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rasmussen, Carl. zondervan atlas of the Bible / Carl G. rasmussen. — rev. ed p. cm. rev. ed. of: zondervan nIv atlas of the Bible. Includes bibliographical references (p. 263 — 64) and index. ISBn 978-0-310-27050-8 (hardcover, printed) 1. Bible — Geography. 2. Bible — Geography — Maps. 3. Bible — History of Biblical events. 4 Bible — History of contemporary events. I. rasmussen, Carl. zondervan nIv atlas of the Bible. II. Title. III. Title: atlas of the Bible. BS630.r37 2009 220.9’1 — dc22 2009015937

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Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Geographical Section

Introduction to the middle East as a Whole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

The Geography of Israel and Jordan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

The Five Major Longitudinal Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Introduction to the Five Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Coastal Plain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Central Mountain Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

The Rift Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Transjordanian Mountains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

The Eastern Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Weather Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

The Dry Season — Summer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

The Rainy Season — Winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

The Transitional Seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Major Natural Routes — Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Roads and Modes of Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

The International North – South Route . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

The International Transjordanian Route . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Interregional and Local Routes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Geographical Regions of Israel and Jordan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Bashan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Huleh Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Upper Galilee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Plain of Acco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

C o n t e n t s


Lower Galilee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Jezreel Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Mount Carmel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Sea of Galilee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Sharon Plain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Hill Country of Manasseh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Hill Country of Ephraim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Hill Country of Benjamin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Hill Country of Judah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Judean Wilderness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Dead Sea/Salt Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Philistine Plain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Shephelah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Negev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

The “Arabah” South of the Dead Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Gilead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Jordan Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Moab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Edom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

The Geography of Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

The Geography of Syria and Lebanon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

The Geography of mesopotamia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Historical Section

The Pre-Patriarchal Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Garden of Eden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Table of Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Mesopotamia — Early Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Egypt during the Early Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

The Southern Levant during the Early Bronze Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

The Patriarchs and the Egyptian Sojourn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Exodus and Conquest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

The Exodus from Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

The Conquest of Canaan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Settlement in the Land of Canaan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Allotment of the Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113


Judah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Simeon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Ephraim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Manasseh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Benjamin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Zebulun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Issachar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Asher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Naphtali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Dan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Levitical Cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Cities of Refuge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

The Period of the Judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Transition to the monarchy: Samuel and Saul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

The united monarchy: David and Solomon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

The Divided Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Judah Alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Exile and return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

The Arrival of the Greeks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

The maccabean revolt and the Hasmonean Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Early roman rule in Palestine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

The Life of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

The Expansion of the Church in Palestine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

The Journeys of Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

The Early Life of Saul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Paul’s First Missionary Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Paul’s Second Missionary Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Paul’s Journey to Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

The Seven Churches of revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Ephesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Smyrna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Pergamum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237


Thyatira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Sardis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Philadelphia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Laodicea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Jerusalem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240

The Disciplines of Historical Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Philology: Textual Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

The Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Extrabiblical Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Toponymy: Study of Place Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Archaeology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Appendices

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Timeline of Biblical History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Index of Scripture references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Index of Persons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Geographical Dictionary and Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273


Histor ica l Sec t ion : | 15

GEoGrAPHICAL S E C T I o n


16 | G eograph ica l Sec t ion : Int roduct ion to the Middle Ea st a s a Whole

i n t r o d u C t i o n t o t h e M i d d l e e a s t a s a W h o l e

The stage on which the major events of Old Testament history took

place includes all the major countries shown on page 17, as well

as some of the smaller Arab states that are situated in the south-

ern and eastern portions of the Arabian Peninsula . This large land mass

is bounded on the west by the Nile River and the Mediterranean Sea, on

the north by the Amanus and Ararat Mountains, and on the east by the

Zagros Mountains and the Persian Gulf . To the south, the Nafud Desert

and the southern tip of Sinai form a rather amorphous boundary . By the

time of the New Testament apostles the western horizon of the biblical

world had expanded to include Greece, Italy, and even Spain .

Much of the Middle East, in its more limited Old Testament sense,

is desert . Large portions of modern-day Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi

Arabia include desert wastes such as the Syrian Desert, the Nafud, the

Arabian Desert, and the Ruba al-Khali . These huge deserts cover some

487,000 square miles, or about half of the total area of these countries,

and this figure does not even include the desert wastelands of the

Negev, Sinai, and Egypt .

