OT Survey - 2 - Geography of the Old Testament

All material based on A Survey of the Old Testament. Andrew E Hill and John H Walton. Additional material used appears in the reference section at the bottom

The Bible is not a portal into an artificial or contrived Narnia-like literary history

— Nor is it a collection of ancient annals

— Nor is intended to be a gazetteer or topographical manual

— Understanding the science of archaeology, and geography expands our knowledge of the biblical narratives of the text

— The OT takes places in the ancient Near East, commonly known today as the Middle East or sometimes Southwest Asia

— The narratives encompass the regions of:

— Mesopotamia in the east

— Asia Minor or Anatolia in the north

— Syro-Palestine and Egypt in the west

— The Arabian peninsula in the south

— The modern day states of Iraq and Iran occupy most of ancient Mesopotamia

— Asia Minor is now known as Turkey

— Saudi Arabia controls most of the Arabian peninsula

— Nearly four-fifths of the OT history takes place in the area of Syro-Palestine on the Mediterranean coast

— This territory now includes the states of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel

The Fertile Crescent

— This area included the Nile rivers valley and delta

— The narrow plains along the Mediterranean coast of Syro-Palestine and the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys

Mesopotamia

— The name means “the land between the rivers”

— The Tigris and Euphrates rivers

— This fertile strip of land extends six hundred miles

— Extends from the mountainous regions in the north to the expansive alluvial plains of the Persian Gulf

— Like Egypt, networks of canals irrigated the flood plain

— Northern Mesopotamia was the homeland of the Hebrew patriarchs who lived in the area of Haran in Paddan-Aram between the Tigris and Euphrates

Asia Minor

— Asia Minor is northwest of the Fertile Crescent

— A very rugged and mountainous area

— Rich soil and Mediterranean climate in the west

— Dry and barren central plateau

— Steep mountains in the east

— The peninsula was also the land bridge joining central Asia (now Turkey) with southeastern Europe

— The area was often subject to military invasion

— During the second millennium BC the central region was home to the Hittites

— The Hittites were a military people

— Hiring out mercenaries

— Exporting military technology

— The Hittites are known for their “Hittite Treaty” which was a series of ancient peace treaties

— Most notable are the Treaty of Kadesh (1259 BC) between Ramesses II of Egypt and Hattusili III of the Hittite Empire

— The Treaty of Kadesh is notable for being one of the earliest known peace treaties in history

— It is particularly significant because it is one of the first examples of a written agreement between two major powers that includes clauses for mutual defense, peace, and alliance

— The treaty was inscribed on tablets in both Egyptian hieroglyphs and the Hittite cuneiform script, with both sides swearing oaths of loyalty and promising not to aid each other's enemies

— The treaty from was similar to that used by the Hebrews for structuring the writing of the covenant in both Exodus (19-24) and Deuteronomy

Syro-Palestine

—The region of Syro-Palestine constitutes the land bridge between Africa and Asia

— The four-hundred-mile strip of fertile land along the Mediterranean was bound on the west by the Mediterranean Sea and in the east by the Arabian desert

— The coast of this region has many natural harbors

— Extensive maritime commerce centered in the region

— This was the home of the Phoenicians and their key ports of Tyre, Sidon and Byblos

— The Phoenicians occupied the northern coast of Palestine for nearly two millennia (cf. Ezek 27)

— Both David and Solomon were allied to the Phoenicians

— Resulted in a Phoenician designed and constructed temple in Jerusalem and the Red Sea port at Elath (1 ki 7:13-22; 9:26-28)

— During the time of the divided kingdom, King Ahab married the Phoenician princess Jezebel

— This resulted in the importation of Ball Melqart worship (1 Ki 16:29-34)

— The land of Palestine, or Canaan, was the land of the covenant promise for the Hebrews

— However, the presence of the Philistines on the coast meant that Israel would not possess the land without conflict

— The incomplete conquest of Canaan under Joshua left the Hebrews prey to the seductive influence of Canaanite Baalism and its idolatry and immorality (Deut 7:1-5; Jos 13:1-7; Judg 2:11-15)

— The worship of the Canaanite god Baal often involved sexual rituals

— These rituals sometimes included sacred prostitution or sexual rites that were believed to invoke the fertility of the earth and the divine favor of Baal

— The idea was that the sexual acts, often carried out by temple prostitutes or the worshippers themselves, symbolized the union between the god Baal and the earth goddess Asherah or Anat, which was thought to bring fertility to the land

