50 Fun Facts About Bible Geography

What does the Hebrew name of Bethlehem, Bet Lehem, literally mean?

The Arabic name Bet Lahm means "house of meat", and the city lies about six miles south of Jerusalem.

Which king does the Hebrew Bible identify as having been born in Bethlehem?

The New Testament makes it the birthplace of Jesus as well, and the Church of the Nativity draws Christmas pilgrims.

Which Nazareth basilica contains the grotto where, in Catholic tradition, Gabriel appeared to Mary?

It is considered one of the largest Christian sites of worship in the Middle East.

Which biblical 'city of palm trees' was the first the Israelites captured in the Promised Land?

Archaeologists have found more than 20 successive settlements there going back 11,000 years.

Which chief tax collector, according to Luke, repented after Jesus passed through his city of palm trees?

The road from Jerusalem to his city is also the setting of the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Into which body of water does the Jordan River drain?

The 251-kilometre river flows south through a freshwater lake before ending in the salt lake.

Which two events does the Bible place in the Jordan River?

Jacob also crossed it and its tributary the Jabbok on his way back from Haran.

Which lake, called Kinneret in Hebrew, is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth?

Its surface sits between 209 and 215 metres below sea level.

Which Gospel writer alone calls Kinneret "the Lake of Gennesaret" rather than a sea?

Every other Old and New Testament writer calls it a sea, and it was later renamed for the emperor Tiberius.

What is the oldest and most common biblical Hebrew name for the Dead Sea?

Its shores are the lowest land on Earth, at about 440 metres below sea level.

Roughly how much saltier than the ocean is the Dead Sea?

Its density of 1.24 kg per litre is what makes swimmers float.

On which mountain, known in Arabic as Jabal Musa, is Moses said to have received the Ten Commandments?

The 6th-century Saint Catherine's Monastery sits at its foot on the Sinai Peninsula.

From which mountain in modern Jordan did Moses view the Promised Land before he died?

Deuteronomy says his burial place was unknown; Pope John Paul II planted an olive tree on the summit in 2000.

On which mountain did Elijah challenge 450 prophets of Baal to a contest of fire?

One Arabic name for the range is Jabal Mar Elyas, the Mount of Saint Elias.

According to Acts, from which hill did Jesus ascend to heaven?

Jews have been buried on its slopes since biblical times.

In 2 Samuel, the name Zion first refers to what?

The name later shifted to the Temple Mount and now to the western hill outside the Old City walls.

Which city did Abraham buy the Cave of the Patriarchs in as a burial place for Sarah?

The Bible also names it as the place where David was anointed king of Israel.

Which region of Israel takes its name from Shemer, from whom King Omri bought the hill for his capital?

It corresponds largely to the allotments of Ephraim and the western half of Manasseh.

Which lakeside Galilean town, hometown of Matthew, was a base for Jesus's teaching?

Its Hebrew name Kfar Nahum means "village of comfort" and it appears in all four gospels.

At which Galilean village did Jesus turn water into wine, according to John's Gospel?

John calls it "the first of his signs"; four modern sites compete to be the location.

Which town near Jerusalem is the setting for the raising of Lazarus in John's Gospel?

Its Arabic name, al-Eizariya, means "place of Lazarus".

How far from Jerusalem does Luke place Emmaus, where the risen Jesus walked with two disciples?

That is roughly 10 to 12 kilometres; one of the disciples is named Cleopas.

In which region of Egypt did Pharaoh allow Jacob's family to settle in the time of Joseph?

It is thought to have been in the eastern Nile Delta and was spared the plagues of flies and hail.

Where does Genesis say Noah's Ark came to rest?

Scholars note that Ararat is the Hebrew name for the kingdom of Urartu, so the text may mean the wider region.

Mount Ararat, traditionally linked with the Ark, is the highest peak in which modern country?

It is a dormant volcano with two cones, Greater and Little Ararat.

