Yellin]], tried to influence the naming process initiated by the [[Royal Geographical Society]]'s (RGS's) Permanent Committee on Geographical Names,<ref name="Fields2017"/>{{sfn|Bitan|1992|p=366}} so as to make the naming more inclusive.{{sfn|Maisler|Ben-Zvi|Klein|Press|1932|pp=3-5 (Preface)}} Despite these efforts, well-known cities and geographical places, such as Jerusalem, Jericho, Nablus, Hebron, the Jordan River, etc. carried names in both Hebrew and Arabic writing (e.g. [[Jerusalem]] / Al Quds / ''Yerushalayim'' and [[Hebron]] / Al Khalil / ''Ḥevron''),<ref>[[Elkan Nathan Adler|Adler, Elkan Nathan]] (2014), pp. 225, et al.</ref> but lesser-known classical Jewish sites of antiquity (e.g. [[Jish]] / ''Gush Halav''; [[Beisan]] /''Beit She'an''; [[Shefa-'Amr|Shefar-amr]] / ''Shefarʻam''; [[Kafr 'Inan]] / ''Kefar Hananiah''; [[BeitBayt Jibrin]] / ''Beit Gubrin'', etc.) remained inscribed after their Arabic names, without change or addition.<ref name= "EGleichen1925">[[Lord Edward Gleichen|Gleichen, Edward]], ed. (1925). '''Quote:''' (Preface) "The following List of Names in Palestine, having been submitted through H.M. Secretary of State for the Colonies to the High Commissioner, and referred by him for correction to special Arabic and Hebrew subcommittees, is now published by the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official use."</ref><ref>[[British Colonial Office]] in Palestine (1931), pp. 1, 13, 37, 52, 54–56, 59, 65. '''Quote:''' (p. 2) "The list of geographical names has presented many difficulties. Many place names in Palestine are of Arabic origin while others are of Hebrew, Phoenician, Greek, Latin, or Frankish ancestry –– to mention only the most important sources –– but, as most places are inhabited by Arabic-speaking people, local usage has given them names in Arabicised forms or in colloquial Arabic. To adopt the colloquial forms in transliterating names was not considered consistent with the end in view, and as a general rule an effort has been made to put the names in as literary a garb as possible. In most names of Arabic origin this was comparatively easy; but in some the Arab experts recommended the retention of forms not usually admitted in Arabic grammatical word construction."</ref>{{sfn|Maisler|Ben-Zvi|Klein|Press|1932|pp=3-5 (Preface)}} The main objection to adding additional spellings for ancient Hebrew toponymy was the fear that it would cause confusion to the postal service, when long accustomed names were given new names, as well as be totally at variance with the names already inscribed on maps. Therefore, British officials sought to ensure unified forms of place-names.<ref>[[Lord Edward Gleichen|Gleichen, Edward]] (1920), p. 309</ref>

One of the motivating factors behind members of the [[Yishuv]] to apply Hebrew names to old Arabic names, despite attempts to the contrary by the RGS Committee for Names,{{sfn|Maisler|Ben-Zvi|Klein|Press|1932|pp=3-5 (Preface)}} was the belief by [[historical geographers]], both Jewish and non-Jewish, that many Arabic place-names were mere "corruptions" of older Hebrew names<ref>[[Meron Benvenisti|Benvenisti, M.]] (2000), pp. 47–48. Quote: "The Arab conquerors who colonized the land following the conquest of 638 C.E. settled among its Jewish, Samaritan, and Christian natives. They easily assimilated the Hebrew-Aramaic geographical and topographical names, and, their language being closely related to the Semitic languages spoken there, they made only slight changes in spelling and pronunciation. They had no difficulty finding Arabic forms for names such as Ashkelon –– which they transformed into ''Asqalan'' –– Beit Horon to ''Beit Ghur'', Beersheba to ''Bir Saba'a'', and Eilat to ''Aila''."</ref> (e.g. ''Khirbet Shifat'' = [[Yodfat]]; ''Khirbet Tibneh'' = [[Timnah]];<ref>[[Clermont-Ganneau]] (1896), pp. 67–68, 214, where he wrote: (p. 214) "''Tibneh'', 'chopped straw', one would swear was Arabic, but it is beyond a doubt that it is the name of the town ''Timnah'', brought into that shape by one of those popular etymologies which are as dear to the peasantry of Palestine as to those of our European countries." On pp. 67–68 he wrote: "One has to beware, however, of these appellations that appear to be of purely Arabic origin, they are often ancient Hebrew names converted by a process of popular etymology into words familiar to the Arabs. In many cases slight phonetic changes assist the process. These , by the bye, are not arbitrary, but are subject to real laws. Thus, for instance, the name of the Bible town of Thimnah has become in ''[[Peasant|fellâh]]'' speech ''Tibneh'', 'chopped straw'."</ref><ref>[[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Robinson, E.]] (1860), p. [https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc08smitgoog/page/n38/mode/2up 17]. See alao [[John William McGarvey]] (1829–1911) who quotes [[C. R. Conder|Conder]] on the linguistic evidence of the name, saying that, in Arabic, "the substitution of B for M is so common (as in Tibneh for [[Timnah]])..." See: McGarvey, 2002, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=UxlR49W76CgC&pg=PA246 246-247]; cf. [[E. H. Palmer|Palmer, E.H.]] (1881), p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/330 330], s.v. ''Tibna''</ref> ''[[Lifta]]'' = Nephtoah;<ref>Kampffmeyer, Georg (1892), p. 38 (section 15)</ref> ''Jabal al-Fureidis'' = [[Herodium|Herodis]], ''et al.''). At other times, the history of assigning the "restored Hebrew name" to a site has been fraught with errors and confusion, as in the case of the ruin ''[[Iraq al-Manshiyya|ʻIrâq el-Menshiyeh]]'', situated where [[Kiryat Gat]] now stands. Initially, it was given the name ''Tel Gath'', based on [[W.F. Albright|Albright]]'s identification of the site with the biblical Gath. When this was found to be a misnomer, its name was changed to ''[[Tel Erani]]'', which, too, was found to be an erroneous designation for what was thought to be the old namesake for the site.{{sfn|Press|2014|pp=181–182}}

