Timnah
תל בטש or תמנה | |
Middle Bronze Age | |
| Site notes | |
|---|---|
| Excavation dates | 1979–1990s |
| Archaeologists | Amihai Mazar & George L. Kelm |
Timnath or Timnah was a
.
The Tel Batash mound was discovered in the 19th century by
Geography
Tel Batash is strategically located in the
Hebrew Bible references
A place called Timnah (Timnath) is mentioned in Genesis 38:13 in the context of the story of the Hebrew patriarch Judah and Tamar. Some think that Judah may have gone to this Timnah (Tibna) to shear his sheep, when he met his daughter-in-law in passing,[3] while others suggest that this would have happened in the Timnath now known in Arabic as Khirbet et-Tibbaneh.[4][5][6]
In Joshua 15:10, a place with this name is mentioned as a point on the border of the Tribe of Judah, and Judges 14:5 refers to Timnah's vineyards.
In Judges 14:1–20, Samson went down to Timnah in order to find a wife. On his way there, he tore apart a lion. Samson married a "girl of the Philistines" from Timnah and posed a riddle for the men of Timnah, which they were only able to resolve following the intervention of his wife.
History
Excavations under the leadership of Mazar and Kelm during the 1970s–1980s uncovered twelve strata of continuous settlement at the site through the
Not far from the tell, on the edge of
Bronze Age
Tel Batash was first settled in the
Bronze to Iron Age
Tel Batash during the
Iron Age
The archaeologists discovered fortifications and buildings from the
Old identification (Khirbet Tibneh)
Khirbet Tibna, also spelled Kh. Tibneh, is a ruin situated ca. 3.2 kilometres (2 mi) south-west of
Modern identification (Tell Butashi)
Today, modern archaeologists think the biblical Timnath (Timnah) associated with the saga of Samson to have been situated where Tell Butashi is now located and where extensive archaeological excavations had been conducted during the 1970s–1980s. With the town's demise, the name "Timnah" is thought to have migrated to the site now known as Khirbet Tibna, a few kilometers away from Tell Butashi.
References
- ^ ISBN 965-220-209-6
- ^ Center for Online Judaic Studies, Excavating in Samson Country, George L. Kelm and Amihai Mazar, BAR 15:01, Jan-Feb 1989, accessed 11 November 2016
- ^ Genesis 38:14
- JSTOR 41729127.
- F.M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine (vol. II), Paris 1938, p. 481, s.v. Thimna (1), citing Conder & Kitchener's SWP, III, p. 53.
- ^ Samuel Klein, Eretz Yisrael: Geography of Israel for High Schools and for the People (Heb. ארץ ישראל -- גיאוגרפיה של ארץ ישראל לבתי ספר תיכוניים ולעם), Vienna 1922, p. 42 (Hebrew)
- ^ ISBN 965-220-209-6
- ^ )
- ^ Bîr el-Leimûn lies perpendicular to the ancient ruin of Tibna and the biblical city of Beit Shemesh (ʻAin Shems), being a junction on the road between Zorah and Tibna and where there is a well. As late as 1835 it was still inhabited, but is now a ruin. See: Edward Robinson & Eli Smith, Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea (vol. III), Boston 1841, Arabic Lists – Second Appendix on p. 120.
- ^ The Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, London 1871, p. 93
- ^ Woudstra, Marten H., The Book of Joshua (1981)
- ^ Adolphe Neubauer, La Géographie du Talmud, Paris 1868, pp. 102–103
- ^ Guérin, Victor (1869). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). Vol. 1: Judee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale. pp. 29–31.
- ^ Page 214 in:Clermont-Ganneau, Charles Simon (1896). [ARP] Archaeological Researches in Palestine 1873–1874, translated from the French by J. McFarlane. Vol. 2. London: Palestine Exploration Fund.
- ^ Edward Robinson, Biblical Researches in Palestine, vol. II, section XI, London 1856, pp. 16–17
- S2CID 163593964.
- ^ G. Kelm & A. Mazar, "Timnah: A Biblical City in the Sorek Valley", in: Archaeology, Vol. 37, No. 3 (May/June 1984), Archaeological Institute of America, p. 58
Other References
- George L. Kelm; Amihay Mazar (December 1995). Timnah: a biblical city in the Sorek Valley. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-0-931464-97-3. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Amsterdam University Press. 31 December 2000. p. 1312. ISBN 978-90-5356-503-2. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
- John Charles Hugh Laughlin (2006). Fifty major cities of the Bible: from Dan to Beersheba. Routledge. pp. 226–. ISBN 978-0-415-22315-7. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
- Lester L. Grabbe (2003). "Like a bird in a cage": the invasion of Sennacherib in 701 BCE. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-8264-6215-2. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
- Jonathan Michael Golden (November 2004). Ancient Canaan and Israel: new perspectives. ABC-CLIO. pp. 70–71. ISBN 978-1-57607-897-6. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
External links
- Survey of Western Palestine, 1880 Map, Map 16: IAA, Sorek Valley(Wady es Surar)