Egypt

—Egypt lay immediately to the southwest of Palestine

— It has been known since ancient times as “the gift of the Nile”

— The Nile River was considered a god by the Egyptians

— The river was hemmed in by limestone cliffs on the east and desert on the west

— The strip of arable land in the river basin measured 25 miles to nearly 150 miles in width at the delta

— Egypt receives up to eight inches of rain per year but most parts get only 1 inch (Los Angeles has an annual rainfall of fifteen inches)

— Therefore, agriculture was based totally on irrigation of the rich alluvial soil as a result of annual flooding

The Old Kingdom (ca 3100 - 2100 BC)

— Upper and lower Egypt is united under the pharaoh

— Building of the great pyramid

Middle Kingdom (2133-1786 BC)

— Abraham’s sojourn in Egypt (Gen 12:10-20)

— The migration of Jacob and his family to Egypt (Gen 45:16-47:12)

— Perhaps the oppression of the Hebrews as slaves (Ex 1:1-14)

The New Kingdom (1570-1085 BC)

— Moses deliverance of the Hebrews and exodus from Egyptian captivity (Ex 3:13)

— By the end of Late Bronze Age (ca 1200 BC) Egypt gained control of Palestine under Rameses II, thanks in part to a treaty with the Hittites

— Egyptian intervention in Palestine continued with Sheshonk I, who harbored Jeroboam as a political fugitive from Israel (1 Ki 11:40)

— Later he invaded Judah during the reign of Rehoboam (1 Ki 14:25-26)

— Thereafter Egypt remained an important ally of both the Hebrew divided kingdoms against the Mesopotamian imperial powers of Assyria and Babylonia

— Later Hebrew history witnesses considerable contact with Egyptians as well

— King Solomon married a daughter of the pharaoh as part of a political alliance (1 ki 3:1-2)

The Arabian Peninsula

— The Arabian Peninsula is a massive, raised plateau

— The land is essentially desert, sand dunes and lava fields surrounded by somewhat fertile coastal fringes

— The extensive desert formed a major boundary between the river valley of Mesopotamia and Egypt

— For this reason, travel from east to west was difficult

— Travel was from north to south along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to Haran and Damascus

— The Transjordan region was home to several nation-states and semi-nomadic tribes

— Moabites and Ammonites

— The Moabites and Ammonites traced their lineage back to Abraham’s nephew Lot and his incestuous relationship with hid two daughters (Gen 19:30-38)

— The nations of Moab and Ammon denied the Hebrews passage on their way from Egypt to Canaan (Deut 2:9-37)

— For this reason no Ammonite or Moabite was permitted to enter the assembly of the Lord (Deut 23:3)

— Both nations were enemies to Israel during the days of the judges right through the united and divided kingdoms

— According to 2 Kings 24 and Jeremiah 37, Moab and Ammon aided the Babylonians in the sack of Jerusalem

— Even more troublesome for the Hebrews were the gods of Ammon (Milcom or Molech, 1 Ki 11:7; 2 Ki 23:10; Amos 5:23) and Moab (Chemosh, 1 Ki 11:7, 33)

— Perhaps the Moabite best known to us is the widow Ruth, who pledged allegiance to Yahweh (Ruth 1:16) and eventually found herself in the genealogy of King David (Ruth 4:13-22)

— Edomites

— The Edomites lived to the south of Moab from the River Zered to the Gulf of Arabia

— Their lineage may be traced to Jacob’s older twin, Esau (Gen 25:19-26)

— They were a rival nation to the Hebrews

— The prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Obadiah) pronounced oracles of doom against Edom

— “A people always under the wrath of the Lord” (Mal 1:2-4)

— Amalekites and Midianites

— The Amalekites were descendants of Esau (Gen 36:12, 16)

— They also fought with Israel en route from Egypt to Canaan (Exod 17:8-16)

— They also were part of a coalition of foreign oppressors of Israel during the time of the Judges (Judg 6:3; 7:12)

— Numbers 24:20 and Deuteronomy 25:17-19 predict the utter destruction of the Amalekites for their unprovoked assault against Israel during the exodus

— The Midianites were descendants of Abraham

— They lived in the region of northern Arabia (Gen 25:1-2, 18)

— In Habakkuk 3:7 the Cushites and Midianites seems to be equated, so these tribes must overlap in some way

