| − | Southern Levant, also called Canaan, is an incredibly diverse ecosystem, containing everything from mountains to valleys to deserts. Mt. Hermon, resting nine thousand feet above sea level, is only ninety straight miles from the lowest point on earth - the Dead Sea - which lies more than 1,300 feet below sea level. Because this area is sandwiched between the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Desert, it experiences intense climate variations between seasons with extremely hot and dry summers and much colder winters. The majority of the southern Levant is desert-like, as the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River are the only major bodies of water in the area. These areas can receive as little as two inches of rainfall per year, making them nearly inhabitable. However, other parts of the southern Levant can receive anywhere between twelve and forty inches of rainfall per year, a great improvement over the desert areas in other parts of the region. Some trees, such as oak, pistachio, and pine, can survive in the milder areas of southern Levant, while wild wheat, barley, and olives also grow in this area. However, many of these plants are scarce now because of ancient deforestation. Roughly one hundred species of mammals and five hundred species of birds once thrived in this region, but thanks to hunting, lions, antelopes, bears, oxen, and crocodiles, among other things, cannot sustain life in this area. The horse, donkey, goat, sheep, pig, and cattle were domesticated by the inhabitants of these land around five thousand years ago.
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