Shephelah

Shephelah (Hebrew: הָלֵפְשַה) - which means "lowland" - is a designation usually applied to the region of low hills between Israel's central mountain range and the coastal plains of Philistia. The area is fertile, and a tempered climate prevails there. Shephela was one of the regions given to the Tribe of Judah.

In each of the Shephelah valleys, prominent cities developed. Ajalon, the northernmost valley, was guarded by Tel Gezer. The Valley of Sorek and the Valley of Elah were guarded by Timnah, Beth-shemesh and Azekah, respectively. And to the south, the city of Lachish stood over the Lachish Valley. These strategic cities were the location of many battles.

The term "Shephelah" (denotes the north-south geographical depression of modern Israel consisting of "low hills between the mountains of Judea and the Coastal Plain." Three features distinguish the Shephelah from the hill country: (1) a difference in elevation ranging from four hundred to five hundred meters; (2) the Shephelah is a geographical synclinal depression while the mountains are an Anticline; and, (3) the Shephelah is composed of Senonian and Eocene chalks while the mountains are primarily Cenomanian and Turonian limestones.

The borders of the Shephelah are described in the Bible in the Book of Joshua 15 and 2 Chronicles 28:18; abutting the coastal plain in the west, the Negev on the south (north of Tell Halif), the "great fosse" on the east, and the Valley of Aijalon on the north. A series of east-west wadis cut the Shephelah into distinct districts. From north to south the wadis are: the Valley of Aijalon, the Sorek Valley, the Valley of Elah, the Guvrin Valley (Zephatha), the Valley of Lachish, and the Valley of Adorayim (Wadi el-Hesi). Towns situated at the entrance to these valleys and along their ascents toward the hill country served both to guard settlements of the interior and to take advantage of trade passing along these east-west corridors. The Aijalon served as the primary access corridor to Jerusalem along the "Ascent of Horon" to the north-south watershed road to Jerusalem. The passage to Jerusalem through the Aijalon was easier for commercial traffic as it did not follow a stream bed but a wider, gradual ascent into the hills. Although the narrow and steep passes through the valley of the Sorek and along the stream bed as it dropped from the hill country afforded the residents of surrounding settlements sufficient advantage to protect themselves from advancing forces, the cities of the Sorek Valley were situated both to take advantage of the fertile agricultural lands in the alluvial plain and to protect the ascent into the hills via the "Way to Beth-shemesh." Commercial traffic travelled from Jaffa along the Sorek past Timnah, on to Beth-shemesh and Rabbah, and into Jerusalem. In the Valley of Elah, Socoh and Azekah guarded access through the valley and to the hill country beyond it. The larger city of Lachish probably controlled the greater district that included the entire Valley of Elah and the smaller cities within the region. Through the Valley of Guvrin passed the road toward Hebron, guarded by Moresheth-gath. The Valley of Lachish also afforded the traveler passage toward Hebron, while the Valley of Adorayim marked the southern extreme of the Shephelah. Surface surveys of archaeological sites in the Shephelah and surrounding areas have identified many locations yielding evidence of habitation during the Late Bronze period. Unfortunately, few of these sites have been excavated extensively in recent years. Many only have been surveyed but not excavated. Some sites were excavated early in the present century, resulting in excavation records that are incomplete and display little of the technical or chronological refinements developed during the past half century of work since the founding of the modern State of Israel.