Tell Balata
تل بلاطة | |
Hellenistic |
Tell Balata (
The site is listed by
Modern name
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Nablus_and_Balata_in_the_Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.11_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Nablus_and_Balata_in_the_Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.11_%28cropped%29.jpg)
One theory holds that balata is a derivation of the
Identification as ancient Shechem
Traditionally, the site has been associated with the biblical Samaritan city of Shechem, said by Josephus to have been destroyed by John Hyrcanus I; this is based on circumstantial evidence such as its location and preliminary evidence of habitation during the late Bronze and early Iron Ages. Tell Balata lies in a mountain pass between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, a location that fits well with the geographical description provided for Shechem in the Bible.[10] No inscriptional evidence to support this conclusion has been found in situ, and other sites have also been identified as the possible site of the biblical Shechem; for example, Y. Magen locates that city nearby on Mount Gerizim, at a site covering an area of 30 hectares.[11]
Archaeology
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Tell_Balata.jpg/220px-Tell_Balata.jpg)
The site was first excavated by a German team led by Ernst Sellin from 1913 to 1914. After the end of World War I, work by Sellin was resumed in 1926 and lasted until 1934 with the last few seasons led by G. Welter.[12][13][14][15]
Excavations were conducted at Tell Balata by the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Tel_Balata_in_2022.jpg/242px-Tel_Balata_in_2022.jpg)
A 2002 final published report on the
One of the oldest coins discovered in Palestine was an
References
- ^ "Excavations done at former Israelite capital Shechem". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d Haaretz service and Cnaan Liphshiz (2 March 2010). "Palestinian archeology gets int'l boost ahead of 2011 statehood plan". Haaretz. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
- ^ "Tell Balata". Visitpalestine.ps. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ Pfeiffer, 1966, p. 518.
- ^ Kalai, 2000, p. 114.
- William Foxwell Albright, 1960, p. 16
- ^ a b Crown et al., 1993, p. 39.
- ^ a b Mazar and Ahituv, 1992, p. 53.
- ^ Cunningham Geike, The Holy Land and the Bible: a book of Scripture illustrations gathered in Palestine, Cassell, London 1887 p.211.
- ^ Rast, 1992, p. 31.
- ^ Shatzman, 1991, p. 60.
- ^ Ernst Sellin, Die Ausgrabungen von Sichem. Kurze vorlaufige Mitteilung uber die Arbeit im Fruhjahr 1926, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins, vol 49, pp. 229–236, pls. 26–31, 1926
- ^ Ernst Sellin, Die Ausgrabungen von Sichem. Kurze vorlaufige Mitteilung uber die Arbeit im Sommer 1926, ZDPV, vol 49, pp. 304–320, pls. 32–46, 1926
- ^ Ernst Sellin, Die Ausgrabungen von Sichem. Kurze vorlaufige Mitteilung uber die Arbeit im Fruhjahr 1927, ZDPV, vol 50, pp. 205–211, pls. 11–18, 1927
- ^ Ernst Sellin, Die Ausgrabungen von Sichem. Kurze vorlaufige Mitteilung uber die Arbeit im Sommer 1927, ZDPV, vol 50, pp. 265–274, pls. 22–30, 1927
- ^ G. Ernest Wright, "The First Campaign at Tell Balâtah (Shechem)", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 144, pp. 9-20, 1956
- ^ G. Ernest Wright, "The Second Campaign at Tell Balâtah (Shechem)", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 148, pp. 11–28, 1957
- ^ Lawrence E. Toombs et al., "The Third Campaign at Balâtah (Shechem)", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 161, pp. 11–54, 1961
- ^ Lawrence E. Toombs et al., "The Fourth Campaign at Balâtah (Shechem)", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 169, pp. 1–60, 1963
- ^ Robert J. Bull et. el., "The Fifth Campaign at Balâtah (Shechem)", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 180, pp. 7–41, 1965
- ^ Robert J. Bull and Edward F. Campbell Jr., "The Sixth Campaign at Balâtah (Shechem)", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 190, pp. 2–41, 1968
- ^ Edward F. Campbell Jr. et al., "The Eighth Campaign at Balatah (Shechem)", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 204, pp. 2–17, 40, 1971
- ^ Silberman in Meskell, 1998, p. 184.
- ISBN 978-0-89757-062-6
- ^ Becking, 2001, p. 52.
- ^ De Vaux, 1997, p. 208.
- ^ Isaac, 1998, p. 16.
See also
- Cities of the ancient Near East
References
- Becking, Bob (2001). Bob Becking (ed.). Only one god?: monotheism in ancient Israel and the veneration of the goddess Asherah (Illustrated ed.). Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 9781841271996.
- Robert J. Bull, A Note on Theodotus' Description of Shechem, The Harvard Theological Review, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 221–227, 1967
- Edward F. Campbell Jr, Shechem II: Portrait of a Hill Country Vale: The Shechem Regional Survey, American Schools of Oriental Research, 1991, ISBN 1-55540-639-4
- Dan P Cole, Shechem 1: The Middle Bronze IIB Pottery, Eisenbrauns, 1984, ISBN 0-89757-206-8
- Crown, Alan David; Pummer, Reinhard; Tal, Abraham (1993). Alan David Crown; Reinhard Pummer; Abraham Tal (eds.). A companion to Samaritan studies. Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 9783161456664.
- ISBN 9780802842787.
- Dever, W., The MB IIC Stratification in the Northwest Gate Area At Shechem, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 216, pp. 31–52, 1974
- ISBN 9789004107366.
- ISBN 9789004116085.
- Killebrew, Ann E. (2005). Biblical peoples and ethnicity: an archaeological study of Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, and early Israel, 1300-1100 B.C.E (Illustrated ed.). Society of Biblical Literature. ISBN 9781589830974.
- Horn, S., Scarabs and Scarab Impressions from Shechem-II, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 48–56, 1966
- Lapp, N., The Stratum V Pottery from Balâtah (Shechem), Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 257, pp. 19–43, 1985
- ISBN 978-0-89757-079-4
- Lapp, N., Pottery from Some Hellenistic Loci at Balâtah (Shechem), Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 175, pp. 14–26, 1964
- ISBN 9780826469960.
- ISBN 9789652237972.
- Pfeiffer, Charles F., ed. (1966). The Biblical world: a dictionary of Biblical archaeology (Illustrated ed.). Baker Book House. ISBN 9780801069154.
tell balata village.
- Rast, Walter E. (1992). Through the ages in Palestinian archaeology: An Introductory Handbook (Illustrated ed.). Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 9781563380556.
- ISBN 9783161456176.
- ISBN 9780415196550.
- Taha, Hamdan, and Gerrit van der Kooij. "Tell Balata (Shechem): An Archaeological and Historical Reassessment." Biblical Narratives, Archaeology and Historicity: Essays In Honour of Thomas L. Thompson (2019):
- Lawrence E. Toombs, The Stratification of Tell Balâtah (Shechem), Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 223, pp. 57–59, 1976
- Ussishkin, D., Notes on the Fortifications of the Middle Bronze II Period at Jericho and Shechem, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 276, pp. 29–53, 1989
- Wright, G.E., Selected Seals from the Excavations at Balâtah (Shechem), Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 167, pp. 5–13, 1962
- G. R. H. Wright, The Architectural Recording of the Shechem Excavation, The Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 120–126, 1960