The geographical context for the history of Israel is the land of Palestine. This area has reasonably described boundaries – in the north the foothills of the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains, in the west the Mediterranean Sea, in the south the Sinai desert, and in the east the Syro-Arabian desert.
The Palestinian landscape is dominated by two mountain ranges running parallel to the coast, with a deep depression between them. The land is thus divided into four elongated features running north-south parallel to the coast: the coastal plain, the central highlands, the Jordan rift and the Transjordan Plateau with the desert beyond.
The coastal plains of Philistia and Sharon are terminated in the north by Mount Carmel. To the east of Philistia and beyond the lowland of Shephelah is the plateau of Judaea, Samaria and Galilee. The Jordan River depression includes Lake Huleh (Waters of Merom), the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinnereth), the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and the dry Arabah Valley. South of Galilee the highlands are interrupted by a wide alluvial plain: the western part of this area is known as the Esdraelon Plain; the eastern part as the Jezreel Valley. In the extreme south is the rugged desert area of the Negev.
The eastern plateau is divided by four rivers that drain into the Jordan River/Dead Sea. These rivers formed natural borders for Israel’s neighbours: Bashan north of the Yarmuk; Gilead between the Yarmuk and the Jabbok (=Nahr az Zarqa); Ammon between the Jabbok and the Arnon (=Wadi al-Mujib); Moab between the Arnon and the Zered (=Wadi al-Hasa); and Edom south of the Zered.
The geographical context for the history of Israel is the land of Palestine. This area has reasonably described boundaries – in the north the foothills of the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains, in the west the Mediterranean Sea, in the south the Sinai desert, and in the east the Syro-Arabian desert.
The Palestinian landscape is dominated by two mountain ranges running parallel to the coast, with a deep depression between them. The land is thus divided into four elongated features running north-south parallel to the coast: the coastal plain, the central highlands, the Jordan rift and the Transjordan Plateau with the desert beyond.
The coastal plains of Philistia and Sharon are terminated in the north by Mount Carmel. To the east of Philistia and beyond the lowland of Shephelah is the plateau of Judaea, Samaria and Galilee. The Jordan River depression includes Lake Huleh (Waters of Merom), the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinnereth), the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and the dry Arabah Valley. South of Galilee the highlands are interrupted by a wide alluvial plain: the western part of this area is known as the Esdraelon Plain; the eastern part as the Jezreel Valley. In the extreme south is the rugged desert area of the Negev.
The eastern plateau is divided by four rivers that drain into the Jordan River/Dead Sea. These rivers formed natural borders for Israel’s neighbours: Bashan north of the Yarmuk; Gilead between the Yarmuk and the Jabbok (=Nahr az Zarqa); Ammon between the Jabbok and the Arnon (=Wadi al-Mujib); Moab between the Arnon and the Zered (=Wadi al-Hasa); and Edom south of the Zered.
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