WALNUT CREEK
Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church, 1801 Lacassie Ave., Walnut Creek, 94596

OT531: HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY. Dale Liid
5-Digit CRN: 70197

DESCRIPTION:
This is a one quarter course on the geography of Israel by region. In reconstructing the biblical events, the student develops their own Bible atlas, a retrieval system for maps, photos, articles, bibliographies and graphics that are a result of the student’s research and interests. The student is introduced to resources, tools and procedures for the integrating of biblical geography (with occupational and social overlays) in the reconstruction and illumination of biblical events.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY:
St Jerome referred to the geography of Palestine as a "5^th Gospel". It brings an added reality and understanding to the preaching, teaching and reading of the scriptures. It allows the listener to participate with an added dimension in the biblical narratives. There are a host of issues (political, military, economic, social, natural and theological) that are illuminated and clarified by understanding the geographic and regional dynamics of the Holy Land. If the Bible is allowed to speak from within itself, the geography of the Holy Land will contribute to: a personal and communal memory and faith, theology and a contextual-exegetical understanding of the Bible.

COURSE FORMAT:
The material will be covered in class by lecture, review of the student’s maps, slide presentations and group discussion. The individual student will be required to review biblical narratives, original sources, geographic and archaeological material from several historical periods in the Student Map Manual as primarily directed by the text The Land Between. The sequence of geographical regions will follow the biblical narratives of the Exodus (as described in the Pentateuch) and Joshua's conquest of the Land.

REQUIRED READING:
· Frank, H., and Monson, J. 1979 Student Map Manual: Historical Geography of the Bible Lands. Gen. consultant J. Monson. Jerusalem: Pictorial Archive.
· Liid, Dale, ed. (In prog.) Land, Nature and Society of the Bible: A Student’s Reader. Jerusalem: University of the Holy Land.
· Monson, J. 1983. The Land Between: A Regional Study Guide to the Land of the Bible. Jerusalem: Biblical Resources.

RECOMMENDED READING:
· Aharoni, Y. 1979 The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography. Revised Edition. Ed. and trans. A. F. Rainey from Hebrew. London: Burns & Oates.
· Aharoni, Y, and Avi-Yonah, M. 1968 The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised edition. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.
· Aharoni, Y. 1978 The Archaeology of the Land of Israel. Ed. M. Aharoni. Trans. A. F. Rainey from Hebrew. London: SCM Press. Ltd.
· Avigad, N. 1980 Discovering Jerusalem. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc.
· Baly, D. 1963 Geographical Companion to the Bible. New York: McGraw-Hill.
· Hareuveni, N. 1980 Nature in Our Biblical Heritage. Trans. H. Frenkly from Hebrew. Kiryat Ono: Neot Kedumim.
· Mackowski, R. 1980 Jerusalem, City of Jesus. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
· Mazar, A. 1990 Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. New York: Random House.
· Smith, G. A. 1966 The Historical Geography of the Holy Land. Twenty-fifth edition. Jerusalem, Ariel Publishing House.
· Wilkinson, J. 1982 Jerusalem as Jesus Knew It - Archaeology as Evidence. London: Thames and Hudson.

ASSIGNMENTS:
· Of primary concern is the collateral reading from: the Bible, Monson's (1983) The Land Between: A Regional Study Guide to the Land of the Bible and the marking of Frank and Monson's (1979) Student Map Manual: Historical Geography of the Bible Lands as directed by Monson's guide.
· A two page regional summary is required for each region covered by the course
· A short research paper (on an assigned biblical passage approximately 1000 to 1200 words (not to exceed more than five typewritten pages).

PREREQUISITES:
None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM:
Meets M.Div.: Elective. MAT: Biblical Studies.

FINAL EXAMINATION:
There will be a final exam that will be given in two sections: 1) section one is objective and asks you to identify the region or route to which certain Biblical passages relate, and 2) section two is essay and asks for a dynamic description of two of the regions that were studied earlier in the class.

(7/01) Walnut Creek: Fall, 2001