Benjamin Field Study

The hills in the Land of Benjamin go up steeply and drop sharply making any plateau a special place. The Cenomanian cliffs and scarps of this area meet the Senonian hills and valleys. The tribe of Benjamin was given a land including an oasis called Jericho, a wilderness, a hill country, and one of the most important places in the middle east: the Central Benjamin Plateau.

Jericho is a textbook example of an oasis. Surrounded by a barren wilderness, Jericho has multiple springs, which bring life to the scenery. The barren wasteland of the rift valley sprouts trees at Jericho and life has clearly thrived around its water sources and habitable land. This area shows a structure that some believe to be the oldest on the globe. It is also one of the most puzzling places for scholars who seek to mesh Biblical accounts with archaeological evidence. For some, the city cannot be Biblical Jericho because of the discrepancy between the timing of habitation and the timing of Joshua’s conquest. For others, archaeology is misunderstood or some other variable has cause a lack of human understanding. Whatever the case, this place has clearly supported thriving civilizations for many years.

The wilderness surrounding Jericho is truly a wasteland. Sprigs of grass show up where nomadic shepherding is still the only viable lifestyle. Rough terrain makes travel difficult from here through the hill country. However in this land another obstacle exists: the lack of water. The small amount of rainfall that does shower the land runs off or through the Senonian and Eocene chalk.

The hill country of Benjamin holds a number of settlements and civilizations. It has enough rainfall and Cenomanian ground for bits of agriculture, and water to support habitation. Smaller ridges drop into the wadis, which run east to the Dead Sea and West to the Mediterranean. The attention of Christians is drawn to a specific city in this area: Jerusalem.

Through ancient times the strength of Jerusalem has been very dependent on another key region in Benjamin and the middle east. The Central Benjamin Plateau is the setting for the majority of the Biblical narratives. Here the hills flatten out a bit into a Plateau that is not only agriculturally productive, but also key to travel through the land. Travelers from the East almost indefinitely travel between the Makkuk and Qilt Valleys through the plain and the traffic from the West meets here following the Beth-horon and Kiriath-jearim ridge routes. The Central Benjamin Plateau is key to Jerusalem because of its location within the surrounding topography. The hill country surrounds Jerusalem with rugged valleys to the East, South, and North. The easy access from Jerusalem is along the watershed ridge to the Central Benjamin Plateau. Anyone who controls the plateau essentially controls Jerusalem’s access to the world. Such a control over important trade routes makes the Central Benjamin Plateau the gem of Israel.

Along the center of present day Israel is four different types of land. Oasis, wilderness, and hill country all converge on a Plateau that is the center of the center of the world: The Central Benjamin Plateau.