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The great kingdom of “Palestine” once existed within Syrian and Turkish boundaries, a University of Tennessee professor claimed in a statement released Tuesday.Prof. J. P. Dessel, who is a member of the Tell Tayinat archeological digs in Turkey and who presided at the Haifa University Ancient East Research Conference, asserted that the commonwealth had been located between the cities of Aleppo, Hama and Antakya, and the Turkish-Syrian border in the 12th and 11th centuries BCE.The find is significant because it indicates that the ancient Philistine empire was not limited to the lands of Canaan.Following the collapse of the Hittite dynasty in the 13th century BCE,smaller states sprung up in areas that had previously been underHittite rule – one of which was Palestine. In his lecture, Desselexplained that this had been concluded from newfound evidence unearthedin the Tell Tayinat excavations.Hittite hieroglyphics were found on the Antakya site, reading “Palestine.” Similar hieroglyphics were found in Aleppo and Hama.“This is a significant discovery which shows that the Philistines didnot just hold land in Israel, but in Syria as well,” said HaifaUniversity Prof. Gershon Glil, the conference coordinator.