The History of Palestine

 The Greek historian Herodotus, in the 5th century BCE, was the first to use the name Palaistinē (Παλαιστίνη), a Greek form of the older Semitic word Peleshet, to describe the region between Phoenicia and Egypt, a district he called "Syrian Palestine". He applied it to the entire coastal area, including the Judean mountains and Jordan Rift Valley, not just the narrower Philistine lands, making it the first known use for the broader region. Origin: The name comes from the ancient Egyptians' term for the Philistines (Peleset). Herodotus's usage: He described it as a Syrian district, using it for the land connecting Egypt and Phoenicia, encompassing various peoples, including the Jews (Judaeans). Evolution: While the term existed before the Romans, they later formalized it as an administrative province, but Herodotus's usage predates this by centuries, as noted by.

Timeline of the name Palestine - Wikipedia

The term Palestine first appeared in the 5th century BCE when the ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote of a "district of Syria, The region was called Israel before Herodotus used the name Palestine.