| Ebal | |
|---|---|
 View of Mount Ebal | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 935 m (3,068 ft) |
| Coordinates | 32°14′02″N35°16′24″E / 32.234°N 35.2733°E /32.234; 35.2733 |
| Geography | |
 | |
Mount Ebal (Hebrew:הַר עֵיבָל,romanized: Har ʿĒḇāl;Arabic:جَبَل عَيْبال,romanized: Jabal ʿAybāl) is one of the two mountains near the city ofNablus (biblicalShechem) in theWest Bank, and forms the northern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the southern side being formed byMount Gerizim.[1] The mountain is one of the highest peaks in the West Bank and rises to 935 m (3,068 ft) abovesea level, some 60 m (200 ft) higher than Mount Gerizim.[2] Mount Ebal is approximately 17 km2 (6.6 sq mi) in area,[2] and is composed primarily of limestone.[3] The slopes of the mountain contain several large caverns which were probably originally quarries,[3] and at the base towards the north are several tombs.[4]
In advance of theIsraelites' entry to thePromised Land,Deuteronomy 11:29 recordsMoses' direction that "when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal".
In theMasoretic Text and theSeptuagint version ofDeuteronomy 27, an instruction is given to build analtar on Mount Ebal, constructed from natural (rather than cut) stones, to place stones there and whiten them with lime,[5][4] to makepeace offerings on the altar, eat there, and write the words ofthis law on the stone.[6] According to theSamaritan Pentateuch and aQumran fragment, this instruction actually concernsMount Gerizim, which theSamaritans view as a holy site;[7][8] some scholars believe that the Samaritan version is probably more accurate in this respect, the compilers of the masoretic text and authors of the Septuagint being likely to be biased against the Samaritans.[7] RecentDead Sea Scrolls work supports the accuracy of the Samaritan Pentateuch's designation of Mount Gerizim rather than Mount Ebal as the sacred site.[9] A study published in 2018 asserts that the Mt. Gerizim reading is older than that referring to Mt. Ebal, which likely represents a later, polemical revision."[10]
An instruction immediately subsequent to this orders that, once this is done, the Israelites should split into two groups, one to stay on Mount Ebal and pronounce curses, while the other goes to Mount Gerizim and pronounces blessings.[11] The tribes ofSimeon,Levi,Judah,Issachar,Joseph andBenjamin were to be sent to Gerizim, while those ofReuben,Gad,Asher,Zebulun,Dan andNaphtali, were to remain on Ebal.[11] No attempts to explain this division of tribes either by their Biblicalethnology or by their geographical distribution have been generally accepted in academic circles.[7]
The text goes on to list twelve curses, which were to be pronounced by theLevite priesthood and answered by the people withAmen.[12] Thesecurses heavily resemble laws (e.g.cursed be he who removes his neighbour's landmark), and they are not followed by a list of blessings described in a similarly liturgical framework; scholars believe that these more likely represent what was written on the stones, and that the later list of six explicit blessings,[13] six near-corresponding explicit curses,[14] were originally in this position in the text.[7] The present position of these explicit blessings and curses, within a larger narrative of promise, and a far larger narrative of threat (respectively), is considered to have been an editorial decision for the post-exilic second version of Deuteronomy (Dtr2), to reflect thedeuteronomist's worldview after theBabylonian exile had occurred.[7]
In theBook of Joshua, after the Battle ofAi, Joshua built an altar of unhewn stones there, the Israelites then made peace offerings on it, theLaw of Moses was written onto the stones, and the Israelites split into the two groups specified in Deuteronomy and pronounced blessings and cursings as instructed there.[15] There is some debate betweentextual scholars as to whether this incident in Joshua is one account or spliced together two different accounts, where one account refers to Joshua building an altar, and making sacrifices on it, while the other account refers to Joshua placing large stone slabs there that had been whitened with lime and then had theTorah inscribed on them.[16] Either way there is general agreement that the sources of Joshua predate Deuteronomy, and hence that the order to build the altar and make the inscription is likely based on these actions in the sources of Joshua, rather than the other way round, possibly to provide anaetiology for the site acceptable to the deuteronomist's theology.[17]
Much later in the Book, when Joshua was old and dying, he gathered the people together atShechem, and gave a farewell speech, and then wrotethese words in the book of the Torah of God, and took a great stone, and set it under the doorpost which is in the sanctuary of the Lord.[18] Depending on the way in which the sources of Joshua were spliced together, this may just be another version of the earlier narrative of Joshua placing the whitened stones slabs with theTorah inscribed on them, and some scholars believe that this narrative may have originally been in an earlier location within the Book of Joshua.[7]
In the Biblical narrative, theterebinth, seemingly next to the sanctuary, was evidently in existence as early as the time of thePatriarchs, asJacob is described in theBook of Genesis as having buried theidols ofstrange gods (belonging to his uncleLaban) beneath it.[19] According to amidrash, one of these idols, in the shape of adove, was later recovered by the Samaritans, and used in their worship on Mount Gerizim.[20]
In 1980, a structure on Mount Ebal was discovered by Israeli archaeologistAdam Zertal during theManasseh Hill Country Survey.[21] TheUniversity of Haifa and theIsrael Exploration Society excavated the structure over eight seasons from 1982 to 1989, and uncoveredscarabs, seals, and animal bones dating to theIron Age I period.[21] Today, most archeologists agree that the structure was a site of an earlyIsraelitecultic activity.[22] Zertal suggested that the structure was possibly thealtar described in theBook of Joshua as whereJoshua built an altar toYahweh and renewed theCovenant in a large ceremony. This identification has been disputed by a number of archaeologists.[23][24]
In February 2021 a portion of the site was destroyed by thePalestinian Authority and the stones were ground up and used to pave the road.[25]
The higher part of the mountain, on the west, contains the ruins of massive walls calledAl-Kal'ah, and east of this, a site calledKunaisah.[20]
... the consensus today tends to support the cultic interpretation of this early Iron I site, if not the biblical one (see Mazar 1990a, 348–50; Coogan 1987; 1990; Zevit 2001, 196–201).
Religious sites inPalestine | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem Governorate |  | |
| Hebron Governorate | ||
| Jenin Governorate | ||
| Jericho Governorate | ||
| Jerusalem Governorate | ||
| Nablus Governorate | ||
| Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate | ||
| Salfit Governorate | ||
| Tulkarm Governorate | ||
| Qalqiliya Governorate | ||
| Gaza Governorate | ||
† Access to the site is controlled by Israel. | ||