Besides the huge deserts in the region, the seas and gulfs that help

outline the Middle East on the south, east, and west have greatly influ-

enced life in the area . The most important of these bodies of water is

the Mediterranean Sea, for it is from it, from the west, that life-giving

rains come to the Middle East (except for the monsoon rains in south-

ern Saudi Arabia, which are produced by a different cycle) . Much of

what has occurred in the Middle East can be summed up as a struggle

between the influences of the desert and of the Mediterranean Sea . This

is true of its geology, climate, f lora, fauna, farming, herding, and the

movements of ethnic groups .

For example, during certain periods the dominant ethnic inf lu-

ences have been from the sea — note the arrival and the historical sig-

nificance of the Philistines, Greeks, and Romans — while during other

periods the major ethnic influences have been from the tribes located

in or on the fringes of the desert, such as the Amalekites, Moabites,

Edomites, Israelites, and Ammonites . The interaction of these diverse

groups was sometimes peaceful but often violent . In either case, this

interaction was played out on many different levels and can be pic-

tured as a struggle between the desert and the sea, or the desert and

the sown .

Climatically, the year in the Middle East can be divided into two

major periods: the dry season (the summer months) and the wet sea-

son (the winter months) . The amount of rainfall the various regions

of the Middle East receive during the winter months varies widely, but

generally speaking the northern areas receive more rainfall than the

southern ones, higher elevations receive more rain than areas of low

elevation, and the regions closer to the Mediterranean receive more

rain than those distant from the sea . These winter rains nourish the

grain crops that grow throughout the area in places where the total

rainfall is more than 12 inches annually . In addition, f locks of sheep

and goats feed on the winter grasses that cover regions that generally

receive more than 8 inches of rain .

Normally, springs, wells, and cisterns supply many of the inhabit-

ants of the Middle East with drinking water throughout the year . The

other significant sources for fresh water, apart from rainwater, are the

great rivers of the Middle East — the Nile of Egypt and the Tigris and Hill Country of Manasseh during spring


G eograph ica l Sec t ion : Int roduct ion to the Middle Ea st a s a Whole | 17

0 200 miles

0 200 km.

A n N a f u d D e s e r t

Zagros Mts .

AraratMt.

Amanus M

ts .

T a u r u s M t s .

Arabian Peninsula

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Cairo

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Tehran

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.

Halys R.

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Jordan R.

Red Sea

CaspianSea

Black Sea

Pers ianGulf

Aegean Sea

M e d i t e r r a n e a n S e a

West BankGaza Strip

Golan Heights

QATAR

S Y R I ACYPRUS

LEBANON

KUWAITJORDAN

ISRAEL

G R E E C E

BAHRAIN

ALBANIA

GEORGIA

ARMENIA

BULGARIAMACEDONIA

AZERBAIJAN

RUSSIA

ROMANIA

E G Y P T

L I B Y A

I R A Q

I R A N

T U R K E Y

S A U D I A R A B I A

#8 Middle East (Persia)

116% The Middle easT Today

0 200 miles

0 200 km.

Ur

Tema

Nuzi

Akkad?

Susa

Mari

Zoan

Memphis

On Kadesh Barnea

Jerusalem

Ramoth Gilead

Thebes

Tyre

Megiddo

Elath

Dumah

ArvadByblos

Haran

Gozan

Sidon

Asshur

DelphiKanish

Rhodes

MiletusSparta

Athens

Ugarit

AleppoTarsus

Babylon

Nineveh

MycenaePylos

Knossos

Hattusa

Amisus

Attalia

Sinop

Phaistos

Ecbatana

DamascusHazor

Carchemish

Alexandria

TadmorQatna

HamathEbla

Cyrene

Gaza

Euphrates R.

Nile R.

Tigris R.

Red Sea

Pers ianGulf

Black Sea

Caspian Sea

CyprusCrete

A r a b i a n D e s e r t

MYCENAE A N -

M

INOA N

HITTITE - HURRIAN

A MO

RI T

E

AS

S

YR

I A

B A B Y L ON

I

A

EG

YP

T

I A N

E U R O P E

A F R I C A

A S I A


Fertile Crescent

Land routes

Sea routes

Cultural spheresAMORITE

#8 Middle East (Persia)

p. 13b The Ancient Near East 116 %

The ancienT near easT



Euphrates of modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Iraq . Some of the earliest

civilizations developed along the banks of these rivers, where the people

could irrigate their crops with river water . Of these great civilizations,

the Bible mentions the mighty powers of Assyria and Babylonia, whose

heartlands were along the Tigris and Euphrates, and, of course, the

perennially powerful Egypt .

