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Georgraphy
The Geography of the two Ancient Kingdoms
the Coastal Plain the Central Highlands/Central Hill Country the Jordan Rift/Great Rift Valley the
Transjordanian Highlands/Transjordan the Jordan River the Sea of Galilee the Dead Sea the Mediterranean Sea http
://www.greek-language.com/bible/palmer/04geohist.html
You may also want to note the
Negev
("dry land") to the south of the Central Highlands.
Moving eastward from the Mediterranean Sea, you would come ashore on the
Coastal Plain
. Moving farther East the ground begins to rise into a mountainous region called the
Central Highlands
or the
Central Hill Country
. Still further East the land drops sharply into the
Jordan Rift
, a deep valley at the bottom of which runs the
Jordan River
. The
Sea of Galilee
is near the northern end of this valley, and the
Dead Sea
is at the southern end. Continuing eastward, the land rises on the eastern side of the Jordan into a region called the
Transjordanian Highlands
. This region is sometimes called simply
Transjordan
, meaning "across the Jordan (River)." The regions of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Gilead, and Bashan (not labelled on the map here) are all located in the Transjordanian Highlands.
B.
Cities to Locate
You should be able to identify the following cities on a map:
Ur
(Southern Mesopotamia; see map below.)
Haran
(As far north as possible in the fertile crescent; see map below)
Hazor
(See the map to the right. Hazor lies to the north of the Sea of Galilee, but south of Lake Huleh.)
Qumran
(the place near which the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Qumran was located on the north-west shore of the Dead Sea,
almost
directly east from Jerusalem and south from Jericho.)
Shechem
(See the map to the right. Shechem was located near the
later
site of Samaria Sebaste.)
Samaria
(The
city
of Samaria, not the region known by that name, is shown on the map to the right. Samaria lay near Shechem, but slightly to the west-northwest. Both cities were located in the
region
later called Samaria.)
Jerusalem
(in
Judah
; See the map to the right.)
You should also have a rough idea of the routes of
two important highways
: the
Via Maris
(way of the sea) and the
King's Highway
(North/South through the Transjordan). These highways are not pictured on the maps presented here. The
Via Maris
ran from Egypt in the South to Damascus in the far North. For most of this distance it followed the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. As one traveled north the highway moved inland passing through Hazor, then turned East to cross the Jordan River and continue northeast to Damascus. The
Kings Highway
ran north and south through the Transjordan.
http://www.greek-language.com/bible/palmer/04geohist.html
The Ancient Kingdoms of Israel and Judah
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