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שְׁכֶם | |
 Archaeological site ofTell Balata, identified with ancient Shechem | |
  Shechem Location within the West Bank Show map of the West Bank | |
| Alternative name | Sichem |
|---|---|
| Location | Tell Balatah,West Bank |
| Region | Southern Levant |
| Coordinates | 32°12′49″N35°16′55″E / 32.213618°N 35.281993°E /32.213618; 35.281993 |
| Type | Capital city |
| History | |
| Founded | c. 1900 BCE |
| Abandoned | 67 CE (destroyed) |
| Associated with | Canaanites,Israelites,Samaritans |
Shechem (/ˈʃɛkəm/SHEK-əm;Hebrew:שְׁכֶם,romanized: Šəḵem,Biblical pronunciation:[ʃəˈxɛm];Samaritan Hebrew:ࠔࠬࠥࠊࠝࠌ,romanized: Šăkēm), also spelledSichem (/ˈsɪkəm/SIK-əm;Ancient Greek:Συχέμ,romanized: Sykhém)[1] and other variants, was an ancient city in the southernLevant. Mentioned as aCanaanite city in theAmarna Letters, it later appears in theHebrew Bible as the first capital of theKingdom of Israel following the split of theUnited Monarchy.[2] According toJoshua 21:20–21, it was located in the tribal territorial allotment of thetribe of Ephraim. Shechem declined after the fall of thenorthern Kingdom of Israel. The city later regained its importance as a prominentSamaritan center during theHellenistic period.[3]
Traditionally associated with the city ofNablus,[4] Shechem is now identified with the nearby site ofTell Balata in theBalata al-Balad suburb of theWest Bank.
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Shechem's position is indicated in theHebrew Bible: it lay north ofBethel andShiloh, on the high road going fromJerusalem to the northern districts (Judges xxi, 19), at a short distance fromMichmethath (Joshua 17:7) and ofDothain (Genesis 37:12–17); it was in the hill-country ofEphraim (Joshua 20:7; 21:21; 1 Kings 12:25; 1 Chronicles 6:67; 7:28), immediately belowMount Gerizim (Judges 9:6–7). These indications are substantiated byJosephus, who says that the city lay betweenMount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, and by theMadaba map, which places its Sykhem between one of its two sets of "Tour Gobel" (Ebal) and the "Tour Garizin" (Garizim). The site of Shechem in patristic sources is almost invariably identified with,[5] or located close to,[6] the town of Flavia Neapolis (Nablus).
Shechem was a ancient commercial center due to its position in the middle of vital trade routes through the region.[citation needed] An old "Way of the Patriarchs" trade route runs in the north–south direction.[citation needed]
The oldest settlement in Shechem goes back to about five thousand years ago, during theChalcolithic period (3500-3000 BCE). At that time agriculture was already practiced.[7]
During the EarlyBronze Age, activity seems to have moved to the nearby area of Khirbet Makhneh el-Fauqa.[8] Some publications claim that Shechem is mentioned in the third-millenniumEbla tablets, but this has been denied by archaeologists.[9]
The first substantial building activity at Shechem (Strata XXII-XXI) dates from the Middle Bronze Age IIA (c. 1900 BCE).[8] It became a very substantialCanaanite settlement, and was attacked by Egypt, as mentioned in theSebek-khu Stele, anEgyptianstele of a noble at the court ofSenusret III (c. 1880–1840 BCE).
Fortifications were made in the MB IIB (XX-XIX).[10]
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| sꜣkꜣmꜣꜣ[11][12] inhieroglyphs | |||||||
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| Era:New Kingdom (1550–1069 BC) | |||||||
_to_the_Egyptian_Pharaoh_Amenhotep_III_or_his_son_Akhenaten._14th_century_BCE._From_Tell_el-Amarna%2c_Egypt._British_Museum.jpg)
In theAmarna Letters of about 1350 BCE,Šakmu (i.e., Shechem) was the center of a kingdom carved out byLabaya (or Labayu), a Canaanite warlord who recruited mercenaries from among theHabiru. Labaya was the author of three Amarna letters (EA 252,EA 253, andEA 254), and his name appears in 11 of the other 382 letters, referred to 28 times, with the basic topic of the letter, being Labaya himself, and his relationship with the rebelling, countryside Habiru.
