"Land of the Gazella" a Israel Travel Page by WorldMeet2008

You're watching a photo, taken by a sattelite, of a fascinating strip of land, culturally, geologically, topographically, historically, archeologically and more, Geologically it's part of unstable Syrian-African rift. This area suffers earthquakes from time to time, not destructive, fortunately.
In the middle of the green area you see the city of Jerusalem (brown spots)- its altitude is 700 m above sea level. The northern part of Dead-Sea, in the lower right, is the LOWEST point on earth - 420m under sea level. Jordan river(upper right, not rich in water), which is the international frontier between states of Israel and Jordan, goes(from north to south) to Dead-Sea from Kinnereth(Lake of Galilee, not seen in the picture). Distance between Jerusalem to Jordan river (left to right, west to east) is not more than 40 KMs.
North to Dead-Sea you see a green stain. That's the oasis of old Biblical Jericho, one of the most ancient cities [if not most] in the world - about 10,000(!) years.
Left(west) to Dead-Sea is Judean Desert where Qumran Scrolls were found, amazingly well preserved for 2,000 (!) years, (thanks to extremely dry climate), from era of crucial developments in the crystallization of the monotheistic religions.

Check, enlarge and explore the original sattelite's photo belongs to NASA:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/aster_jerusalem_03apr00_15m.jpg

Did you know?
Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago

Biblical Israel is called "Land of the Gazella".
That animal and the ROE, the small deer, are symbols of beauty:
"Thy two breasts are like two young ROES that are twins, which feed among the lilies".
-The Song Of Solomon, IV, IV