Where it happened
Places of the Bible
Where is Mount Sinai? What happened at Jericho? Short, honest guides to the places of the Bible: what they were, what happened there, what archaeology does and does not show, and where to read about them.
14 places
Jerusalem and Judea
West Bank
Bethlehem
The city of Bethlehem, in the West Bank, about 9 km south of Jerusalem
A small hill town south of Jerusalem where Rachel was buried, Ruth found a home, David kept sheep, and Jesus the Messiah was born.
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Jerusalem
Jerusalem
Jerusalem; the Old City and its holy sites are shared by Jews, Christians and Muslims
The hill city David made Israel's capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Jesus died and rose again, and where the church was born at Pentecost.
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Galilee
Israel
Capernaum
The ruins of Capernaum (Kfar Nahum) on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, northern Israel
A fishing village on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee that became Jesus' home base, where he taught in the synagogue and healed many in Peter's house.
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Israel
Nazareth
The city of Nazareth in Lower Galilee, northern Israel; the ancient village lies beneath its old center
An obscure Galilean village where Mary received the angel's message and Jesus grew up, and whose synagogue later rejected him.
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Israel
Sea of Galilee
Lake Kinneret in northern Israel, with the city of Tiberias on its western shore
The freshwater lake in northern Israel where Jesus called fishermen to follow him, calmed a storm, walked on the water and cooked breakfast for his disciples after rising from the dead.
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The Jordan Valley
West Bank
Jericho
Tell es-Sultan, beside the modern city of Jericho in the West Bank, about 10 km west of the Jordan River
The spring-fed oasis city near the Jordan whose walls fell before Joshua, where Rahab was spared, Elisha healed the water, and Jesus met Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus.
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Israel, Jordan and the West Bank
Jordan River
The river running from the slopes of Mount Hermon through the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea; the map dot marks the traditional baptism area near Jericho
The river Israel crossed on dry ground into the promised land, where Elijah and Elisha parted the water, Naaman was healed, and John baptized Jesus.
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Egypt and Sinai
Egypt
Egypt
The eastern Nile Delta around Tell el-Dab'a and the Wadi Tumilat, northeast of Cairo, in Egypt
The great kingdom of the Nile where Abraham sought bread, Joseph rose to power, Israel grew in Goshen and was enslaved, and from which God led his people out in the exodus.
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Egypt (traditional site)
Mount Sinai
Location debated; the map dot marks Jebel Musa in the southern Sinai Peninsula, the traditional site beside St Catherine's Monastery
The mountain where God made his covenant with Israel and gave the law through Moses, and where Elijah later heard him in a quiet whisper; its exact location is unknown.
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Mesopotamia
Iraq
Babylon
The ruins of Babylon beside the Euphrates near the city of Hillah, about 85 km south of Baghdad, in Iraq
The great city on the Euphrates linked to the tower of Babel, whose king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and carried Judah into the exile where Daniel served and the psalmists wept.
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Iraq
Nineveh
The mounds of Kuyunjik and Nebi Yunus on the east bank of the Tigris, within the city of Mosul in northern Iraq
The capital of the Assyrian empire on the Tigris, where Jonah preached and the city repented, whose armies threatened Judah, and whose fall in 612 BC Nahum foretold.
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Syria
Greece and Asia Minor
Greece
Corinth
The ruins and village of Ancient Corinth, about 8 km southwest of the modern city of Corinth in the Peloponnese, Greece
A busy Roman port city in Greece where Paul worked with Aquila and Priscilla for eighteen months, stood before Gallio, and planted the church he later wrote First and Second Corinthians to.
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Turkey
Ephesus
Ruins beside the town of Selçuk, near the Aegean coast in İzmir Province, western Turkey
A great Roman city of Asia Minor, home of the temple of Artemis, where Paul taught for about three years, a silversmiths' riot filled the theatre, and a church took root.
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