HANAN ISACHAR/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
The lush Elah Valley is one of the best-known and archaeologically rich valleys of the Shephelah, the region of low foot-hills that separates Israel’s southern coastal plain from the Judean hill country. Named after the terebinth tree, the Elah is an exceptionally fertile region that was part of the breadbasket of ancient Judah. Along the valley’s edges are several important archaeological sites, including Azekah, Khirbet Qeiyafa (its Iron Age walls shown here standing guard over the valley), Tel Socoh, and Tel Adullam. Even today, this region has many small towns, farms, and vineyards nourished by the valley’s rich soil.
The nearly 4-mile-long valley, which extends in a broad arc from east to west, was an important corridor and border-land in antiquity. Serving as the backdrop to the story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17), the valley forms a natural border between the territories of Philistia and Judah, separating the cities of the coastal plain from those of the hill country, including Jerusalem and Hebron. According to the Bible, the Elah Valley was where the Philistine and Israelite armies made camp, and it was from the valley’s streambeds that David took his sling stones to slay the Philistine giant.
The lush Elah Valley is one of the best-known and archaeologically rich valleys of the Shephelah, the region of low foot-hills that separates Israel’s southern coastal plain from the Judean hill country. Named after the terebinth tree, the Elah is an exceptionally fertile region that was part of the breadbasket of ancient Judah. Along the valley’s edges are several important archaeological sites, including Azekah, Khirbet Qeiyafa (its Iron Age walls shown here standing guard over the valley), Tel Socoh, and Tel Adullam. Even today, this region has many small towns, farms, and vineyards nourished by the valley’s rich soil. The […]
