Schefela

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Schefela hill country

The Schefela or Schephela ( Hebrew השפלה, transkrib. ha-Sch ə phelah, avs. the lowland ; or more preciselyשפלת יהודה, transkrib. Schphelat J ə hudah, ÜBS. Low Judea ) refers to the hill country that lies between the Judean mountains and the Mediterranean coastal plain. What is meant is the coastal plain, which was the home of the Philistines . The Hebrew word denotes a lower area (from a Jerusalem perspective) or a lowland or hilly central plateau.

The Schefela is about 43 km long and about 16 km wide and hilly. The highest point is about 350 m high. The hard limestone soil makes them unusable for systematic, agricultural cultivation. At the time of the Holy Scriptures it was overgrown with bushes or sycamore trees ( 2 Chr 1,15  LUT ). However, on the parts that consisted of alluvial land , agricultural cultivation (wine, grain) was possible ( 2 Chr 26,10  LUT ). The valley of Ajalon is known from the biblical reports ( Jos 10,12  LUT ).

The Schefela was the site of armed conflict between the Israelites and the Philistines . Places in the Schefela are z. B. Ajalon, Aseka , Bat Jam , Cholon , Gibeon , Jarmut, Javne , Kefira, Kirjat-Jearim , Lachish , Libna, Nes Ziona , Netzer Sereni , Rishon LeZion and Rechovot . The German Schlachter Bible writes Schephela directly in 19 places.

Web links

Commons : Schefela  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. The Hebrew name for the Swiss plateau isהשפלה השווייצרית(transcript. ha-Sch ə phelah ha-Schwajzarit, usually the Swiss lowland ).