Genesis names which Sumerian city as the birthplace of Abraham?

The site is at Tell el-Muqayyar in southern Iraq, though some scholars place biblical Ur elsewhere.

Which prophet preached to Nineveh, according to the Hebrew Bible?

A shrine to him stood on Tell Nabi Yunus, one of the two great mounds of the ruined city.

The ruins of Nineveh lie across the Tigris from which modern Iraqi city?

It was the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the largest city in the world until it was sacked in 612 BC.

Genesis 11:9 interprets the name Babel, the Hebrew form of Babylon, to mean what?

The site lies on the lower Euphrates near modern Hillah, about 85 kilometres south of Baghdad.

Which Damascus road, named in Acts 9:11 in Paul's conversion story, was the Roman city's main east-west artery?

The Via Recta ran for more than 1,500 metres and survives as Bab Sharqi street and a covered market.

In which chapter of Genesis is Damascus first mentioned, in the account of the War of the Kings?

Josephus claims the city was founded by Uz, a son of Aram.

According to the New Testament, in which city were followers of Jesus first called Christians?

The city stood at the site of modern Antakya and was called the cradle of Christianity.

Which city, capital of Roman Cilicia, was the birthplace of Paul the Apostle?

It was also where Mark Antony first met Cleopatra.

For how long did Paul live in Ephesus, according to Acts?

After three months in the synagogue he moved his base to the school of Tyrannus.

Which Wonder of the Ancient World stood at Ephesus?

The city was one of the seven churches of Asia addressed in Revelation, and John is said to have died there.

How long did Paul stay in Corinth on his first visit, when he met the tentmakers Priscilla and Aquila?

Gallio, brother of Seneca, was proconsul of Achaia at the time.

Corinth sits on the isthmus joining mainland Greece to which peninsula?

The city lay roughly halfway between Athens and Sparta.

In which Macedonian city is Paul believed to have preached for the first time on European soil?

He arrived with Silas and Timothy on his second missionary journey, around AD 49 or 50.

Acts 17 sets Paul's sermon in Athens at which location?

The speech led to the conversion of Dionysius the Areopagite.

On which island did John receive the vision recorded in Revelation, per tradition?

Visitors can still see the Cave of the Apocalypse where John is said to have received it.

Acts 28 says Paul was shipwrecked on the island of Melite, identified with which modern country?

Saint Publius is said to have become the island's first bishop after the AD 60 shipwreck.

Where did Peter baptise Cornelius the Centurion, the first Christian baptism of Gentiles?

Philip the Deacon lived in the port city and later hosted Paul there.

From which port did Jonah embark for Tarshish, according to the Book of Jonah?

The same port received the cedars of Lebanon for Solomon's Temple.

Biblical passages describe Tarshish chiefly as a source of what?

Solomon's fleets sailed there in partnership with Hiram of Tyre, and "ships of Tarshish" came to mean large trading vessels.

What happened to Lot's wife when the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed?

The Arabic name for the Dead Sea, Sea of Lot, remembers the story.

Which name does the Bible use most often for the Promised Land and its indigenous peoples?

Canaanite is the most frequently used ethnic term in the whole Bible.

The word Armageddon in Revelation 16:16 transliterates the Hebrew name of which ancient city's hill?

The tell sits at the western edge of the Jezreel Valley and was a Canaanite city-state before becoming a royal city of the Kingdom of Israel.

Which city, paired with Dan in a biblical phrase for the whole kingdom, marked Israel's southern limit?

Genesis gives the name two origins, tied to the oath Abraham swore with Abimelech over a well and the seven ewes he set apart as a witness.

On which mountain do the Books of Samuel place King Saul's last battle and death?

After the Philistine victory, David's lament cursed the mountain so that neither dew nor rain would fall on it.

Which city does the Hebrew Bible describe as the first capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel?

The site, now identified with Tell Balata near Nablus, lay in a narrow valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim on a key trade route.