Sharon, Plain Of

Plain of Sharon, Hebrew Ha-sharon, section of the Mediterranean coastal plain, and the most densely settled of Israel’s natural regions. It is roughly triangular in shape and extends about 55 miles (89 km) north-to-south from the beach at Mount Carmel to the Yarqon River at Tel Aviv–Yafo. The plain is bounded on the east by the Carmel range and by the hill country of Samaria. The Sharon’s coast, like that of most of Israel, has no major indentations; sand dunes are common. The plain’s name occurs several times in the Old Testament. Dense forests grew on the plain from antiquity through the 18th century.

As a key section of the Via Maris, the ancient route from Egypt to the Fertile Crescent (the relatively well-watered lands arcing northeastward around the Syrian Desert, from Palestine on the west to the Tigris-Euphrates valley on the east), the Plain of Sharon has been inhabited since remote antiquity. Caves with house-urn burials dating to the Chalcolithic Period (4th millennium bc) in Palestine have been found near the city of H̱adera. The plain is mentioned in inscriptions of the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III (reigned 1504–1450 bc). It is also found in the list of cities and kings conquered by Joshua (Joshua 12:18). Although the Sharon is mentioned only once in the New Testament (Acts 9:35), it is frequently referred to in rabbinic literature, often with allusions to its fertility. The plain has been the main land invasion route of Palestine from the south throughout the ages, down to Napoleon (1799), and the British under General Edmund Allenby (1917–18).

By the end of the 19th century, the forests had disappeared, and the plain was sparsely populated by Bedouin and village Arabs. Because of the low relief, the numerous small streams and wadis in the area formed swamps in the winter rainy season; malaria was endemic. Modern settlement of the Plain of Sharon was undertaken as part of the Zionist movement to resettle the agricultural lands of Palestine. The first settlement (1890) was at H̱adera. The red sandy soils (hamra) of the Sharon were particularly suited for citrus fruits; the first orchard was planted at H̱adera in 1894. With the acquisition of further tracts of land, new settlements were set up, and the acreage under citrus and mixed crops, especially truck crops, increased considerably. About a third of the agricultural area is now devoted to citrus farming; the rest mostly to fodder, cotton, and vegetables. Viticulture is practiced in the north, while poultry raising has become a specialty in the south. Vineyards cover the Tanninim River valley.

By the early 1930s, the Sharon had become the most densely settled area of Jewish Palestine. This was recognized by the plans for partition of the country drawn up by Great Britain (1937, 1938) and the United Nations (1947), each of which envisaged the Plain of Sharon as the core area of any proposed Jewish state. Since Israeli independence (1948), the pace of industrialization and urbanization has quickened. The chief cities of the plain are Netanya, Herzliyya, H̱adera, and Kefar Sava. Tourism is important throughout; the ancient ruins of Caesarea and Dor are of special interest.

Many writers on biblical geography, as well as some modern Israeli experts, consider the Plain of Sharon proper to extend only as far north as the Tanninim River. This streamlet enters the Mediterranean about 18 miles (29 km) south of the Carmel promontory. These authorities sometimes call the narrow northern extension of the plain, between the Tanninim River and Mount Carmel, the Plain of ʿAtlit, or the Plain of Dor.