Shechem may be identical to theSakama mentioned in an account dated to theNineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (around 1200 BCE).[11][12][13][14] (SeePapyrus Anastasi I.)
During theBabylonian Captivity (606 to 536 BCE), thoseJudahites who remained in theKingdom of Judah re-established the altar at Shechem to keep theIsraelite worship system going when access to theTemple in Jerusalem was cut off.[15]
During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Shechem was the main settlement of theSamaritans, whose religious center stood on Mount Gerizim, just outside the town.
In 6 CE, Shechem was annexed to theRomanProvince of Judea. Of the Samaritans of Sichem not a few[clarification needed] rose up in arms on Mt. Gerizim at the time of the Galilean rebellion (67 CE), which was part of theFirst Jewish–Roman War. The city was very likely destroyed bySextus Vettulenus Cerialis,[16] during that war.
In 72 CE, a new city, Flavia Neapolis, was built byVespasian 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) to the west of the old one. This city's name was eventually corrupted to the modernNablus.Josephus, writing in about 90 CE (Jewish Antiquities 4.8.44), placed the city between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Elsewhere he refers to it as Neapolis.
In EmperorHadrian's reign, the temple on Mt. Gerizim was restored and dedicated toJupiter.[17][full citation needed]
Like Shechem, Neapolis had a very early Christian community, including the early saintJustin Martyr; we hear even of bishops of Neapolis.[18] On several occasions the Christians suffered greatly at the hands of the Samaritans. In 474 the emperor, to avenge what Christians considered an unjust attack by the Samaritans, deprived the latter of Mt. Gerizim and gave it to the Christians, who built on it a church dedicated to theBlessed Virgin.[19]
The city of Nablus was Islamicized in the Abbasid and Ottoman periods.[citation needed] In 1903 near Nablus, a German party of archaeologists led by Dr.Hermann Thiersch stumbled upon the site calledTell Balata and now identified as ancient Shechem. Nablus is still referred to as Shechem by IsraeliHebrew speakers, even though the original site of Shechem lies east of the modern-day city.[3]
Shechem first appears in the Hebrew Bible inGenesis 12:6–8, which says thatAbraham reached the "great tree ofMoreh" at Shechem and offered sacrifice nearby. Genesis,Deuteronomy,Joshua andJudges hallow Shechem over all other cities of the land of Israel.[20] According to Genesis (12:6–7) Abram "built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him… and had given that land to his descendants" at Shechem. The Bible states that on this occasion, God confirmed thecovenant he had first made with Abraham in Harran, regarding the possession of the land of Canaan. In Jewish tradition, the old name was understood in terms of the Hebrew wordshékém – "shoulder,saddle", corresponding to the mountainous configuration of the place.
On a later sojourn, two sons ofJacob,Simeon andLevi, avenged their sisterDinah's abduction and rape by "Shechem the son of Hamor theHivite, the prince of the land" of Shechem. Shimon and Levi said to the Shechemites that, if "every male among you iscircumcised, then we will give our daughters to you and take your daughters to ourselves."[21] Once the Shechemites agree to the mass circumcision, however, Jacob's sons repay them by killing all of the city's male inhabitants.[22] This eventually leads to Shimon and Levi not getting ablessing from Jacob as he had disapproved of their actions.