One can find the region where the majority of people have lived

in the Near East since earliest historical times (ca . 3000 BC) by high-

lighting on a map the areas watered by the Nile, the Tigris, and the

Euphrates, as well as those regions that receive over 12 inches of rainfall

annually . This area, in which adequate water supplies make the growing

of agricultural products possible, is roughly the shape of a crescent with

one point in the Nile River, the other in the Persian Gulf . Its arc passes

through Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, hovering over the desolate

Syrian Desert to the south . In this area, aptly named the “Fertile Cres-

cent,” civilizations have risen and fallen throughout the millennia .

Generally, enough wheat and barley were grown in each of the pop-

ulated areas of the Fertile Crescent to supply the local population, and

some countries (e .g ., Egypt) were able to export grain to neighboring as

well as distant lands during certain periods . Although most of the coun-

tries produced sufficient food supplies, many of them lacked other raw

materials necessary for daily life . For example, the Mesopotamian region

needed timber, building stones, copper, iron, tin, gold, and silver . Egypt,

too, lacked local supplies of timber, copper, and iron . Some of these raw

materials were available from countries within the Fertile Crescent (e .g .,

timber from Lebanon and Syria), but other products, including gold, sil-

ver, copper, tin, and iron, were often imported from outside the region .

Thus, as these raw materials entered the Fertile Crescent and foodstuffs

and finished products such as textiles left it, a network of routes devel-

oped that connected the various countries with one another .

Although there were many ways to travel from one city to another,

travelers tended to follow well-established routes in order to avoid areas

that would impede their progress . These areas included swamps, rivers,

flooded or muddy terrain, regions that were too sandy or too rocky, places

inhabited by hostile tribes or governments, forested regions, and routes

that included long, difficult climbs up and down mountains and hills . In

addition, long-distance travel over great desert expanses was normally

avoided because of the lack of water and the hostility of dangerous tribes .

One of the major international routes ran approximately 1,770

miles from Ur in southern Mesopotamia to Thebes in southern Egypt .

Along the way it passed through great urban centers such as Babylon,

Mari, Tadmor, Aleppo, Ebla, Damascus, Hazor, and Gaza . It does not

appear that this route as a whole had a name, but it was made up of

shorter segments that ran from city to city, and in all probability these

shorter stretches had special names . For example, the portion of this

road that ran eastward from Egypt across northern Sinai into southern

Canaan/Philistia was known as the “way of the land of the Philistines”

(Exod 13:17 RSV) . This name is a typical example of the ancient custom

Roman road in Syria Mark Connally

coMparaTive sizes of Middle easT counTries


G eograph ica l Sec t ion : Int roduct ion to the Middle Ea st a s a Whole | 19

Nicosia

Cairo

Tehran

Athens

Baghdad

Jerusalem

Amman

Beirut

Damascus

Riyadh

Ankara

OKLAHOMA

TEXAS

ALABAMA

ALASKA

CALIFORNIA

NEW JERSEY

INDIANA

NORTH DAKOTA

TEXAS

Over quarter the size ofCONTINENTAL U.S.A.

Half the size ofMASSACHUSETTS

Half the size ofNEW JERSEY

ARKANSAS

CYPRUS

EGYPT

GREECE

IRAN

IRAQ

ISRAEL

JORDAN

LEBANON

SYRIA

SAUDIARABIA

TURKEY

3,572 sq. mi.

387,048 sq. mi.

636,372 sq. mi.

169,234 sq. mi.

8,522 sq. mi.

45,495 sq. mi.

4,015 sq. mi.

71,479 sq. mi.

830,000 sq. mi.

302,535 sq. mi.

50,944 sq. mi.

COMPARATIVE SIZES OF MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES (title: place holder only)

0 500 miles

0 500 km.

coMparaTive sizes of Middle easT counTries



of labeling roads as “the way to/of X” (where X = a geographical place

name) . Other portions of this major international route certainly also

had names, but they are rarely preserved in the historical sources .

