Prepare Ye the Way

Individuals

• Anatolia (an-a-TOLE-ee-a) - the peninsula which is now most of the modern state of Turkey. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Arabah (AIR-a-bah) - the long arid depression running south from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqabah. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Arabian Desert - extremely arid desert comprising most of the Arabian peninsula but containing oases around which nomadic life centered. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Black Sea - see Bible Lands map 1.
• Canaan (kane-an) - general term used to describe pre-Israelite western Holy Land area from the borders of Egypt to the mouth of the Orontes River. See Holy LandHoly Land map 1.
• Caucasus Mountains- (KAW-ka-sus) - mountain range between the Black and Caspian Seas which blocked for centuries the expansion of the Indo-Europeans into the Bible Lands. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Central Highlands - low mountains of the Holy Land to the west of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. See Holy Land map 1.
• Crete (kreet) - Mediterranean island south of Greece. It became the center of the Minoan civilization. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Cyprus (SYE-prus) - See Bible Lands map 1.
• Dead Sea - salt lake in the southwest Holy Land. See Holy Land map 1.
• Euphrates River (you-FRATE-ees) - river toward the west of Mesopotamia. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Fertile Crescent - general term including the lands of the early agriculture of Mesopotamia and the Holy Land. (Sometimes extended to include Egypt)
• Galilee (GAL-a-lee) - hilly area west of the Sea of Galilee. See Holy Land map 1.
• Goshen (GO-shen) - lands in northeast Egypt where Israelitess were settled from around 1730 BC until the Exodus of the thirteenth century BC.
• Holy Land - general term describing the area claimed by the Israelites after 1200 BC in which most of the events described in the Old Testament occurred. It extends from the borders of Egypt on the south to Mount Hermon in the north and includes most of the land between, from the sea coast to the desert. See Holy Land map 1 and the tribal boundaries on Holy Land map 1200 BC.
• Ionia (eye-OWN-ee-a) - the west seacoast of Anatolia and its adjacent islands claimed by Achaean Greeks after 1300 BC.
• Jordan River - river rising near Mount Hermon at the north of the Holy Land and flowing south by way of the Sea of Galilee into the Dead Sea. Often a border for contending groups of people. See Holy Land map 1.
• Kings' Highway - ancient north-south trade route on the east side of the Holy Land. See Holy Land map 2000 BC.
• Lake Van - lake in the highlands northeast of Mesopotamia. Cener of the north Hurrian kingdom of Urartu. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Lebanon (LEB-a-non) - a general term describing the coastal area north of Mount Carmel, south of Ugarit, and east into the Lebanon Mountains; approximately the area of the ancient nation of Phoenecia and the modern state of Lebanon. See Holy Land map 1 and 1100 BC.
• Lebanon Mountains - a range of mountains to the north of the Holy Land which confined the influence of the Phoenecian cities to the sea coast and the sea. See Holy Land map 1.
• Mediterranean Sea - See Bible Lands map 1.
• Mesopotamia (mess-o-poh-TAME-ee-a) - land between and beyond the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; cradle of Sumer, the world's first civilization. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Midian (MID-ee-an) - area of the northwest Arabian desert inhabited by nomadic Semitic tribes. See Bible Lands map 1300 BC.
• Mount Ararat (AIR-a-rat) - the high point of the Armenian Mountains of Ararat, which are north of Mesopotamia. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Mount Carmel (KAR-mel) - rugged block of mountains which cut off the fertile sea coast plain of Palestine from the seacoast of Phoenecia. See Holy Land map 1.
• Mount Hermon - a mountain to the northeastt fo the Holy Land at the source of the Jordan River. See Holy Land map 1.
• Mount Sinai (SINE eye) - mountain in the southern Sinai Peninsula, believed to be the place where Moses received the 10 Commandments. See Bible Lands map 1300 BC.
• Nile River - river along which Egyptian civilization developed. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Palestine (PAL-es-tyne) - general term referring to the Holy Land west of the Jordan River and south of Phoenecia after about 1100 BC.
• Persian Desert - flattish lands east of the Zagros Mountains shading from grasslands in the north to arid desert in the south. Home of the nomadic Iranian tribes after about 1200 BC. See Bible Lands map.
• Promised Land - general term for Palestine and the Holy Land. The land promised by God to Abraham.
• Red Sea - See Bible Lands map 1.
• Saharah Desert - extremely arid desert of north Africa. Boundary of the Egyptian empire on the west. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Sea of Galilee (GAL-a-lee) - a large lake in the west central Holy Land. See Holy Land map 1.
• Sinai Peninsula (SINE-eye) - arid land wedged between northwest Arabia and northeast Egypt. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Steppes (steps) - flat grasslands of southeast Europe and adjoining Asia. Home of nomadic peoples who developed the chariot and later horse-nomadry. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Taurus Mountains (TAW-rus) - mountain range of southern Anatolia which isolaed the Anatolian civilizations from the rest of the Bible Lands. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Thera (THEER-a) - a mountain-island north of Crete which exploded before 1400 BC, devastating the civilization of Minoa. See Bible Lands map 1500 BC.
• Tigris River (TYE-gris) - river toward the east of Mesopotamia. See Bible Lands map 1.
• Transjordan - general term describing the habital lands to the east of the Jordan River.
• Zagros Mountains (ZAY-gros) - mountain range to the east of Mesopotamia which was home to many ancient tribes such as the Kassites. It sheltered Mesopotamia from Indo-European invasion until the sixth century BC. See Bible Lands map 1.