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Course Descriptions

Semester Course Schedule Long-Term Program Dates Short-Term Program Dates Entrance Requirements Course Descriptions

GEO 6/413 Historical Geography of the Land of the Bible During the Old Testament Period - Credit Hours: 3

Semester normally offered: Spring

Course Description

A study of the historical geography of the land of the Bible as represented in ancient Near Eastern texts (the Bible as well as Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Canaanite sources). Emphasis is placed on the interrelationship of history and geography during the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Course Equivalencies

This course fills equivalencies in the following areas:  

  • Historical Geography
  • Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture 
  • Bible

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, the student should be able to:

  • analyze written sources relating to the Bible from the ancient world in their historical, cultural, social and geographical contexts;
  • describe the major events in each of the major time periods covered (Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, Iron Age I, Iron Age II) and illustrate the political, social and religious consequences of these events for ancient Israel and its neighbors;
  • identify and evaluate the ethnographic dimensions of the biblical record in their geographical, social and spiritual contexts; and 
  • describe the geographical awareness of the authors of written sources from the ancient Near East.

Field Study