Although an “international route” may bring to mind images of

concrete and asphalt highways crisscrossing a continent or country, it

should be remembered that “roads” in the ancient world were, until late

in the Roman period (ca . AD 200), usually unpaved dirt paths . These

dirt roads were cleared of stones and kept relatively free of weeds and

fallen trees, and in some cases they were graded . In the earliest times

the most common mode of transportation was walking, with donkeys

used as pack animals . Under these conditions, a caravan normally

moved at the rate of 2 or 3 miles per hour . Sometime during the second

millennium BC, camels began to be used on the desert paths . These

animals, which on average could carry 400 pounds of cargo, eventually

began to be used on other routes as well . During early times ox-drawn

carts were also used for transporting bulky items, but due to the poor

condition of the roads the use of carts and carriages for transporting

goods and people over long distances did not come into general use

until the roads were upgraded during the Roman period .

An international route brought mixed blessings to the inhabitants

of the population centers that lay along it . On the one hand, those centers

had immediate access to the goods that the traveling merchants were

carrying, and the powerful elite could gain added revenue by impos-

ing tolls and by providing ser vices (food, shelter, protection, etc .) to

the caravans . On the other hand, the people traveling in these caravans

exposed those centers to new external influences — religious, political,

economic, etc . — that were not always welcome . In addition, some of

the mighty armies of the great powers of antiquity — the Egyptians,

Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans — passed along

these same international routes, bringing with them death, destruc-

tion, and deportation .

A glance at the map on page 17 shows that the major routes that

connected the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa passed through

the regions of Israel and Syria . It was in this area that God placed the

descendants of Abraham, that they might live in obedience to his cov-

enant . There they were tested to see if they would keep themselves free

from pagan influences, if they would be a light to the nations around

them, and if they would trust in God rather than chariots for their ulti-

mate security . They were told that obedience to God’s commands would

bring blessing and prosperity, while disobedience would bring punish-

ment . Thus the drama of the biblical story develops: How would Israel

respond to God’s gracious acts and attendant commands?


G eograph ica l Sec t ion : The G eogra phy of I s rael a nd Jorda n | 21

t h e G e o G r a P h y o f i s r a e l a n d J o r da n

The Five major Longitudinal ZonesIntroduction to the Five Zones

The land of Israel is situated at the southeastern corner of the Medi-

terranean at approximately the same latitude as southern Georgia,

Dallas, and San Diego . The proximity of Israel to the Mediterra-

nean Sea and the Arabian Desert has greatly influenced her topography,

climate, flora, fauna, and human history . Throughout the ages, the desert

and the sea have vied with one another for control of the land .

The stability of Israel’s permanent western boundary, the Mediter-

ranean Sea, stands in contrast to the f luctuations of her eastern bor-

der . At times the edge of the eastern desert served as the boundary,

while during other periods Israel’s territory ended at the Jordan River .

This variability is reflected in the fact that, although the Jordan River

formed the traditional eastern boundary of the land of Canaan (e .g .,

Num 34:12; map p . 106), the Israelite tribes settling east of the Jordan

in Gilead considered themselves part of Israel in spite of the fact that

the “land of Gilead” was outside the “land of Canaan” (Josh 22; map

p . 106) .

The classical boundary description of the heartland of Israel was

summed up in the phrase “from Dan to Beersheba” (Judg 20:1; 1 Sam

3:20) . However, to the south, Judah was allotted territory as far as the

Kadesh Barnea/Desert of Zin area, and during periods of strength she

extended her rule even farther south, down to Elath on the Red Sea

(1 Kings 9:26; 2 Kings 14:22; 2 Chron 26:2) . Only on rare occasions was

Israel able to extend her rule as far north as Damascus, even though

that region was included in the traditional descriptions of the “land of

Canaan” (Num 34:7 – 11; Josh 13:4 – 5; map p . 106) . It seems that Israel

was not able to control the Phoenician coast to the northwest, except

possibly during the days of David (2 Sam 24:7) .

This geographical section will deal with the territory from Mount

Hermon in the north to Elath in the south and from the Mediterranean

Sea to the Arabian Desert, since most events of biblical history took

place within this area . Five major longitudinal zones can be distin-

guished as one moves from west to east: the coastal plain, the central

mountain range, the Rift Valley, the Transjordanian mountains, and

the eastern desert . A grasp of this physical stage on which the events of

redemptive history occurred can bring those events to life and make it

easier to understand and interpret both the records of the events and

the message of the prophets and the psalmists who lived there and min-

istered to God’s people .

