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British Museum removes ‘Palestine’ from ancient Middle East displays (thelemmy.club)

submitted 1 day ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/archaeology@mander.xyz

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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/14/british-museum-removes-palestine-references-from-ancient-mi/

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[-] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 59 points 1 day ago

'Levantine' would have been a more accurate term. The 'Canaanite' term is specifically what's used to differentiate from 'Hebrews' in zionism, both before and after Israel was created. Biblically Canaanites are Phoenecians, which are one of many Levantine tribes and city states of the Bronze and Biblical eras.

[-] napoleonsdumbcousin@feddit.org 22 points 1 day ago

AFAIK it is common practice to call them Canaanites:

Thus, while "Phoenician" and "Canaanite" refer to the same culture, archaeologists and historians commonly refer to the Bronce Age pre-1200 BC Levantine peoples as Canaanites, while their Iron Age descendants, particularly those living on the coast, are referred to as Phoenicians.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan

[-] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 24 points 1 day ago

Not disputing that, but even in that section of explanatory text it uses 'Levantine peoples'.

[-] napoleonsdumbcousin@feddit.org 4 points 1 day ago

Well Levantine is the broader term, so you need it to define the more specific term Canaanite.

[-] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago

It's a broader term that is no less accurate. But it is also one more removed from political connotations since this is not just about using the term 'Canaanite' as it is also changing it from 'Palestinian.'

Changing 'Palestinian' to 'Canaanite' in 2026 specifically means something more given the Israelite-Canaanite context.

It's either malicious or stupid, and evidence is tending to the former for the group that sought the change and the latter for the museum.

[-] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 day ago

Didn't the Bible also say that they were literal giants?

[-] als@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 day ago

Also that people can be resurrected, that matter can be duplicated and all sorts of other bullshit

[-] maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone 1 points 1 day ago

They had food replicators and teleporters back then? Things have really gone downhill.

[-] als@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 day ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeding_the_multitude

[-] fallaciousBasis@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Some say what they were so large you could crawl into their anuses and use them as a type of motorcade. Giddy up.

this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026

439 points (98.5% liked)

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Archaeology or archeology[a] is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes.

Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time.

The discipline involves surveying, excavation, and eventually analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Read more...

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