— Joseph was sold to the Egyptians by Midianite traders (Gen 37:25-36)

— Moses married into the Midianite clan of Jethro while exiled in Sinai (Ex 2:15-22)

— During Judges the Midianites were among the foreign peoples oppressing the Hebrews (Judg 6:2; 7:2)

The Land of Palestine

— The name comes from the Philistines who settled along the Mediterranean cost from Joppa to Gaza about (1300-1200 BC)

— Prior to the Philistine migrations the region was known as Canaan

— Palestine is often referred to as the geographical and theological center of the ancient world

— Important trade routes for Africa, Asia and Europe passed through it

— In this general area Judaism, Christianity and Islam all had their beginnings

— The land area measures 150 miles from Dan to Beersheba (north-south) and 100 miles from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River (east-west)

— It is about the size of New Jersey

— The land can easily be divided into four regions

— The Coastal Plain

— The Central Hill Country

— The Jordan Rift

— The Transjordan Plateau

The Coastal Plain

— The coastal plain gradually widens to a distance of ten to twelve miles in southern Palestine

— It is a fertile land and receives more than 30 inches or rain annually off the Mediterranean Sea

— Three distinct plains are identified along the coast

— Acre (Acco) extending northward from Mount Carmel (25 miles long and 8 miles wide)

— Sharon between Mount Carmel and the port city of Joppa (fifty miles long and ten miles wide)

— The plain of the Philistines in the extreme south from Joppa to Gaza

— The coastal plain never held primary importance to the Hebrews during the Old Testament

The Central Hill Country

— The region of the central hill country was the most varied geographically and the most important historically in the Old Testament

— The majority of Israelite cities were located here

— The territory comprised the bulk of land controlled by the Hebrews

— The land can be divided into three areas

— Galilee

— Samaria (or Ephraim)

— Judah

The Jordan Rift

— The Jordan River Rift, or Jordan cleft, is a great geological depression that begins in Syria and runs south to the Gulf of Aqabah and the Red Sea

— The Jordan River Valley forms the eastern boundary of Palestine

—The Sea of Galilee is fed by the Jordan River

— The freshwater lake is 650 feet below sea level and is thirteen miles wide and seven miles long

— The Jordan River than flows south from the Sea of Galilee to the great Salt or Dead Sea nearly 1,300 feet below sea level — the lowest point on the face of earth

The Transjordan Plateau

— The Transjordan plateau is an extensive tableland rising 2,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level betwen the Jordan River and the the northernmost reaches of the Arabian desert

— The Transjordan region was the first area settled by the Hebrews as part of the conquest of Palestine after the exodus (Josh 13:24-31)

— Throughout Old Testament history this was often the site of military conflicts with the Arameans, Assyrians, Moabites and Ammonites

Trade Routes

— Palestine’s location as a corridor for commerce between three continents had great significance for the Israelites

— There were two major international highways linking Mesopotamia and Egypt via Palestine

— Both were very ancient routes going back to the Early Bronze Age (3000-2100 BC)

— One was known as “the way of the sea” and the other was known as “the way of the kings”

— The crucial location of Palestine had implications for the Israelites socially, economically and religiously

— Trade and commerce fostered the development of a merchant class

— Soon the rich were able to gain control of the institutions of society and oppress the poor

— Merchandising encouraged crass materialism

— Naturally, the emphasis on trade and commerce led to Sabbath violations

— All this gave rise to pride, arrogance, self-sufficiency, and a false sense of security

— Yahweh seemed irrelevant

Theological Significance of the Land

— This real estate was a major component in God’s initial covenant promise to Abraham (Gen 12:1-3)

— It was the goal/destination of the Pentateuchal narratives

— The exodus was the divine deliverance for the purpose of bringing the Israelites into “a good and spacious land…flowing with milk and honey” (Ex 3:8)

— The Hebrews waged a “holy war” against the Canaanites who occupied the land

— The Canaanites had defiled the land

— By purging the land the Hebrews cleansed themselves (Lev 18:24-30)

— Trespasses by Israel defiled the land and jeopardized their claim to posses it (Deut 28:15-68)

— Practicing the “abominations” of the Canaanites would eventually result in the forfeiture of the land

— The land would “vomit” them out as it had the Canaanites (Lev 18:24-25)

— Sadly, all this came to pass as a result of the policies and practices instituted by King Manasseh (2 Ki 21:10-15; 24:3)

References