The Plain of Esdraelon (Jezreel Valley)

See Also: Megiddo (Armageddon)

Esdraelon: the Greek form of the Hebrew Jezreel -- the name of the great plain which stretches across Central Palestine from the Jordan to the MediterraaneanSea and separates the mountain ranges of Carmel and Samaria from those of Galilee; extending about 14 miles from north to south and 9 miles from east to west. It is drained by that ancient river the Kishon which flows westward to the Mediterranean. From the foot of Mount Tabor it branches out into three valleys; that on the north passing between Tabor and Little Hermon -- that on the south between Mount Gilboa and En-Gannim -- while the central portion - the Valley of Jezreel proper - runs into the Jordan Valley (which is about 1000 feet lower than Esdraelon) by Beth Shan ...

Here (1) Gideon gained his great victory over the Midianites (2) Barak defeated Sisera (3) the army of Saul was defeated by the Philistines (4) King Josiah -- while fighting in disguise against Necho King of Egypt -- was slain. This plain has been well called the battle field of Palestine. It has been a chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in this country from the days of King Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldeans -- in the history of whose wars with Arphaxad it is mentioned as the Great Plain of Esdraelon -- until the disastrous march of Napoleon Bonaparte from Egypt into Syria ...

Jews -- Gentiles -- Saracens -- Crusaders -- Frenchmen -- Egyptians -- Persians -- Druses -- Turks -- Arabs; warriors out of every nation which is under heaven have pitched their tents in the plain and have beheld the various banners of their nations wet with the dews of Tabor and Hermon ...

The History of the Ancient Near East Electronic Compendium