A Crack in the Earth

The Jordan Rift Valley, stretching from the Red Sea to Lebanon, was ripped open millions of years ago by vast forces within the earth. This geological object has also been a part of human history ever since early humans used it as a path in their journey out of Africa. And for a quarter of a century it has been part of the biography of Israeli writer Haim Watzman.

In the autumn of 2004, as his country was riven by a fierce debate over its borders, Watzman took a two-week journey up the valle...