In 1902 Theodor Herzl, president of the Zionist Congress, published Altneuland (Old-New Land), a fantasy novel about an impossible Zionist utopia. A pair of European travelers, having spent twenty years on a deserted Pacific island, visit the Palestine of 1922 to discover a modern cosmopolitan Jewish society. The Jerusalem Herzl’s characters find is a world-class industrial city where the Jews speak German, go to the opera, and picnic along the Mediterranean. There is a kind of united nations at a glorious Palace of Peace. And there are Arabs, who are fine with the whole Jewish thing. More than fine — "It was a great blessing for all of us,“ proclaims Mr. Rashid, referring to the benefits of the New Society as well as the higher property values the arrival of the Jews entailed.
The book was translated into Hebrew the same year, under the title Tel Aviv — from tel, "ancient mound,” and aviv, “spring.” In 1909, a new Jewish town on the outskirts of Jaffa was renamed Tel Aviv, after Herzl’s novel.
The book appeared in English for the first time as Old New Land in 1941, six years before the Jewish state of Israel.
Mwaka 1902 Theodor Herzl, rais wa chama cha Zionist Congress, alichapisha kitabu cha hadithi kuhusu utopia wa kisioni. Baada ya kukaa kwa miaka ishirini katika kisiwa cha Pasifiki, wanasafiri kutoka Ulaya kwenda Palestina mwaka 1922 ili kugundua jamii ya kisasa ya Kiyahudi. Yerusalemu ambayo wahusika wa Herzl hupata ni jiji la viwanda la kiwango cha ulimwengu ambapo Wayahudi huzungumza Kijerumani, huenda kwenye opera, na kupikia kando ya Bahari ya Mediterania. Kuna aina ya mataifa yaliyoungana katika Jumba la Ufalme lenye utukufu la Amani. Na kuna Waarabu, ambao ni sawa na jambo lote la Kiyahudi. "Ilikuwa baraka kubwa kwa sisi sote", atangaza Bw. Rashid, akirejelea faida za Sosaiti Mpya na vilevile thamani ya juu ya mali ambayo kuwasili kwa Wayahudi kulihusisha. Kitabu hicho kilitafsiriwa katika Kiebrania mwaka huo huo, chini ya jina la Tel Aviv, kutoka Tel, "mwamba wa kale, na Aviv, <unk> spring.<unk> Mwaka 1909, mji mpya wa Kiyahudi katika vitongoji vya Jaffa ulibadilishwa jina kuwa Tel Aviv, baada ya riwaya ya Herzl. Kitabu hicho kilitolewa kwa mara ya kwanza katika Kiingereza kama Old New Land mwaka 1941, miaka sita kabla ya kuanzishwa kwa taifa la Kiyahudi la Israeli.