The valley of the Jordan, looking towards Jerusalem

The valley of the River Jordan, looking towards Jerusalem, with horses and camels drinking at river. The Jordan Valley is part of the Great Rift Valley of Africa and has always been used as a route between the Sea of Gallilee in the north, past Jerusalem to the Gulf of Aquaba. Lambert painted this during his first visit to Palestine in May 1918. In early May, as the weather warmed, Australian troops took the opportunity to camp in the cooler, lush valleys of the Jordan Valley. On several occasions Lambert called this the “Promised Land” and likened the arrival of the allied forces to the early Israelites emerging from the desert into the fertile valley.