British Museum Scrubs Use of ‘Palestine’ in Middle East Displays

The British Museum has revised wall texts and maps in its ancient Middle East galleries to remove or replace references to ‘Palestine’ in displays covering early historical periods, following a terminology review prompted by audience research and complaints from a legal advocacy group.

The changes affect a number of labels relating to ancient Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean, including references to the Hyksos and the Phoenicians, and maps depicting the southern Levant in the second millennium BC. In at least one case, a description of the Hyksos as being of ‘Palestinian descent’ has been amended to read ‘Canaanite descent’. Some maps that previously used the term ‘Palestine’ for ancient periods have also been updated to use alternative geographic wording.

The museum confirmed that panels are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis as part of a longer-term redisplay and reconstruction programme.

A spokesperson for the British Museum said that, in displays covering the later second millennium BC, ‘the term “Canaan” is relevant for the southern Levant’. The spokesperson added that the museum uses United Nations terminology for modern political boundaries on contemporary maps, including Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Jordan, and refers to ‘Palestinian’ as a cultural or ethnographic identifier where appropriate.

The revisions follow correspondence from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), a voluntary association of lawyers, which wrote to the museum’s director, Nicholas Cullinan, objecting to what it described as the retrospective application of the term ‘Palestine’ across multiple ancient periods. In its letter, reported by several outlets, the group said that applying a single geographic name across thousands of years could give a misleading impression of continuity and obscure the historical emergence of other political entities, including the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

UKLFI welcomed the museum’s decision to review the wording of certain displays, stating that museums have a responsibility to ensure historical descriptions are precise.

Accounts differ on the timing and cause of the changes. The British Museum spokesperson said that some label revisions were made last year, before the UKLFI letter was sent. Other reports have linked the updates directly to the complaint. The museum has said the review also followed audience research indicating that some visitors found the term unclear or not meaningful in certain ancient contexts.

The geographic terminology of the region has changed over time. Ancient sources refer to Canaan and to various local polities. Egyptian inscriptions from the late second millennium BC include early references to Israel, while Assyrian records later mention Judah. Greek authors, including Herodotus in the fifth century BC, used the term Palestine, which was subsequently adopted in Roman and Byzantine administrative usage. The area was later incorporated into early Islamic caliphates after the seventh century.

Several academics have criticised the museum’s decision. Scholars note that ‘ancient Palestine’ remains a recognised term in some areas of classical and Near Eastern studies and is used in current research and teaching. Marchella Ward, a lecturer in classical studies at the Open University, said that ‘ancient Palestine’ remains a recognised term in some areas of classical and Near Eastern studies and is used in current research and teaching, in quotes given to Middle East Eye.

Campaign groups including Energy Embargo for Palestine and the European Legal Support Centre have also objected to the revisions, arguing that removing the term from ancient-period displays affects how regional history is presented. The European Legal Support Centre and the Public Interest Law Centre have linked the museum’s decision to broader debates about cultural heritage and contemporary politics in the Middle East.

The British Museum said further updates to wording and cartography in its Middle East galleries will be implemented over the coming years as part of its masterplan programme. It said terminology choices will continue to be assessed in relation to historical period, context and visitor understanding.