Topography of Israel

Topography of Israel

The topography of Israel is a description of the land of Israel. Basically the land is divided into four distinct regions. First we have the coastal plain from the Mediterranean which begins from Lebanon to Gaza. It is about 40 km wide (Roth, 2015).  The Yarqon and the Qishon flow across this plain. It is characterized by a humid climate with fertile soils. Next, we have the central highland region. This region is characterized by mountains and hills. Galilee is also situated in this region. In addition to hills it has valleys such as Jezreel Valley. On the eastern side of the central highlands is the Jordan Rift valley. It is presented by the Jordan River as well as Lake Tiberius which is 165 km wide. The Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea which is highly saline. Lastly, we have the Negev desert that is almost 12000 km2 in size. It is an extension of the Sinai desert and occupies more than half the size of Israel (Roth, 2015).

The knowledge of Israel’s topography is important for a student of the Old Testament because it helps them relate to the events that are mentioned in the bible. It helps the event seem more realistic and not just some told tale. It helps the student visualize the movements of the Israelite people for example in exodus we come across the Dead sea where the people of Israel encountered in the desert and found the water too salty. This knowledge therefore helps in verification of the facts.

Characteristics of the Middle Bronze Age, the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age

          The middle Bronze Age was a period around 2000 – 1500B.C. it was characterized by onset of civilization such as pots made by a fast wheel, increased use of bronze for tool making and weaponry, the making of monumental buildings and the development of settlements to real buildings (Cornell, 2012).   

    The late Bronze Age is a period of increased war between states and the merging of powerful states due to the forging of stronger weapons made of bronze. It was around 1570 BC and 1200 BC. In this era certain kingdoms developed such as Egypt and Mesopotamia.

        The Iron Age was characterized by an increase of the use of iron to make tools and weapons. It also had higher political influences as well as agricultural revolution. There was also the development of the alphabet which led to development of written language as well as the creation of curvilinear designs.

Fertile Crescent

       Fertile Crescent is a region in the Middle East that has the shape of a crescent moon. It is significant as it formed as a passageway for Abraham (Shaw, 2000). It is also an important place in Hebrew history as it is seen as where civilization in the areas of agriculture and urbanization arose.

Characteristics of the 18th, 19th, and 20th Egyptian Dynasties @ 1539 BC – 1075 BC.

The 18th dynasty

It has the most famous Pharaohs. There was expansion of external trade by Hatshepsut. Thutmose organized for the expansion of Egypt’s army. The reign of Amenhotep brought on monotheism which involved the worship of Aten (Kemp, 2006). In this time Egypt became the most powerful power in international politics.

19th Dynasty

In this period, Ramses II recovered the territories of Egypt through the battle of Kadesh. This resulted in a peace treaty between the Egyptians and the Hittites (Shaw 2000). This period was characterized by military conquests as well as a troubled court making it difficult for the pharaohs to rule well.

20th Dynasty

This period was characterized by the reign of Ramses the third who was to be the last pharaoh of Egypt. He saw the defeat of the sea peoples who had come to invade Egypt and instead settled them in Canaan which led to formation of new states such as Philistia (Wilson, 2013). There was also war that ensued with the Libyans. Financing the war was quite expensive which led to most of the laborers at this time engaging in a labor strike. In addition, the sun was covered preventing the growth of vegetation for almost two years. There was drought, famine, flooding of the Nile River as well as civil unrest as a result of the three sons who succeeded the throne of Ramses the third thereafter.

  Apiru

The word was used by the Sumerians, Egyptians, Hittites as well as the Mitani to refer to the early Hebrews that were a nomadic group of people that lived near the Fertile Crescent around 1800 to 100 BC (Shaw 2000).

Amenhotep IV's religious reform

Amenhotep changed his name to Akhenaten in respect of the god Aten. His reign was marked with religious reform which saw the abolishment of the other traditional religious rights and institution of monotheism through the worship of Aten (Kemp 2006). The names of the other gods were chiseled off the Egyptian walls and the old practices became outlawed. Aten was represented by a sun disk and unlike other gods in that time he had no engraved image. The transition from polytheism to monotheism made him quite unpopular among the people especially due to the closure of the old temples (Kemp 2006). This onset of monotheism was quite interesting given it occurred earlier than the Bible exits of Isaiah which were calling for the Israelites to worship one God.