BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Exploring the land of the Philistines

What is the biblical Coastal Plain?

The coastline of the Coastal Plain of the Holy Land at the archaeological site of Apollonia Arsuf. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer, BAS.

In the Hebrew Bible, the geographic area of the Coastal Plain is often depicted as the heartland of the Philistines, with their major city-states situated in the plain’s southern reaches. Yet, the Coastal Plain was also home to the Phoenicians in the north and one of the most important trade routes in the entire region, the Way of the Sea.

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Philistines, Phoenicians, and the Coast

Extending along the coastline of the southern Levant, the coastal plain stretches the entire length of the Holy Land, from the Sinai Peninsula to the Rosh HaNikra Cliffs, broken only momentarily by the Carmel Mountain range, near the modern city of Haifa. Nearly 25 miles wide in the south, the plain is squeezed in the north by the Galilee highlands and is only 3 miles wide in its most northern reaches. The Coastal Plain is characterized by fertile and humid conditions. In more recent times, it was famous for its many citrus orchards. Throughout the region today, one can find sandy beaches, rolling grasslands, and even a few forests. The plain is also home to several small rivers, with the largest being the Yarkon (near Tel Aviv) and the Kishon (near Haifa).

The author and his son in Ben Shemen Forest in the Coastal Plain. Courtesy Rozalin Steinmeyer

Throughout history, important cities have thrived on the Coastal Plain, particularly along the coastline. Among these are famous biblical sites such as Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Jaffa (Joppa), Caesarea Maritima, and Akko. Unlike many other regions of the Holy Land, a large percentage of the Coastal Plain’s important historical and archaeological sites remain inhabited even today. A significant reason for this is that many coastal sites were founded around natural harbors, through which international trade has flowed since the beginning of recorded history until modern times. The harbors have also made the Coastal Plain an excellent area for underwater archaeology.

Overlooking the Coastal plain from Tel es-Safi/Gath. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer, BAS.

Historically, the Coastal Plain was also home to the Via Maris (“Way of the Sea”), a crucial trade route that connected Egypt to the Levant, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia. The importance of this route brought both riches and conflict to the cities along the coast, as Egypt and other kingdoms frequently tried to control the route through political or military force.

The remains of Herod’s promontory palace in Caesarea Maritima, possibly the site of the trial of Paul. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer, BAS..

The Coastal Plain can be separated into three distinct regions: the Plain of Philistia in the south, the Sharon Plain in the center, and the Plain of Akko in the north. As the name implies, the Plain of Philistia consists largely of the region inhabited by the major Philistine city-states: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath. As such, nearly all biblical history dealing with the Philistines centers around this region. The Plain of Sharon is mentioned a few times as a general geographic description in the Hebrew Bible, but also gives its name to the enigmatic “Rose of Sharon” in Song of Songs 2:1. The Plain of Akko, otherwise known as the Plain of Zebulan, stretches from the modern city of Haifa to the Rosh HaNikra cliffs, which form a natural border with Lebanon. Unlike the rest of the Coastal Plain, this area fell under the domain of the Phoenician city-states, specifically Akko, which sits halfway along the plain’s coastline.

Fishing in the Bay of Akko. Courtesy Nathan Steinmeyer, BAS.

Related reading in Bible History Daily

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What Is the Shephelah?

What Is the Judean Desert?

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