Palestine is a widely-attested Western and Near Eastern conventional name which is used, among others, to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River and various adjoining lands.
As a geographical, apolitical term, in its broadest application, Palestine can be used to refer to "ancient Palestine," an area that includes contemporary Israel and the area today referred to as the Palestinian territories, as well as part of Jordan, and some of both Lebanon and Syria.
The Byzantine Empire's administration of Palestine was temporarily suspended during the Persian occupation of 614–28, and then permanently after the Muslims arrived in 634 CE, defeating the empire's forces decisively at the Battle of Yarmouk in 636 CE. Jerusalem capitulated in 638 CE and Caesarea between 640 CE and 642 CE.
In 638 CE, Caliph Omar Ibn al-Khattab and Safforonius, the Byzantine governor of Jerusalem, signed Al-Uhda al-'Omariyya (The Umariyya Covenant), an agreement that stipulated the rights and obligations of all non-Muslims in Palestine.
Jews were permitted to return to Palestine for the first time since the 500-year ban enacted by the Romans and maintained by Byzantine rulers.
Palestine - Nazareth Dance
