First it was Philistia

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Rose Bauman, in her brief "History of Palestine" (Forum, Aug. 15), overlooked one pertinent bit of history relevant to the argument. She stated, "There has never been a country known as Palestine ruled by Palestinians."

It is true that there has been no such modern state. There was, however, an ancient one: Philistia.

If Bauman has read her Hebrew Bible, aka the Old Testament, she is doubtless familiar with the Philistines, a people who showed up in Canaan in the 12th century B.C. about the same time as the Israelites. The Latin version of Philistia, derived from longstanding Greek usage, was Palaestina, the name given by Rome to the area as a province of the Roman Empire.

If the modern state of Israel is predicated on the ancient kingdom of David and Solomon, why should there not be a modern state of Palestine, with roots just as old, predicated upon the ancient, contemporary, self-governed pentapolis of Philistia?

Michele Margetts

Salt Lake City