Holy Land

The Holy Land. For the world’s more than 3.5 billion Christians, Jews, and Muslims, these three words evoke a magical place, a wellspring of miracles from which the monotheistic principles of their great religions first flowed. Believers cherish this small parcel of earth—known in ancient times as the land of Canaan and today loosely defined as the region encompassing Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and parts of Syria, Jordan, and Egypt—as the stage upon which God revealed his word and where dramatic events of the Old and New Testaments were played out. Indeed, all three religions trace their heritage to the Patriarch Abraham, whom God commanded to go to Canaan with his wife, Sarah, promising him a "great nation."