Structures of the Land
Most of the Bible story takes place in a very small area at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, in the narrow coastlands that lie between the sea and the vast Arabian deserts. The two worlds of the sea and the desert are seperated by the 'Fertile Crescent'. This is the name given to a belt of well-watered lands extending from Egypt in the south (with its civilization based on the flow of the River Nile), through an area of natural rainfall on the east Mediterranean coast, to the fertile irrigated lands of Mesopotamia with their great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates.
 The crescent forms an attractive feature of the Middle East. It has always appealed to desert peoples from the south and mountain peoples from the north. This is why it has been invaded, or overrun, or changed hands, so many times during its history. The Jewish people themselves never took to the sea - they left that to the Phoenicians. But certainly the desert is never far away in the Bible story. And in the south of Israel it reaches westwards almost to the coast.
A Hill Country
Geology
The Rift
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| A real history needs a real setting. The land and the people were real, and so, says the Bible, the coming of God to that paticular place was real, too. MORE ... |
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| The Bible is a collection of ancient books. The cultures in which those books were written have perished long ago. Much is being found again. MORE . . . |
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| How did these various books come to be written? Who wrote them? When? And how did they come together to make the book we now know as the Bible? MORE . . |
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The Bible may be an ancient book but it is part of an unfinished story. The story begins, continues - and will end - with God's love. MORE . . .
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| From earliest times, men and women have felt the need to worship, or pay respect to, someone or something greater than themselves. For the Israelites and their neighbors religion was an essential part of life.MORE . . . |
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| It is hard enough to imagine life fifty years ago. How much more difficult, then, to get a true picture of home and family life in Bible times.MORE . . . |
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| The story of ancient Israel, the major theme of the Old Testament begins with the Patriarchs and covers a people of promise but of disobedience as well. Great powers arose surrounding this tiny stretch of land...MORE . . . |
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