ESDRELON. - A plain of Palestine, between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, Galilee and Samaria, so called (Iud. 1, 8; 4, 5; 7, 3) in the Hellenized form of Jizé' (vulg. Iezrabel), with the loss of d. In the time of the Hasmoneans and Herod it was simply called “the great plain” (I Mach. 12, 19; Flavius Josephus, Bell. Iud., III, 12).
It has the form of an irregular triangle, with a base of 35 km. between the southern slopes of Carmel and the sides of the mountains of Samaria, and sides of 25 km., converging at the base of Thabor. Watered by the river Muqaṭa' (the biblical Cison), which flows into the Mediterranean, and by the Nahr Ġalūd (Harad, Iud. 7, 1), which flows into the Jordan, the vast depression is notably fertile, although marshy in certain areas. Owing to the unevenness of the terrain—the altitude varies from 25 to 100 m. above sea level—particular areas can be distinguished, such as the “field of Mageddo” (II Por. 35, 32; Zach. 12, 11) and the valley of Iezrael (Iud. 6, 33; 7, 1).
A junction of the roads linking the Empires of the East with those of the West, it was always a favored battlefield, recalling the celebrated victories of Thatmosia III, of Barac (Iud. 4, 5), of Gedeone (Iud. 7, 1), of the Philistines against King Saul (I Sam. 31, 7),
of Achab over the Arameans (II Reg. 20, 26), of Pharaoh Nechao over Tosia (II Reg. 23, 29), and, in modern times, of Saladino, Kleber, and Napoleone.
Its present name is Marg b. 'Amir; since 1920 the Zionists have established numerous colonies there.