In 1925, the Directorate of the [[Jewish National Fund]] (JNF) established ''The Names Committee for the Settlements'', with the intent of giving names to the new Jewish settlements established on lands purchased by the JNF.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ettinger|first=Y.|date=25 August 1925|title=Determining the Names of the Settlements acquired by the Jewish National Fund|language=he|publisher=[[Davar]]|url=http://jpress.org.il/olive/apa/nli_heb/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=DAV/1925/08/25&id=Ar00304}}</ref> It was led directly by the head of the JNF, [[Menachem Ussishkin]].{{sfn|Benvenisti|2000|p=26}} The [[Jewish National Council]] (JNC), for their part, met in parley in late 1931, in order to make its recommendations known to the British government in Mandatory Palestine, by suggesting emendations to a book published by the British colonial office in Palestine in which it outlined a set of standards used when referencing place-names transliterated from Arabic and Hebrew into English, or from Arabic into Hebrew, and from Hebrew into Arabic, based on the country's ancient toponymy.<ref>{{harvnb|Maisler|Ben-Zvi|Klein|Press|1932|pp=3-53–5 (Preface)}} "Just as they write in Hebrew 'Shechem' rather than ''Nablus''; 'Ḥevron' rather than ''al-Khalil''; 'Yerushalayim' rather than ''al-Quds'', so, too, it is necessary to write [in Hebrew] '[[Tel Dor|Dor]]' instead of ''Ṭanṭūrah''; 'Adoraim' instead of ''[[Dura, Hebron|Dūra]]''; 'ʻAin Ganim' instead of [[Jenin]]; '[[Nahal Sorek|Naḥal Sorek]]' instead of ''Wadi eṣ-Ṣarār'', etc."</ref> Many of the same proposals made by the JNC were later implemented, beginning in 1949 (Committee for Geographical Names) and later following 1951, when [[Yeshayahu Press]] (a member of the [[Jewish National Council|JNC]]) established the [[Government Naming Committee]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Collection of Publications, no. 277|url=https://www.nevo.co.il/Law_word/law10/yalkut-0277.pdf|page=630|year=1953|contribution=State of Israel Records|place=Jerusalem|publisher=Government of Israel|language=he|quote="The names of the settlements were mostly determined at different times by the 'Names Committee for the Settlements,' under the auspices of the [[Jewish National Fund]] (est. 1925), while [other] names were added by the [[Government Naming Committee]]."}}</ref>

In March 1951, the JNF committee and the Negev committee were merged to cover all of Israel. The new merged committee stated their belief that the "Judaization of the geographical names in our country [is] a vital issue".{{sfn|Benvenisti|2000|p=24}} The work was ongoing as of 1960; in February&nbsp;1960 the director of the [[Survey of Israel]], Yosef Elster, wrote that "We have ascertained that the replacement of Arabic names with Hebrew ones is not yet complete. The committee must quickly fill in what is missing, especially the names of ruins."{{sfn|Benvenisti|2000|p=40}} In April&nbsp;1951, [[Yitzhak Ben-Zvi]] and Dr. [[Benjamin Maisler]] were appointed to the [[Government Naming Committee]].<ref>{{Citation |contribution=State of Israel Records |title=Collection of Publications, no. 152 |publisher=Government of Israel|place=Jerusalem|year=1951 |page=845|url=https://www.nevo.co.il/Law_word/law10/yalkut-0152.pdf |language=he }}</ref>

* [[Place names of Palestine|place-names of Palestine]]

{{ref beginrefbegin}}

| publisher = [[Brill Publishers|BRILL ]]

* Masalha, Nur (2015), [https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/72000834.pdf Settler-Colonialism, Memoricide and Indigenous Toponymic Memory: The Appropriation of Palestinian Place Names by the Israeli State], Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies, 14 (1). pp. 3-57&nbsp;3–57. ISSN 2054-1988 {{doi|10.3366/HLPS.2015.0103}}

* {{cite journal |last=Rainey|first=A.F.|author-link=Anson Rainey|title=The Toponymics of Eretz-Israel|journal=[[Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research]]|publisher=[[The University of Chicago Press]] on behalf of The [[American Schools of Oriental Research]]|volume= 231|issue=231 |pages=1–17|date=1978|doi=10.2307/1356743|jstor=1356743 |s2cid=163634741|language=en}}

[[Category:Cultural assimilation and names]]

[[Category:1948 Palestinian exodusNakba]]