Biblical Geography

Cities & Towns

The towns where the biblical story was lived: Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Capernaum, Nineveh, Ephesus and the rest.

  • JerusalemCityidentification debated

    The city David captured and made his capital, where the ark was brought, where Solomon built the temple, which Babylon destroyed and the returning exiles rebuilt, where Jesus taught, was crucified and was raised, and where the church began.

    Cities & TownsJerusalem2 Samuel 5:6-10

  • BethlehemTownidentification debated

    The small ridge town of Judah, six miles south of Jerusalem: Rachel buried on the road to it, Ruth gleaning in its fields, Boaz redeeming her at its gate, David born and anointed in it, Micah naming it as the place a ruler would come from, and the Gospels placing the birth of Jesus there.

    Cities & TownsBethlehemMicah 5:2

  • NazarethTownidentification debated

    The hill village of lower Galilee where Jesus grew up, and whose name clung to him: Jesus of Nazareth.

    Cities & TownsNazarethLuke 1:26-27

  • The lakeside fishing town Jesus made his base: his own city, where Peter lived and the synagogue stood.

    Cities & TownsTell HumMatthew 4:13

  • JerichoCityidentification debated

    The oasis city of the Jordan valley, the first city Israel took in Canaan, and the town of Zacchaeus and blind Bartimaeus.

    Cities & TownsJericho (Tell es-Sultan is the ancient mound)Joshua 6:20

  • HebronCity

    The high city of the patriarchs: Abraham's burial cave, and David's first capital.

    Cities & TownsHebron (al-Khalil)Genesis 23:17-20

  • The ancient oasis capital of Aram, on the road between Mesopotamia and Egypt, where Paul was converted.

    Cities & TownsDamascusActs 9:1-6

  • The great Assyrian capital on the Tigris: the city Jonah was sent to, and the city Nahum saw fall.

    Cities & TownsMounds of Kuyunjik and Nebi Yunus, MosulJonah 3:1-5

  • Babylon (city)Cityidentification debated

    The walled city on the Euphrates where the exiles lived and Daniel served, fallen to Cyrus in one night.

    Cities & TownsRuins near HillahDaniel 4:29-30

  • The great port of Asia Minor: Paul's longest stay, the temple of Artemis, the Ephesian letter, and the first church of Revelation.

    Cities & TownsRuins near SelçukActs 19:8-10

  • The bustling isthmus city of Achaia where Paul stayed eighteen months and to which he wrote his longest pastoral letters.

    Cities & TownsCorinth (Ancient Corinth excavations)Acts 18:1-11

  • The Roman colony of Macedonia where the gospel first took root in Europe: Lydia, the jailer, and the letter of joy.

    Cities & TownsRuins near KavalaActs 16:11-15

  • Rome (city)Cityidentification debated

    The capital of the empire: the letter to the Romans, Paul's imprisonment, and the end of Acts.

    Cities & TownsRomeActs 28:30-31

Every entry begins with the biblical text. Where a site is debated, the entry says so. Browse the whole geography library or see these places on the atlas.