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Michmas (/ˈmɪkmæʃ/;Hebrew:מִכְמָשׂ or מִכְמָס,romanized: Mīḵmās,lit. 'laid up (concealed) place') was anIsraelite andJewish town located in the highlands north ofJerusalem. According to theHebrew Bible, it belonged to theTribe of Benjamin.[1] It was the setting of the biblicalBattle of Michmash, recounted in1 Samuel 14. Michmas was inhabited during theSecond Temple period, when, according to theMishnah, its fine wheat was brought to theTemple.[2]
Michmas is identified with thePalestinian village ofMukhmas in theWest Bank, which preserves its ancient name.[3][4] The nearby Israeli settlementMa'ale Mikhmas, founded in 1981, is also named after the biblical town.
Michmas was located nearGeba, east ofBethel and south ofMigron, and on the road to Jerusalem.[5] Michmas lay on the line of march of an invading army from the north, on the north side of the steep and precipitousNahal Michmas stream, known in Arabic as Wadi es-Suweinit ("valley of the little thorn-tree" or "theacacia").
The town is known by its connection with thePhilistine war ofSaul andJonathan, as it was the site of theBattle of Michmash recounted in the Bible. In1 Samuel 13 ‘And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode inGibeah ofBenjamin, but thePhilistines encamped in Michmas. According to this record, with the element of surprise and with confidence in God's help,King Saul's son Jonathan and his armour-bearer attacked and killed many in the Philistines garrison, causing panic throughout and a Philistine rout.[6]
It tells how Jonathan and his armor-bearer showed themselves ‘to the Philistines’ garrison’ on the other side, and how they passed two sharp rocks: ‘there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez and the name of the other Seneh.’[7] They clambered up the cliff and overpowered the garrison ‘within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plough.’ The main body of the enemy awakened by the mêlée thought they were surrounded by Saul's troops and ‘melted away and they went on beating down one another.’[8]
A divinely sent earthquake, the effects of which were noted by Saul's watchmen, threw the Philistine camp into turmoil. By the time Saul and his men came on the scene, many of the Philistines had slaughtered one another in confusion and the rest had taken to flight.
Isaiah mentions the town in the context ofSennacherib's invasion during the reign ofHezekiah (Isa 10:28). After the captivity the men of the place returned (Ezr 2:27; Neh 7:31). At a later date it became the residence ofJonathan Maccabaeus and the seat of hisgovernment.
Modern scholars have suggested that Michmas was apriestly settlement during the Second Temple period. It was inhabited up untilBar-Kokhba revolt, during the early 2nd century CE.[9] TheMishnah teaches that the finest of the wheat used in the offering of theOmer was taken from Michmas and fromZanoah (Menachot 8:1).[2]
During the 1980s, 4 clusters of tombs, consisting of roughly 70burial caves, were found in the vicinity of modern-day Mukhmas. In one of the burial caves, an ancient graffiti of aseven-branched menorah was found, together with aPaleo-Hebrew inscription. In the 1990s, German researchers purchased aossuary found in Mukhmas bearing the name ‘Shimeon L[evi]’, written in theHebrew alphabet.[9]
DuringWorld War I, British forces under the command ofGeneralAllenby were to face theTurks at the same location.[10]MajorVivian Gilbert of theBritish army relates the story of an unnamed brigade major who was reading his Bible while contemplating the situation against the Ottoman forces. The brigade major remembered a town by the name of Michmash mentioned somewhere in the Bible. He found the verses, and discovered that there was a secret path around the town. He woke the brigadier general, and they found that the path still existed and was very lightly guarded. The British forces used this path to outmaneuver the Ottomans, and so took the town.[11]
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