THE AREA KNOWN as Galilee includes the southern part of Lebanon, from the Līṭānī River to the Israeli border (Jabal ʿĀmil), as well as the northern district of Israel, from the Lebanese border to the northern foothills of the Samaria mountains. The east to west dimensions of Galilee include the northern part of the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. This book extends the borders of Galilee eastward, to include the Golan Heights and the Decapolis region, which are east of the Jordan River. It should be noted, however, that the northern coastal plain, from ʿAtlit to the Lītānī, has been discussed in the previous chapter.

This area is subdivided into the following regions: Western, Upper, and Lower Gali-lee, Jabal ʿĀmil, the Golan Heights and the Decapolis. These regions comprise an area that is almost identical to that of the Early Islamic district of Jund al-Urdunn.

Western Galilee

Western Galilee is a modern Israeli name which did not exist in earlier periods. It includes the western half of the Galilee mountains, from the foothills to the midway point between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. In this book, the foothill settlements are discussed in the previous chapter. Western Galilee, which constituted the mountainous hinterland of Tyre and Acre, was exclusively rural. It was bypassed by the main regional roads, with the exception of a road that connected Damascus and Acre during the Crusader period until 1187. Western Galilee lacked important trade centres, as well as important shrines and pilgrimage destinations. As a result, it was not described, and consequently there is very limited written information about the region.

Early Islamic Period

During the Roman and Byzantine periods, Western Galilee was divided between the provinces of Phoenicia and Judea, and later Palestina. This division reflected the spheres of influence of the coastal cities of Tyre and Acre, respectively. These cities dictated the cultural and religious profile of the region, whose population was mostly Christian. The Christianity of the area's population is attested to by the existence of sixty-seven churches in this region, fifty of them in rural areas. Some archaeological remains indicating Jewish presence in the area have also been found, but only sporadically.