Biblical Relevance

The geography, infrastructure, and demographics of ancient Near Eastern cities assist in setting the proper framework for the backdrop to the biblical text. Early Mesopotamia is characterized by its literacy and urbanization. Most artifacts are recovered from ancient cities rather than rural areas; administrative records, especially, originated in the cities (Postgate, Early Mesopotamia, 73).

Deuteronomy 11:10–11 draws a contrast between Canaan and Egypt: “For the land that you are about to enter to occupy is not like the land of Egypt, from which you had come, where you sow your seed and irrigate by foot like a vegetable garden. But the land that you are crossing over to occupy is a land of hills and valleys, watered by rain from the sky” (Deut 11:10–11, NRSV). Cities along the Nile—such as Memphis, Pithom, and Rameses—developed cultures based on irrigation. In contrast, cities in Canaan were reliant on rain for their agriculture.

Understanding the geography and infrastructure of certain cities in the ancient Near East will also lead to a better understanding of the impact of the locations of cities in battles. For example, several battles mentioned in the Bible took place on the Plain of Megiddo—a strategic location for defensive purposes that had a water supply. In the 15th-century bc, the Egyptians fought the Canaanites at Megiddo and claimed victory (Aharoni, The Macmillan Bible Atlas, 31). In 609 bc, the Egyptians, led by Necho II, set out to fight the Babylonians at Carchemish. Necho asked King Josiah for permission to pass through the kingdom of Judah, but Josiah refused. As a result, the battle at Megiddo ended with the death of Josiah (Rainey, Carta’s Bible Handbook and Atlas, 141–42).