Valleys where Philistines and Israelites often fought

The Philistines were a people of the sea. They lived on the coastal plain of Judea and had five major cities: Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, and Gath. Travelers and traders moving from Egypt to Europe or Asia used the intercontinental roads on the coastal plain. This led to great prosperity for the Philistines, since they could control the traffic or simply sell goods to travelers. The Israelites lived in the mountains of Judea, where they felt safest from the threat of Philistine attack. The land between the coastal plain and the mountains is called the Shephelah. Four east-to-west valleys cut the shortest way between the flat land of the Philistines and the mountain communities of the Hebrews. One of Joshua’s earliest battles came in the Ayalon (Aijalon) Valley (see Joshua 10). When Goliath and his army moved into the Elah Valley, Saul moved to block the Philistines from coming any closer to the mountains (1 Samuel 17:3). It was in this valley where David killed Goliath. When the Assyrian commander conquered Lachish and the other fortified cities of Judah, Hezekiah knew Jerusalem was nearly defenseless (2 Kings 18:14).