The Plain of Esdraelon

Some distance back from the Mediterranean coast, mountain ranges run in a continuous line from Lebanon to Sinai. But there is one important break where there is a fault in the underlying rock has caused a section of mountain to drop to a height of 300 feet or less. This break divides the central highlands from Galilee and the northern mountains. It extends from Haifa Bay, north of Mt. Carmel, to the valley of the Harod, a tributary of the Jordan. The watershed itself is cut through by the Valley of Jezreel.

The central plains form a rough triangle, with each side about 15 miles long. Originally, the floor of the valley was marshy. It was here that Sisera lost his chariots and had to escape on foot - Judges 4:15. But it has been drained and today forms the most fertile agricultural area in the modern state of Israel.

Although the plain was infertile for many centuries before Jewish settlers began to reclaim it in 1911, it has always had great strategic importance. The principal north-south route of the ancient world (which the Romans called Via Maris, 'the way of the sea') cut through it on the way from Egypt to Damascus and Mesoptamia. It was obvious route for trade - or for invasion. This may account for the long list of battles which have been fought in the plain, right up to modern times, in the Israeli War of independence (1948). Megiddo lies at the western edge of the plain so the Hill of Megiddo, or 'Armageddon', became a symbol of the great battle in Revelation 16.

Central highlands
The Plain of Esdraelon
Galilee
The coastal plain
The 'Shephelah' or Piedmont
The Jordan Valley
The land east of the Jordan (Transjordan)

Structures of the Land Climate of the Land Vegetation of the Land Resources of the Land Regions of the Land