The group said it wrote to the museum\u2019s director, Nicholas Cullinan, that \u201cseveral maps and descriptions retroactively apply the term \u2018Palestine\u2019 to periods in which no such entity existed and risk obscuring the history of Israel and the Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Applying a single name across thousands of years \u201cerases historical changes and creates a false impression of continuity,\u201d it argued, asking for the terminology to be amended \u201cso regions are referred to by historically accurate names such as Canaan, the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, or Judea, depending on the period being described.\u201d<\/p>\n
A variation of the name Palestine, which the Romans gave to the Land of Israel in the 2nd century CE, was first documented in Greek literature in the 5th century CE. It is believed to be named after the Philistines, an ancient non-Semitic people mentioned in the Bible.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n UKLFI said in its statement that a spokesperson for the British Museum replied that it was \u201cin the processes of reviewing and updating panels and labels on a case-by-case basis. For example, the information panels in the Levant gallery, covering the period 2000-300 BC, have all been updated to describe in some detail the history of Canaan and the Canaanites and the rise of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel using those names. A revised text devoted to the Phoenicians was installed in early 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the examples given was a panel in the Egypt galleries having been changed from \u201cPalestinian descent\u201d to \u201cCanaanite descent.\u201d<\/p>\n \t \u201cThe Museum\u2019s spokesperson explained that the larger graphic panels and maps require significantly more coordination and resources and cannot be updated and replaced at once, given their importance for visitor navigation of the gallery,\u201d UKLFI added. \u201cThis work is being scheduled with designers and interpreters but, because of the scale and cost, will be implemented in phases over the coming years as part of the Museum\u2019s long-term Masterplan redevelopment.\u201d<\/p>\n The museum itself confirmed making the alterations, telling media outlets that \u201cfor the Middle East galleries for maps showing ancient cultural regions, the term \u2018Canaan\u2019 is relevant for the southern Levant in the later second millennium BCE. We use the UN terminology on maps that show modern boundaries, for example, Gaza, West Bank, Israel, Jordan, and refer to \u2018Palestinian\u2019 as a cultural or ethnographic identifier where appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the changes have been made, thousands have signed an online petition<\/a> urging the museum to reverse them.<\/p>\n Reacting to the museum\u2019s actions, UKLFI said: \u201cWe welcome the British Museum\u2019s willingness to review and amend terminology which is inaccurate or liable to convey an incorrect meaning today. The finding of its audience testing, that the term \u2018Palestine\u2019 is in some circumstances no longer meaningful, is relevant to and should be taken on board by other museums and cultural institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tFile: Visitors walk outside the British Museum in Bloomsbury, London, June 26, 2015. (AP Photo\/Tim Ireland)<\/p>\n
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