The Ancient Cities and Global Trade of Palestine

For millennia, and despite its relatively small size, Palestine, located at the intersection of three continents, enjoyed wealth, prosperity and flourishing cities and civilisations. The ancient world's trade systems and trade routes were fundamental to the emergence of early urban life in ancient Palestine. In fact, the impact of international trade on both ancient and modern Palestine as a whole was radical and transformative. Despite this, the overwhelming majority of publications on Palestine focus on the modern period and overlook the long history of Palestine and its ancient cities and civilisations. This book addresses the lacuna. It provides a long history of Palestine, uncovering the ancient trading and industrial cities from Antiquity, the Middle Ages and throughout the modern period. Spanning 7,000 years of history, the study reveals the extent to which the global trade and local, indigenous industries of Palestine have shaped the urban social, economic and cultural life of the country over successive periods. Based on extensive archaeological discoveries and documentary evidence, Nur Masalha brings iconic, famous and forgotten trade brands to life. These include: the Neolithic Age obsidian trade; the Calcolithic Age and Bronze Age copper industry of the Naqab; the ancient cities of frankincense and spices; the Red Sea-Gaza silk route; the textiles of Beisan; Gaza wine; gauze and silk weaving from Asqalan and Gaza; Al-Khalil glassware; Acre and cotton export to Europe; Nablus soap; and Jaffa orange. The book is a record and testament of the real cultural, intellectual and historical significance of Palestine.

Professor Nur Masalha is a Palestinian writer, historian and academic. He is a member of the Centre for Palestine Studies, SOAS, University of London, UK, and editor of Journal of Holy Land and Palestine Studies. His books include Palestine Across Millennia: A History of Literacy, Learning and Educational Revolutions (2022), Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History (2018), An Oral History of the Palestinian Nakba (with Nahla Abdo, 2018), The Palestine Nakba (2012) and The Bible and Zionism (2007).

Introduction Chapter I: Palestine as a Transit Country: International Highways, Commercial Geography and the Ancient Trade Routes of Palestine Chapter 2: Ancient Obsidian and Copper Regional Trade Systems: The Mining Industries and Urbanisation in Ancient Palestine and Egypt (From the late Neolithic Ages to the Iron Age) Chapter 3: Cities of Spice, Frankincense and Aromatics: The Trans-Arabian Incense Trade and the Transformation of the Palestinian Cities of the Naqab (Classical and Late Antiquity) Chapter 4: The Myth of the Single 'Silk Road' and the Palestine Red Sea Silk Route from China: The Rise of the Maritime Trade Route of Iotabe-Aylah-Elusa-Gaza and the Ghassanid Arabs of Palaestina Tertia Chapter 5: Elite Fashion, Linen, Silk and Purple Dye: The Palestine Clothing Industry and a Tale of Five Textile Cities in Antiquity Chapter 6: The Christian Revolution and Palestinian Wines on Western Tables: Monasteries, Urban Boom and the Golden Age of the Wine Industry of Byzantine Palestine (4th-early 7th Centuries) Chapter 7: A Tale of Two Cities: Seamen, Merchants and Clergymen and the Maritime City of Gaza Maiumas Chapter 8: The Founding of a New Capital City in Palestine in Early Islam: Al-Ramla, the Administrative and Commercial Centre of the Arab Province of Palestine (7th-11thCentury) Chapter 9: Regulating Trade and Inspecting Urban Markets in Byzantine and Islamic Palestine: The Agoranomos and Muhtasibs in Historical and Comparatives Perspective Chapter 10: The Rise and Decline of a Trademark of Palestinian Identity: The Glassware and Ceramic Industries of Al-Khalil (Thirteen-Twenty-First Centuries) Chapter 11: Cities of Stone: Quarries and the Stone and Marble Industries of Palestine Chapter 12: Cross-Weaving and Gauze from Palestine to Europe: The Silk and Linen Industries of Asqalan and Gaza under the Mamluks Chapter 13: Caravansarais, Markets and Urban Life: The Urban and Rural Merchants' Khans of Mamluk and Ottoman Palestine Chapter 14: Palestine's Cottonopolis and Dhaher al-'Umar: The Cotton Industry, Urbanisation in Galilee and the Rise of Modern Acre Chapter 15: The Soap Factories of Jerusalem and Nablus: Olive Oil and the Soap Industry of Palestine from the Middle Ages to the Modern Period Chapter 16: Tobacco, Urban Coffeehouses and the Leisure Industry of Palestine Chapter 17: Sweets as a Modern Trademark: Urban Life, Sweet Bakeries and the Confectionary Culture of Palestine Chapter 18: City of Oranges: Jaffa Orange, Palestine's Citrus Industry and the Transformation of Jaffa into a Modern Metropolis (1845-1948) Bibliography