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    BIBLE LANDS    
    ISRAEL AND PALESTINE: CENTRAL HILL COUNTRY    
                For Cities of the Bible - important places to visit - see www.bible-architecture.info

 

   
    BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Palestine is small when compared with most other countries. It is 150 miles from north to south, and 70 miles from west to east at its widest point.
Despite its size it was always important because it lay in a strategic part of the world, straddling the major highway that joined ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt - these highways were called the Via Maris or Sea Road, and the King's Highway. There was a constant stream of travelers along the route - for trade, religious pilgrimage, military purposes, etc. So when something significant happened in that part of the world, the people of Palestine were affected.
There were four major regions: the Coastal Plain, the Central Hill Country, the Jordan Valley, and the Negev.

The Central Hill Country
This was an area of mountains, hills and valleys sloping down towards the Mediterranean Sea on its western side, and towards the Jordan Valley on its eastern side. It is the main setting for most of the biblical stories. 
The land was not as rich as the plains, but it supported olive, fig and fruit trees and grain fields and vineyards in the valleys. The sub-regions of the Central Hill Country were Galilee, the Plain of Esdraelon, Samaria, and Judea.

Bible Lands:map of Central Hill Country and its cities, also Galilee,Samaria and Judah areas                 
 

 

GALILEE

     
    Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Galilee: Tel (Tell) Dan in upper Galilee   Tell Dan in Upper Galilee. 'From Dan to Beersheba' was a traditional description of the extent of the territory held by the Jewish people.  
             
    Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Galilee:Hills of north Galilee,Mount Hermon   The hills of Northern Galilee, with Mount Hermon in the background.    
             
    Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Galilee:Sea of Galilee  

 

The Sea of Galilee

 

 

 

   
             
     Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Galilee:Lake of Galilee   The fertile shores of the 
Lake of Galilee
   
           
 

        Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Galilee:Mount Tabor,scene of famous battle between Deborah and her general Barak, and Sisera

  Mount Tabor    
   

                                        THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON
The mountains of Galilee are separated from the hills of Samaria and Judea by the Plain/Valley of Esdraelon, which connects the rich coastal plain with the Jordan Valley. This valley runs on an east-west axis between Galilee and Samaria. A major trade route passed through this valley, linking the coastal ports and plains with the Jordan Valley and Syria. The land in the valley was fertile. The Mount Carmel range, which culminates in a 1,791ft. peak, reaches northwest from the hills of Samaria and Judae almost to the coastline of Haifa.

The ancient of Jezreel lay at the western end of the valley, on a spur of Mount Gilboa. It was capital of the northern kingdom of Israel during the first part of the reign of King Ahab. King Saul was slain there in a battle with the Philistines. The first son of the prophet Hosea was named Jezreel, as a reminder of the bloodshed at Jezreel by King Jehu, who murdered the entire extended family of Ahab and Jezebel, and all their followers.

The city of Megiddo stood at an important vantage point of the pass, and was the site of numerous important battles in the Old Testament.

 

   
    Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Mount Carmel   The highest point of Mount Carmel    
             
    Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Plain of Esdraelon:Mount Carmel   Part of Mount Carmel    
             
    Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Plain of Esdraelon:Jezreel Valley,scene of many battles   The rich Jezreel Valley    
             
    Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Plain of Esdraelon:Mount Gilboa   

  

  Mount Gilboa    
     

SAMARIA

 

   
    Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Samaria:ancient ruins at the top of Mount Gerizim   Sunrise from the ruins at the top of Mount Gerizim    
             
    Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Samaria:Tell Tel of Beer-sheba,southern limit of Samaria

 

 

  Tell of Beer-sheba; the town of Beersheba was traditionally the southernmost limit of Samaria.     
   

JUDEA

Judea was the southernmost of the three traditional divisions of ancient Palestine - the other two were Galilee in the north and Samaria in the centre.

The core of Judea was the hill country, extending south from the region of Bethel to Beersheba and including the area of Jerusalem, Jericho, Bethlehem and Hebron.
Before the Israelites settled there, the area was dominated by the Canaanites. When David became king of Judah he captured the old Canaanite stronghold, Jerusalem and made it the capital of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

The Wilderness of Judea begins some miles south or east of Jerusalem. The hills are mostly barren, with vegetation here and there.

 

   
    Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Judea:present-day Bethlehem   Bethlehem    
             
    Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Judea:the Judean desert   The Judean Desert    
             
    Bible Lands: Central Hill Country:Judea:ruins of Herod's palace at Masada,aerial view   Herod's fortress/palace at Masada

For  more information about this palace, see
http://www.bible-archaeology.info/palaces.htm

   
             
             
             
   

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Israel and Palestine: Lands of the Bible; Bible Study Resource
Central Hill Country: Galilee, Esdraelon, Samaria, Judea