Fast facts on the Holy Land

I copied and reworded this material from the Nelson's Compact Study Dictionary for the intention of memorizing the sites of Palestine and their corresponding occurrences recorded in Scripture.
My preparation stoked deeper study and so I thought I would paste the following significant facts with the correlating town,city,mt,region,etc. for those who have the time.

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Mt. Hermon - summit of 9,000 ft, with its glaciers, is a major source for the Jordan River. Most likely, this was the sight of Jesus' transfiguration.

Mt. Carmel - mt. range spanning 13 miles from the Mediterranean sea cost in the Acco lowland plains, with a summit of 1,742 ft. A confrontational account with Elijah and the "prophets of Baal" took place here. Abigail, (one of) David's wife(s) was from here, as well as one of David's "mighty men" - Hezro.

Mt. Tabor (Jebel et-Tur) - 10 mil. sw of the Sea of Gennesaret, summits at 1,350 ft. Barak gathered 10,000 men here & attacked the Canaanite armies of Sisera at Meggido. Gideons brothers were also slain here. This mountain served as a sanctuary for pagan idolatry during the time of Hosea, and also a pagan sanctuary in ancient times (Deut. 33:19)

Mt. Gerezim - When the Jewish people reached the promised land, they were instructed by Moses to climb Mt. Ebal and Ger., Six tribes stood on each mt. Moses pronounced the blessings for keeping the law from Mt. Ger., & cursings for not keeping it from Ebal. (Dt. 11,27) Nicknamed "Jotham's pulpit" (Jdg 9), the characteristics of the mts make it possible to speak from either mt and be heard easily in the valley below.

Damascus - first mentioned in the bible as Abraham's faithful servant - Eliezer's home, Damascus is the oldest continually-inhabited city in the world & capital of Syria (Is.7.8), located NE of the Sea of Gennesaret. Three major caravan routes passed through this trade center, with exports including a patterned cloth called "damask". The apostle Paul's conversion took place 'on the road to Damascus.'

Caesarea Philippi - (Caesar's city of Philip) situated on the SW slope of Mt. Hermon, & at the northernmost extent of Jesus' ministry, in the NT times, known as Paneas, although Philip the tetrarch renamed it to honor the Roman emperor Augustus Caesar. It was near here that Jesus asked His disciples who He was and received the inspired answer from Simon Peter: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Mat 16.16

Capernaum - the center of much of Jesus' ministry, not mentioned in the OT, is thought to have been founded after the Jews returned from captivity. After being rejected in His hometown, Nazareth, Jesus made Capernaum the center of His ministry in Galilee. He performed many miracles here. Here Jesus issued Peter,Andrew,James, & John to be His disciples. Because of its unbelief, Cap., was later cursed.

Bethsaida - (house of fishing) situated 2 mi. N of the Sea of Galilee & E of the Jordan R. is the site where Jesus fed 5,000+ and healed a blind man (Lk9;Mk8). It is debated whether or not there were two Bethsaidas, in contrast with Josephus and Mark's account (6.45,53).

Nazareth - (meaning "watchtower" in Aramaic and netzer in Hebrew meaning Rod) rises 1,200 ft above sea level, was a town of lower Galilee where Jesus spent His boyhood yrs,never mentioned in the OT. It was isolated and had the reputation as an unimportant part of the national and religious life of Israel. Here Jesus wa...s well received in His youth, but rejected once His public ministry began (Mk6;Lk4;Mt 2.23;Is. 11.1)

Nain - a small town in SW Galilee where Jesus raised a widow's son from the dead (Lk7) Nain was about 5 mi. SE of Nazareth on the northern edge of the Plain of Esdraelon.

Caesarea Maritima - (sometimes called Caesarea of Palestine, to distinguish it from Caesarea Philippi) is an important seaport located south of Haifa, built at enormous expense by Herod the Great between 25 & 13 B.C. and named in honor of Caesar Augustus. THe huge stones used in this massive project were 50 ft long, 18ft wide, ...and 9 ft deep. This is where Pilate resided. Cornelius, the first "Christian" was also from here.

Sychar - (also Sychem in various translations) is the city of Samaria mentioned in connection w/ Jesus' visit to Jacob's Well. Many scholars identify Sychar with ancient Shechem (Gen 33:18).

Jericho - known as the "city of the palm trees" & like Damascus, one of the oldest inhabited cities in the wrld. In the 14 century B.C. Joshua brought it down with shouts and ram's horns. Jesus was baptized near here, in the Jrdn River & on the adjacent mountain range He was tempted. Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus and converted Zacchaeus while also using Jericho as the setting for His Good Samaritan parable.

Qumran - sitting atop the NW corner of the Salt Sea, Khirbet Qumran was an Essene community that was active from 130B.C. - A.D.135. The Essenes(sect of Judaism)are credited to have been responsible to writing the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, which were discovered by a goat-herder in 1947.All of the Old Testament books,minus the book of Esther,found in these clay pots,reassured the historicity of the inspired Word of God.

Masada - adjacent 800 ft above the Salt Sea to the SW,was a stronghold built by Herod the Great on a fortified plateau.Jewish Zealots captured this Herodian resort during the revolt against Rome (73 A.D.) and preoccupied it for 2-3 months before the Romans finished building their siege ramp.B4 the Romans broke into the... fortified hideout, 953 Jews committed suicide, while 7 chose not to.

Hebron - (meaning alliance) originally named Kirjath Arba. Abram was living in Mamre, which is the area of Hebron when his nephew Lot was captured. Abram's name was also changed to Abraham here. Angels revealed to Abraham that he would have a son & would be named Isaac. Sarah was buried in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron. David ruled here for the first 7 yrs of his kingly reign before relocating to Jerusalem.

Bethlehem - (meaning house of bread) typically known as the "City of David" was the birthplace of the Bread of Life - Jesus Christ & King David. Bethlehem is the burial place for Rachel, Jacob's wife. This was also the setting for much of the Book of Ruth. It was rebuilt and fortified by King Rehoboam. Micah prophesied that Ephrathah(Judean district of Bethlehem) would be the birthplace of Jesus (Mic 5.2).

Emmaus - a village 7 miles west of Jerusalem is famously known for the account of two strangers traveling along a road headed there after Jesus' resurrection. Jesus 'appeared' to Cleopas and an unamed person whom He later revealed Himself to, 'opening their eyes' of who He was, while later sharing a meal of bread with them.

Jerusalem - city of peace,Salem appears as early as the time of Abraham&had probably been inhabited centuries before.David built a palace in the section of Salem which was earlier the Jebusite stronghold,known as Mt. Zion.The glory of Jerusalem was ravaged multiple times in 931, 586 B.C.,&A.D. 70.Jesus visited when He was 12yrs old, overthrew$changer's tables, &was later marched outside Salem's walls to be crucified.