Page 63 - Bible Geography and Near East Studies - Textbook w videos short
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destroyed by the Amalekites. It was here he was
crowned king of Judah and the city became his first
capital. It is located in a valley whose sides are
clothed with vineyards, groves of olives, and other
fruit trees.
Tekoa
Tekoa is about 12 miles south of Jerusalem and is
visible from the city. From this place Joab procured a
wise woman, “who pretended to be in great
affliction, and skillfully made her case known to
David. Her address to the king was in the form of an
apologue, similar to that of Nathan (2. Sam 12:1-6). The Anatomy of a Tel
The object of Joab was, by the intervention of this Archaeologists speak of “tels,” as in “Tel Lachish,” which is pictured in
woman, to induce David to bring back Absalom to the top photo here. A tel is an artificial hill, and at the same time, a
city. In ancient cultures, people built their fortified towns on top of
Jerusalem (2. Sam. 14:2). This was also the birthplace natural hills. When an enemy conquered that town, they would build a
of the prophet Amos (Amos 1:1). new town on top of the old ruins. Today, if you want to discover the
past, you’ll have to dig down through layers of civilizations, finding
Azekah clues about each town that once stood on the hill. When a winter
storm damaged a beach-front piece of earth at Caesarea in 2012, it
It was the main border city of Judah. In the Bible it is was easy to see multiple layers of that city’s life. Each layer had much
one of the places where the Amorite kings were broken pottery and pieces of tile.
defeated by Joshua, and one of the places their army
was destroyed by a hailstorm (Josh 10:10-11). It was given to the tribe of Judah. In the time of Saul, the
Philistines massed their forces close to here, putting forth Goliath as their champion in the Valley of
Elah. Rehoboam fortified this city along with Lachish and other strategic sites (2 Chr. 11:5-10). Both
these towns fells to the Babylonians before the overthrow of Jerusalem.
A view of the Mount of Olives from inside Jerusalem’s Old City. Bethany and
the Judean Wilderness are just over the hill.
Bethlehem has many churches in the midst of a predominately
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Muslim population.
