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The Shephelah ("lowland"; also ???? ?????, Shephelat Yehuda, "Judean lowland") is a designation usually applied to the region in south-central Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 of 10-15 km of low hills between the central Mount Hebron
Mount Hebron

Mount Hebron is a geographic region and geologic formation in Judea, an area in Israel.and the West Bank The area was in history of Ancient Israel and Judah a center of the Israelite and Hasmonean kingdoms....
 and the coastal plains of Philistia within the area of the Judea
Judea

Judea or Jud?a is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel , an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank ....
, at an altitude of 120-450 metres above sea level. The area is fertile, and a temperate Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate

A Mediterranean climate is one that resembles the climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, which includes over half of the area with this climate type world-wide....
 prevails there. Shephelah was one of the regions allotted to the biblical Tribe of Judah
Tribe of Judah

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Judah was one of the twelve Israelites.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes....
.

Geology
One of the major characteristics of the area are that its hills are formed of marl
Marl

Marl or Marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and aragonite. Marl is originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay and calcium carbonate, formed under...
-covered soft chalk
Chalk

Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. It forms under relatively deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
, as opposed to the Judean Hills which are made of hard chalk and dolomite
Dolomite

Dolomite is the name of a sedimentary carbonate rock and a mineral, both composed of calcium magnesium carbonate calciummagnesium2 found in crystals....
.






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Encyclopedia


The Shephelah ("lowland"; also ???? ?????, Shephelat Yehuda, "Judean lowland") is a designation usually applied to the region in south-central Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
 of 10-15 km of low hills between the central Mount Hebron
Mount Hebron

Mount Hebron is a geographic region and geologic formation in Judea, an area in Israel.and the West Bank The area was in history of Ancient Israel and Judah a center of the Israelite and Hasmonean kingdoms....
 and the coastal plains of Philistia within the area of the Judea
Judea

Judea or Jud?a is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel , an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank ....
, at an altitude of 120-450 metres above sea level. The area is fertile, and a temperate Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean climate

A Mediterranean climate is one that resembles the climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, which includes over half of the area with this climate type world-wide....
 prevails there. Shephelah was one of the regions allotted to the biblical Tribe of Judah
Tribe of Judah

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Judah was one of the twelve Israelites.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes....
.

Geology


One of the major characteristics of the area are that its hills are formed of marl
Marl

Marl or Marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and aragonite. Marl is originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay and calcium carbonate, formed under...
-covered soft chalk
Chalk

Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. It forms under relatively deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
, as opposed to the Judean Hills which are made of hard chalk and dolomite
Dolomite

Dolomite is the name of a sedimentary carbonate rock and a mineral, both composed of calcium magnesium carbonate calciummagnesium2 found in crystals....
. The valleys and lower areas contain soil with a high sand content, as well as large tracts of fertile areas. Seasonal swamp
Swamp

A swamp is a wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land, by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a substantial number of hammock , or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation....
s can develop during the rainy season. The southern part is made up of loess
Loess

Loess is a homogeneous, typically nonstratified, porous, friable,slightly coherent, often calcareous, fine-grained, silty, pale yellow or buff, windblown sediment....
, while north of Ashkelon
Ashkelon

Ashkelon or Ashqelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Bronze Age. In the course of its history, it has been ruled by the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Babylonians, the Phoenicians, the Ancient Romes, the Muslims and the Crusaders....
 consists of clay
Clay

Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired....
.

Ancient settlement


Prominent cities developed in the ancient era in each of the Shephelah valleys, which appear several times in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible

The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written mostly in Biblical Hebrew with some Biblical Aramaic....
. Ajalon
Ajalon

Ajalon - and Aij'alon, place of deer. A town and valley at the lowland of Shephelah, originally assigned to the tribe of Dan, from which, however, they could not drive the Amorites ....
, the northernmost valley, was guarded by Gezer
Gezer

Gezer was a town in ancient History of ancient Israel and Judah. Scholars believe that Gezer is Tel Gezer , a site around midway on the route between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv....
. The Valley of Sorek and the Valley of Elah
Valley of Elah

The Valley of Elah, "the valley of the oak or terebinth" , best known as the place where the Israelites were encamped when David fought Goliath ....
 were guarded by Timnah
Timnah

Biblical Timnah is identified with the modern archeological site of Tel Batash, in the Sorek Valley of Israel, near Kibbutz Tal Shahar.The site was first settled in the Middle Bronze Age by creating an earthen rampart that enclosed the 10 acre / 40 hectare site....
, Beth Shemesh and Azekah
Azekah

File:Tel azeka.JPGAzekah was a biblical town in the Shephelah guarding the upper reaches of the Valley of Elah. It has been identified with Khirbet Qeiyafa, about 26 km northwest of Hebron....
, respectively. And to the south, the city of Lachish
Lachish

Lachish was a town located in the Shephelah, or maritime plain of Philistia . This town was first mentioned in the Amarna letters as Lakisha-Laki?a ....
 stood over the Lachish Valley, and later the ancient city of Maresha
Maresha

Tell Sandahannah or Tel Maresha , also Marissa, is an antiquity site in Israel's Shephelah.The tel was first excavated by the British archaeologists Bliss and McAlister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund....
. These strategic cities were the location of many battles, and were especially active during the Bar Kokhba revolt, when many hollowed out hills were connected to form elaborate bunker systems for the combat with the Romans.

Modern significance


The Shephelah today is a largely rural area with many villages engaging in agriculture. The eastern hills are formed of calcareous
Calcareous

Calcareous refers to a sediment, sedimentary rock, or soil type which is formed from or contains a high proportion of calcium carbonate in the form of calcite or aragonite....
, and are often the site of small settlement.