The heartland of Judea consists of the rugged limestone hill country lying within a day's walk of Jerusalem. Elevations reaching over 900 meters provide the land with cold, wet winters and summers that, though sunny and hot, are usally cooled by mid-afternoon Mediterranean breezes. With the primary exceptions of the city of Jerusalem and the town that developed next to Herod's winter palace at Jericho, this was a land of villages and farms, with terraces of grapevines and olive, fig and pomegranate trees embracing the hills. The land's ruggedness tended to isolate the people of Judea from its more open neighbors on every side, fostering a degree of conservatism more prevalent here than in the surrounding regions.
Dropping out of the hill country to the east, one encounters the chalky wilderness of Judea, an arid land best suited for flocks of sheep and goats. Beyond is the Dead Sea, the lowest and most saline spot on earth. On its western shore, between Jericho and En-gedi, grew the Roman world's supply of balsam.
To the west of the hill country the broad valleys of the Shephelah, or lowlands, open the land of Judea to the coastal plain. Here conditions are favorable for agriculture, and the alluvial soil, ample rainfall and warmer temperatures prove ideal for fields of wheat and barley. In the days of the New Testament the southern section of the Shephelah was called Idumea, with a population that traced its roots to the Edomites, descendants of Esau who settled there after the fall of the kingdom of Judah.
