| BIBLE LANDS | ||||||
| ISRAEL AND PALESTINE: CENTRAL HILL COUNTRY | ||||||
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For Cities of the Bible - important places to visit - see www.bible-architecture.info
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| 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. |
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GALILEE |
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Tell Dan in Upper Galilee. 'From Dan to Beersheba' was a traditional description of the extent of the territory held by the Jewish people. | |||||
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The hills of Northern Galilee, with Mount Hermon in the background. | |||||
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The Sea of Galilee
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The
fertile shores of the Lake of Galilee |
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Mount Tabor | |||||
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THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON 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.
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The highest point of Mount Carmel | |||||
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Part of Mount Carmel | |||||
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The rich Jezreel Valley | |||||
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Mount Gilboa | |||||
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SAMARIA
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Sunrise from the ruins at the top of Mount Gerizim | |||||
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Tell of Beer-sheba; the town of Beersheba was traditionally the southernmost limit of Samaria. | |||||
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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. The Wilderness of Judea begins some miles south or east of Jerusalem. The hills are mostly barren, with vegetation here and there.
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Bethlehem | |||||
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The Judean Desert | |||||
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Herod's
fortress/palace at Masada
For more information about this
palace, see |
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