Palestine is the name commonly used for the land that in ancient times was known as Canaan. When the Israelites first occupied Canaan, they met some of their strongest opposition from the Philistines, the people from whom Palestine takes its name (see CANAAN; PHILISTIA). The natural boundaries of the land were the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Jordan River in the east, the Lebanon Range in the north and the Sinai Desert in the south.