
The central Judean Mountains

The populated area around Jerusalem. View from Jerusalem's entrance
The 'Judean Mountains' (
Hebrew: 'הרי יהודה'
Transliteration: 'Harei-Yehuda'; commonly referred to in
English as 'Hills of Judea') is the mountain range on which
Jerusalem, the
capital city of
Israel, is located. Running generally north-south, the mountains extend both to the west and east of Jerusalem. Other important cities in the mountain range are
Hebron,
Bethlehem and
Ramallah. The range forms a natural division between the
Shephelah coastal plains to the west and the
Jordan Rift Valley to the east.
In
prehistoric times, animals no longer found in the region were found here, including
elephants,
rhinoceri,
giraffes and
water buffalo.
[1] The range has
karst topography including a
stalactite cave in
Nahal Sorek National Park between
Jerusalem and
Bet Shemesh and the area surrounding
Ofra, where fossils of prehistoric flora and fauna were found.
The Judean Mountains have one
train line which climbs up from
Bet Shemesh along the
Brook of Sorek into Jerusalem's southern
train station. Currently, a plan for development of the Judean Mountains region is in progress.
External links
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Pictures