An Atheist's Guide to the Bible

Geography of the Bible

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The Bible takes place mostly in a small geographical area near the Eastern Meditteranean coast. A bewildering variety of placenames have been used to describe all or part of it - Israel, Palestine, Canaan, the Levant, the Holy Land, Phoenicia, Syria, Judaea. The key to understanding the way these are used is to consider the history of the region.

It happens now that using a particular geographical term, such as Palestine or Israel, can sometimes be taken to have political connotations. No such implication is intended on this site - I merely wish to provide a guide to the place in which the books of the Bible are mostly set.

The countryside consists of (1) a coastal plain (2) the central hill country, running north-south and divided into sub-regions by deep valleys such as the Jezreel (3) the desert fringe on both sides of the Jordan river.

Map of early Canaan (www.mideastweb.org)

Pre-history

In Bronze Age times it is correct to call the area Canaan - the people known as Canaanites lived in various cities throughout the country, mainly in the plains and valleys. Pastoralists (that is, people who raise animals rather than farming) lived a more or less nomadic lifestyle among the hills, and on the edges of the settled areas and the desert.

The Levant corridor, joining Egypt to Asia, has always been a vital strategic area and the meeting place of empires. It has been fought over repeatedly, from at least the battle of Megiddo in 1480 BCE, when the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III established control over the region. Through the time of the crusades and on to the wars in the twentieth century it continues to be one of the world's flashpoints.

Old Testament times - the divided kingdom

By the time the Old Testament was written down, starting around 700 BCE, the region was divided among a number of political entities. The Bible centres mainly on two of these - the northern kingdom (Israel), and the southern kingdom (Judah).

To the north of both was the strong kingdom of Aram, based on Damascus, and on the other side of the Jordan were the kingdoms of Moab, Edom and Ammon. All of these small states struggled for power with each other, until the coming of the Assyrians overthrew the regional power balance.

Archaological evidence shows that the economy at this time was relatively well-developed. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah were major exporters of products suited to the local climate, such as olive oil, and possibly carried on other specialist activities such as horse-breeding. The Assyrian imperial system and encouragement of trade made it possible for these products to find markets in far-off places.

Map of Israel/Judah, and of Roman Palestine

New Testament times - Roman Palestine

The background of the New Testament is the Roman world, predominantly its Greek-speaking eastern half. The Roman province of Syria was overseen by a legate in Antioch, and it included territories such as Judaea, Galilee, Samaria and the Decapolis.

These territories had all been part of the Hasmonaean kingdom at its greatest extent, a kingdom to which Herod the Great and his family were finally the heirs. The Romans at some times allowed local rule through kings from this royal family, and at other times imposed direct rule.

For the Gospel stories the most important areas are: Galilee in the north of the country, where Jesus was born and lived most of his life; and Judaea, centred on Jerusalem, where the final stages of his career are set and where he met his death. Other areas he is described as travelling to include: Samaria, between Judaea and Galilee, a hostile country because of religious differences going back centuries; the Decapolis, a coalition of ten Greek city states south of Lake Galilee; and Caesaraea on the coast, the Roman capital of Judaea.

For the other books of the New Testament, Acts and the Letters, the context is wider than the region considered so far. The new Christian religion was spread by missionaries in all directions, starting with the Greek cities of not only the Levant area, such as Antioch, but further afield into Asia Minor (modern Turkey), Egypt and Greece.

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