Southern Coastal Plain: Relief Map

This relief map shows the southern coastal plain from Jerusalem (in the east) to the coast (in the west), and from Joppa (the area of modern Tel Aviv - in the north) down to Gaza (in the south). In the period preceding the Israelite monarchies, this coastal plain was the territory of the Philistines. 'Philistia' - the name of the land of the Philistines - is the root of the word 'Palestine.' Note the distinctive topographical features of the region: the Central Hill, running from north to south, and the Shephelah (an intermediary hilly region) and the seashore plains to its west.