Palestine's Pre-Islamic History and Cultural Heritage: A Proposal for Palestinian High-School Curriculum Revision

Abstract

This article is presented in the hope of engaging debate on Palestine's cultural heritage in view of recommending a revision of the Palestinian high-school curriculum for the pre-Islamic history of Palestine. After a brief clarification of intent and an introduction to the current status of research on Palestine's history, brief summaries of the proposed curriculum are offered in chronological order: 1) the Stone Age; 2) the Bronze Age; 3) regional histories from Iron I to Alexander and 4) the Hellenistic Period. The presentation closes with a conclusion, followed by 3 appendices on early legendary figures in Palestinian history; on Palestinian place names and on the importance of structuring Palestine's history regionally.

Politics and the Bible

“…Neither the Samaritan torah nor the Jewish and Christian Greek Bible were originally composed of texts which were exclusively Samaritan-or Jewishdefining literature and they hardly stand as foreign to the cultural heritage of all Palestinians. 10 …”