Following the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan after theirExodus from Egypt, according to the biblical narrative,Joshua assembled the Israelites at Shechem and asked them to choose between serving the God of Abraham who had delivered them from Egypt, or the false gods whichtheir ancestors had served on the other side of theEuphrates River, or the gods of theAmorites in whose land they now lived. The people chose to serve the God of the Bible, a decision which Joshua recorded in the Book of the Law of God, and he then erected a memorial stone "under the oak that was by" in Shechem.[23] The oak is associated with the Oak ofMoreh where Abram had set up camp during his travels in this area.[24]
Shechem and its surrounding lands were given as aLevitical city to theKohathites.[25]
Owing to its central position, no less than to the presence in the neighborhood of places hallowed by the memory of Abraham (Genesis 12:6, 7; 34:5),Jacob's Well (Genesis 33:18–19; 34:2, etc.), andJoseph's tomb (Joshua 24:32), the city was destined to play an important part in the history of Israel.[citation needed]Jerubbaal (Gideon), whose home was atOphrah, visited Shechem, and his concubine who lived there was mother of his sonAbimelech (Judges 8:31). She came from one of the leading Shechemite families who were influential with the "Lords of Shechem" (Judges 9:1–3, wording of theNew Revised Standard Version andNew American Bible Revised Edition).[26]
After Gideon's death, Abimelech was made king (Judges 9:1–45).Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon, made an allegorical speech onMount Gerizim in which he warned the people of Shechem about Abimelech's future tyranny (Judges 9:7–20). When the city rose in rebellion three years later, Abimelech took it, utterly destroyed it, and burnt the temple ofBaal-berith where the people had fled for safety. The city was rebuilt in the 10th century BC and was probably the capital ofEphraim (1Kings 4). Shechem was the place appointed, afterSolomon's death,[citation needed] for the meeting of the people of Israel and the investiture of his sonRehoboam as king; the meeting ended in the secession of the ten northern tribes, and Shechem, fortified byJeroboam, became the capital of the new kingdom (1 Kings 12:1; 14:17; 2Chronicles 10:1).
After the kings of Israel moved, first toTirzah (1 Kings 14:17) and later on toSamaria, Shechem lost its importance, and we do not hear of it until after the fall of Jerusalem (587 BC;Jeremiah 12:5). The events connected with the restoration were to bring it again into prominence. When, on his second visit to Jerusalem,Nehemiah expelled the grandson of the high priestEliashib (probably the Manasse of Josephus,Antiquities, XI, vii, viii) and with him the many Jews, priests and laymen, who sided with the rebel, these betook themselves to Shechem; a schismatic temple was then erected on Mount Garizim and thus Shechem became the "holy city" of theSamaritans. The latter, who were left unmolested while the orthodox Jews were chafing under the heavy hand ofAntiochus IV (Antiquities, XII, v, 5, see alsoAntinomianism in the Books of the Maccabees) and welcomed with open arms every renegade who came to them from Jerusalem (Antiq., XI, viii, 7), fell about 128 BC beforeJohn Hyrcanus, and their temple was destroyed (Antiquities, XIII, ix, 1).
TheBook of Judith, which is considered scripture to theRoman Catholic,Eastern Orthodox and other Christian churches is set in a city called "Bethulia". Because there is no Bethulia, it is widely assumed that this is a pseudonym for another city. The most common theory is that the city of Bethulia is really Shechem, based on the geography described in the book. TheJewish Encyclopedia went as far as to state that Shechem is the only city to meet all the requirements for Bethulia's location, and stated: "The identity of Bethulia with Shechem is thus beyond all question".[27]
Shechem is mentioned inThe Book of Acts (Acts 7,Acts 7:16).
It is not known whether theSamaritan city ofSychar (Ancient Greek:Συχάρ,romanized: Sykhár) in theGospel of John (John 4:5) refers to Shechem or to another nearby village: "So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his sonJoseph."[28]
John 4 (John 4:15) mentions one of the women of Sychar going toJacob's Well. Some scholars believe the location of Sychar is at the foot ofMount Ebal, but other scholars disagree because the proposed location is 1 km (0.62 mi) from Jacob's Well, which they think is not close enough for the women of Sychar to have fetched their water there. Based on John 4:15, these scholars have argued that Shechem is the Samaritan city of Sychar described in the Gospel of John.[28]
Some of the inhabitants of Sychar were "Samaritans" who believed inJesus when he tarried two days in the neighborhood (John 4). Sychar and/or Shechem city must have been visited by theApostles on their way from Samaria to Jerusalem (Acts 8:25).[citation needed]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Sichem".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.| National | |
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