Galilēa
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Galilee (on Hebrēisce hagalil הגליל, Arabisce al-jaleel الجليل), mǣnþ ymblyt, is a large area located in what is currently northern Israel (Tzafon), traditionally divided into three parts:
- Upper Galilee,
- Lower Galilee and
- Western Galilee.
| Þis gewrit hæfþ wordcwide on Nīwum Englisce. |
Innungbred |
[ādihtan] Geography
Galilee embraces more than one-third of present-day Israel, extending "from Dan on the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, to the ridges of Carmel and Gilboa on the south, and from the Jordan valley on the east away across the splendid plains of Jezreel and Akko to the shores of the Mediterranean on the west."
Se Westerna Galilēa, ēac gehāten the "Northern Coastal Plain" starys from north of Haifa up to Rosh Hanikra in the border between Israel and Lebanon.
The Lower Galilee strays from Mount Carmel and Gilboa ridge in the south to the Beit HaKerem Valley in the north. Its eastern border is the Jordan River.
The Upper Galilee strays from Beit HaKerem Valley in the south to the Lebanese border in the north. Its eastern border is the Sea of Galilee and the mountains of the Golan Heights. The "Finger of the Galilee" (Etzba ha-Galil) is a region of the upper Galilee and contains the setlements Metula and Qiriyat Shemona and the rivers of Dan and Banias.
Most of the Galilee consists of mountainous terrain, at hights of about 500-700 meters. There are serveral high mountain such as Mount Tavor and Mount Meiron. The relatively low tempartures and the large amounts of rain puring every year made the Galilee a center of blossom and wildlife. The streams and waterfalls (mainly in the upper Galilee), along with vast fields of green and colorful flowers made it a popular tourist attraction in Israel.
Sēo ēac: Golan Heights, Sea of Galilee (Yam Kinneret), Mount Hermon.
[ādihtan] Stǣr
Solomon rewarded Hiram for certain services rendered him by the gift of an upland plain among the mountains of Naphtali. Hiram was dissatisfied with the gift, and called it "the land of Cabul". The Jews called it Galil. During the Hasmonaean period, in the midst of the decline of the Seleucid Empire, the region was taken over by the Jews.
In Roman times, the province of Palestine was divided into three regions, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, which comprised the whole northern section of the country, and was the largest of the three.
It was the scene of some of the most memorable events of Jewish history. Galilee also was the home of Jesus during at least thirty years of his life. The first three Gospels of the New Testament are chiefly taken up with Jesus' public ministry in this province.
During the Crusades, Galilee was organized into the Principality of Galilee, one of the most important Crusader seigneuries.
During the 20th century, the Galilee was inhabited by Haredi Jews ("Ke'ilot Kodesh", mainly in Safed), Zionist settlers, Arabs, Druzes and other minorities such Circassians.
After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war the entire Galilee was in Israel's control. The Kibbutzim around the Sea of Galilee were often by shelled by the Syrian army's artillery. The shelling stopped after Israel conquered the Golan Heights in 1967.
During the 1970's and the early 1980's, the settlements of the Upper Galilee were frequently attack by PLO terrorists from Lebanon. In response, Israel initiated Operation Litani (1979) and Operation Peace For Galilee (1982) in order to destroy the PLO terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon and protects the citizens of the Upper Galilee. Up to 1985 Israel occupied most of Southern Lebanon in order to ensure safety for its citizens. On 1985 Israel withdraw to a narrow security "buffer zone" called "Retzuat ha-Bitachon". Up to 2000, this was the most unquiet region in Israel were Israeli Defence Forces battled Hizbullah and Amal (which often shelled Upper Galilee settlements and town with Katyoosha rockets). On 2000 Israeli prime-minister Ehud Barak withdrew entirely from south Lebanon and deployed Israel on the international border, recognized by the UN. Despite this, Hizbullah continued to attack Israel, and the UN did nothing to prevent this.
[ādihtan] Modern Galilēa
Modern Galilee is one of the few areas of Israel to have retained a large Palestinian Arab population after 1948, and has a particularly large number of Druze. Its main cities are Akko (Acre), Nazareth, Safed (Tzfat), Afula, Qiryat Shemona and Tiberias. The city of Haifa, although outside the Galilee is serving as an adminstrational and commercial center for the Galilee.
Because of its mountainous terrain most of the settlements in the Galilee are small villages. The main industries of those villages are agriculture and tourism. Many families have "Zimmer" (sort of hotel room) for hire.
[ādihtan] Sēo ēac
- Sǣ Galilēan (ēac gecnāwen swā Sǣ Tiberias)
[ādihtan] Reference
- Initial text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897. Please update as needed
