Published by Maney Publishing (c) Friends of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University THE SHEPHELAH OF ISRAEL Israel Finkelstein 'SHEPHELAH' AS A GEOGRAPHICAL TERM IN THE BIBLE The 'Shephelah' (lowland = i1?nw) as a term defining a specific geographical region appears frequently in the Bible, often in conjunction with the 'hill country' (ii1) and the Negeb, in the traditional tripartite division of Judah. The detailed town lists of the districts of the tribe of Judah in Josh. 15, as well as other biblical passages, such as Josh. 9: I, clearly depict the Shephelah as a region of low hills between the mountains of Judea and the coastal plain. (For detailed discussion of the Shephelah, see Smith 1894:143 ff.; Abel 1933:416-418; Baly 1957:142-147; Morton 1962; Kallai 1967:319-325; Aharoni 1967:298-300; Aharoni and Avi- Yonah 1968:83). The Shephelah differs from the mountains of Judea in three respects: (I) topographical- ly, the difference in elevation between the two regions is 400-500 m.; (2) structurally, the mountains form an anticline while the Shephelah is a synclinal depression; (3) lithological- ly, the mountains are composed principally of hard Cenomanian and Turonian limestone, whereas the Sphephelah consists of more recent soft chalks of the Senonian and Eocene periods. The demarcation line between the two regions is very pronounced: the foot of the steep slope of the mountains. (For the geological structure of the Shephelah and the geomorphological border between it and the mountains, see Nir 1970: I 76, 185-189). The biblical definition of the Shephelah of Judah corresponds well with the geomorphological facts: Adullam and Keilah (Josh. 15:35, 44), for example, two towns described as lying in the 'lowland' (i1?nw) are to be found in the narrow Senonian chalk valley at the foot of the Judean hills. Undoubtedly, the other towns of this valley of less certain identity are also to be sought in the Shephelah and not in the hill country. THE SHEPHELAH OF ISRAEL In two biblical passages, however, the term 'Shephelah' cannot possibly refer to the Shephelah of Judah: I) "When Jabin king of Hazar heard of this, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, and to the kings who were in the northern hill country (i;':1 l,n:m), and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland (i1?nw), and in Naphoth-dor on the west, to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah" (Josh. II: 1-3). 2) "So Joshua took all that land, the hill country (ii1i1) and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland (i1?nw) and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland (m?nw, ?KiW' ii1)" (Josh. 11:16). The first reference is concerned with the battle at the waters of Merom, which was waged in Galilee against the kings of several cities, all situated north of the Jezreel valley: Hazar, Madon (=Merom), Shimron and Achshaph. The geographical areas mentioned - the Arabah south of Chinneroth, Naphoth-dor, Hermon and the land of Miz- 84