King Saul's neighborhood
Benjamin's tiny tribe
Israel's first king, a donkey herder named Saul, ruled Israel from the small town of Gibeah, in the hills above the Philistine war chariots down in the coastal territory.
War chariots—armored and armed—were the ancient version of today's tanks, which terrifies infantry soldiers. Saul avoided fighting Philistines on their turf, or anywhere else. He quickly discovered how powerful they were compared to Saul's militia—volunteered and drafted.
Israelites in Saul's day usually fought with bronze weapons, which didn't do well against Philistine iron. For a time, Philistines seemed to be the only people in the region who had harnessed the knowledge and ability to forge iron. The trick was to get the fire hot enough to forge the iron.
Saul and sons die in Philistine battle
Saul and most of his sons died in the hills of Gilboa, in a battle with an overwhelming force of Philistine soldiers, who had taken a position in the Jezreel Valley below.
Many Israelite soldiers and citizens ran for their lives across the Jordan River. Philistines hung the bodies of Saul and his sons in a Jezreel Valley town, Beth-shan. But Israelites retrieved the bodies in a secret nighttime incursion.
Where to find more Bible maps
The Casual English Bible® has more than 900 Bible maps, many in 3D style. You can search for maps by place name, such as "Sea of Galilee."
Dedicated Bible map search engine
But you can also search for maps by Bible book, such as searching for all the maps in the book of Joshua. In addition, you can search by country, region, or era on a timeline, such as when Israel had kings or when Jesus was on earth. Here's a link to the dedicated Map Search Engine.
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