Esdraelon

Esdraelon (Greek form of the Hebrew Jezreel) is the great triangular plain stretching across the heart of northern Canaan between the Carmel range to the northwest, the hills of Galilee to the north, and the hills of Samaria to the southeast. Bounded by the rivers Kishon and Jalud, the plain measures roughly twenty miles from north to south and fifteen miles across at its widest point, and its fertile volcanic soil made it among the most productive agricultural land in all of ancient Palestine.

The strategic importance of Esdraelon derives from its position as the main corridor between the coastal highway and the Transjordanian routes, making it the battlefield of Israel's history: here Deborah and Barak routed Sisera's chariot army; here Gideon defeated the Midianites; here Saul fell at the hands of the Philistines on Mount Gilboa; here Josiah died opposing Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo. The plain was so associated with decisive conflict that Revelation 16:16 uses the Hebrew form Armageddon (Hill of Megiddo, overlooking the plain) for the site of the final eschatological battle.