Italicized paragraphs below were extracted from Christine Elizabeth Hayes’ book Introduction to the Bible (The Open Yale Courses Series) (pp. 187-189). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition. In the book, they are one long paragraph. The layout below is my addition to assist in learning the pieces.
It has often been pointed out that in the past 4,000 years, more wars have been fought for possession of the small strip of land known as Canaan than have been fought for almost any other area in the world. In the ancient world, the reason was that this small rectangle—150 miles long and 70 miles wide, about the size of New Hampshire—lies on the way to anywhere worth going in the ancient Near Eastern world. Egypt is to the southeast, Asia Minor is to the northwest, and Mesopotamia is to the northeast. Three main trade routes cross the country. They were used by trading caravans that carried gold, grain, spices, textiles, and other goods between Egypt and the rest of the Fertile Crescent. Control of these international highways brought wealth to the area.
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Despite its small size, the land that would become biblical Israel boasts great geographical diversity. Three main geographical subdivisions run from north to south.
First, on the west side of the land, a low coastal plain about twenty to thirty miles wide provides the chief highway to Egypt. This area was controlled by Egypt at the purported time of the Exodus.
Second, running next to the coastal plain, also north to south, is a region of low mountains cut by small valleys—known as the central hill country. Some of the valleys that cut through the mountains are extremely fertile, such as the Plain of Megiddo, which joins with the Valley of Jezreel, an east-west strip that is the most fertile part of the country and the site of many bloody battles in Israel’s history.
Finally, next to the central hill country, and also running north to south, is the Great Jordan Rift Valley, which extends the full length of the country. The Jordan River runs through this valley, rising in the Kinneret or Sea of Galilee in the north and flowing south sixty-five miles to the Dead Sea. At the northern extreme of the Rift Valley is the snow-covered Mt. Hermon, the highest point in Israel at 10,000 feet.
The mountains of the central hill country are between 4,000 and 10,000 feet above sea level (Jerusalem is 2,500 feet above sea level), but the rift valley a few miles to the east is dramatically lower.
The Sea of Galilee is 700 feet below sea level, and the Dead Sea is nearly 1,300 feet below sea level, the lowest point on the Earth’s land surface.
In the north, the river is surrounded on both sides by lush vegetation. However, there is no life in and around the Dead Sea, as the water is 25 percent salts and minerals. It is a desolate area, and tradition identifies this region as the site of Sodom and Gomorrah. The area around the Dead Sea is semidesert. Between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea is the wilderness of Judah.
In short, this relatively tiny area contains radically diverse geographical regions, and this fact held important implications for Israel’s history. Unity was difficult. Being somewhat isolated, the inhabitants of each region developed a distinctive economic and cultural character—the small settled farmer, the seminomadic shepherd, the city dweller, merchant, and trader who enjoyed broader cultural contacts.
Citation – Elizabeth Hayes, Christine. Introduction to the Bible (The Open Yale Courses Series) (p. 187-189). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
