THIS CHAPTER DEALS with the Holy Land's littoral, from Tyre in the north to Rafaḥ in the south. North of Jaffa, the width (west to east) of this area does not exceed twenty kilometres. The littoral's southern part (between Jaffa and Rafaḥ) includes the region of the Judean foothills, known as Shefela in Hebrew, and its average width is about forty kilometres.

Early Islamic Period

During the Roman–Byzantine periods, the coastal plain was the most important region of the provinces of Palestine and Phoenicia. The capital cities of these two provinces, Caesarea and Tyre, were large port cities. Both cities also had metropolitan archiepiscopal sees and were home to many churches of different types and sizes that were spread throughout the area, of which the remains of about one hundred have been found. During this period, many of the provincial political, cultural, administrative, and religious elites of Palestine and Phoenicia lived in Caesarea and Tyre, and in nearby cities. This period of prosperity ended once the area was conquered by the Muslims. Although the Muslims did not destroy the coastal cities, they moved the administrative centres of their nascent empire inland. Scholars concur that the Muslims transferred the capital of Palestina Prima from Caesarea to Ramla. However, since Ramla was only founded about seventy years after the conquest, it is clear that the Muslims established a temporary capital until Ramla was ready to serve as a provincial capital. Scholars suggested that this provisional capital was either ʿAmwās, Lydda, or Jerusalem. After the 710s, the capital was transferred to Ramla; as far as this study is concerned, the exact venue of the previous capital city is irrelevant.

The province of Phoenicia was dismantled following the conquest, and its southern district, which included Tyre, was annexed to Jund al-Urdunn, whose capital city was Tiberias. Subsequently, the coastal cities declined. Some of them, such as the satellite cities that had evolved during the Byzantine period around Ascalon and Gaza, ceased to exist as cities.

The coastal plain was apparently the area of Holy Land that was most affected by the Muslim conquest. It lost its privileged status, and subsequently, many members of the highest echelons of provincial society who resided in the coastal plain emigrated, never to return. Later, Umayyad clients were settled in some of the region's cities.