Coastal PlainThe coastal plain is the westernmost zone that stretches from Rosh

HaNiqra in the north to the Nahal Besor, south of Gaza, a distance

of approximately 120 miles . Because it is close to the Mediterranean

Sea, this zone receives 16 to 25 inches of rain per year; the northern

sections receive considerably more rain than the southern . Powerful

springs, such as the one at Aphek, provided water, but more commonly

the people of the region used wells to tap the water table, which lies just

below the surface .

The coastal plain can be divided into four subregions . The Plain

of Acco is located in the north, extending from Rosh HaNiqra to

Mount Carmel . From the tip of Mount Carmel, the Coast of Dor runs

south to the Nahal Tanninim . From there the plain widens and the

Sharon Plain extends south to the Nahal Yarkon . And in the south,

the Philistine Plain stretches from the Nahal Yarkon to the Nahal

Besor . In many of these coastal areas elevations rise from sea level in

the west to some 600 feet in the east, before reaching the more pro-

nounced rise in elevation to the central mountain range . The coastal

plain consists mainly of low, rolling hills covered with fertile alluvial

soils . In the northern sections of the plain several low, narrow kurkar

(fossilized dune sandstone) ridges run parallel with the coast close

to the shoreline . In the south, narrow strips of sand dunes are more

prominent .

Because of the absence of major topographical obstacles, the coastal

plain became the most natural route for north – south travel between

Babylonia/Assyria/Syria and Egypt . Even so, travelers had to be careful

to avoid the sand dunes, large rivers such as the Nahal Yarkon, and the

low-lying areas that became swampy during the winter months . They

also had to be sure that their route passed near adequate supplies of

drinking water and that they chose the most appropriate track through

Mount Carmel .


22 | G eograph ica l Sec t ion : The G eogra phy of I s rael a nd Jorda n

One of the most noticeable features of the coastline of Israel is

that it is relatively unbroken by any major promontories that could

provide natural harbors, except in the Mount Carmel – Acco region .

Because it lacked natural harbors, Israel never developed into a sea-

faring nation as did Phoenicia, its neighbor to the north . Acco, slightly

sheltered by a small promontory, was Israel’s major port throughout

antiquity, while Joppa, which had little natural protection, was of less

significance . Eventually some coastal cities also served as harbors,

but only Caesarea ever rivaled the Phoenician cities of Tyre, Sidon,

and Byblos .

In portions of the coastal plain, grain crops f lourished in the win-

ter and spring months while f locks grazed there during the remain-

der of the year . But to the international powers of antiquity, such as

Egypt and Babylonia, the road that passed through the coastal plain

was of prime importance for their commercial and military activi-

ties . For the local inhabitants this was a mixed blessing; in times of

peace they gained income by servicing the caravans, but during times

of war the populace suffered as armies swept through the territory,

consuming their recently harvested crops and taking their wives and

children captive .

The five Major longiTudinal zones Topographical Map

Joppa

Caesarea

Tyre

Acco

Sidon

Hebron

En Gedi

Jerusalem

Arad

Zoar

Dan

ShechemAphek

Medeba

Dibon

Heshbon

Beth Shan

Rabbah(of the Ammonites)

Mt.HermonMt.

Carmel

N. Tanninim

Yarkon R.

Arnon Gorge

Zered R.

Jabbok R.

Yarmuk R.

W. Farah

Jordan River

Dead Sea

Sea ofGali lee


Coastsof Dor

Plain of Acco

RoshHaNiqra

Phil i s t ine Plain

Jezreel Valley

Huleh Basin

Mts . of E

dom

Sharon Plain

Arava(Arabah)

G i l e a d

Phoenicia

G o l a n( B a s h a n )

J u d a h

M o a b

M i s h o r

L o w e rG a l i l e e

U p p e rG a l i l e e

E p h r a i m

M a n a s s e h

CENTRAL

MOUNTAIN RANGE

RIFT

VALLEY

TRANSJORD

ANIAN

MO

UNTAINS

TH

E EASTERN

DESERT

COASTAL PLAINS

Gaza

ToElath/Aqaba

p. 17__The Five Major Longitudinal Zones


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