Tirzah (ancient city)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Tirzah (disambiguation).
Tirzah/Tell el-Far'ah (North)
תרצה/תל אל-פארעה
Tirzah (ancient city) is located in State of Palestine
Tirzah (ancient city)
Shown within State of Palestine
LocationNablus Governorate, Palestinian Territories
Coordinates32°17′15″N 35°20′16″E / 32.287387°N 35.337803°E / 32.287387; 35.337803
Area180 dunam
0.18 km²
History
PeriodsBronze Age, Iron Age

Tirzah (

Kitchener suggested that the ancient city may have actually been where Tayasir is now located, based on its phonemes.[3] Conversely, biblical researchers, Robinson and Guérin, suggested identifying the town with Talluza.[4][5]

History

The size of the archaeological site is 180 dunams (44 acres) and is located in the hills of Samaria, northeast of Nablus, in what is currently known as the West Bank. The archaeological site is called Tell el-Far'ah (North) in order to distinguish it from Tell el-Far'ah (South), an archaeological site south of Gaza.

Excavations were undertaken at Tell el-Far'ah between 1946 and 1960 for nine seasons by École Biblique under the direction of Roland de Vaux.[6]

Prehistoric period

The site was occupied in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic eras, and became progressively more populated.[7] Finds from the earliest levels of settlement excavated by Dorothy Garrod in 1928 were suggested to date to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) period.[8]

Bronze Age

During the

Early Bronze Age, Tell el-Far'ah had ramparts and domestic housing units.[9] The earliest pottery oven of its kind was excavated here; it had two chambers that allowed separation between the vessels being fired and the open flame. This type of pottery oven continued to be used in the region until the Roman period. A temple and an olive press were also uncovered. Town planning is clearly evident at the site. The western gate in the town wall was rebuilt several times during this period. The excavations indicate developing urbanization and the presence of new populations. However, the town was abandoned in the middle of the third millennium BCE, and remained so for approximately 600 years.[7]

In the Middle Bronze Age II, there was a small settlement on the site that used the remnants of the older town walls for protection. In the 1700s the population expanded and a new wall was built, but it enclosed a smaller area than the older city. The Late Bronze Age remains indicate that there was no major urban development during this period.[7]

Iron Age

Tell el-Far'ah was an important town in the early

Four room houses. The figurines include cow heads, cows nursing calves, horses, tambourine players, and figurines representing Asherah.[citation needed
]

In the Bible

The town of Tirzah is first mentioned in the

United Monarchy
.

During the time of King

Elah, Zimri and Omri.[12] The royal palace at Tirzah was set on fire by Zimri when he was faced with having to surrender to Omri. Omri reigned from Tirzah for six years after which he moved Israel's capital to Samaria
.

Tirzah is mentioned in when Menahem left it to Samaria, assassinated King Shallum and became King of Israel.[13]

Tirzah is mentioned in Song of Songs, where the lover compares his beloved's beauty to that of Tirzah. If the authorship of Song of Songs can be attributed to Solomon, then this is a reference to the city during the United Monarchy. However, Song of Songs provides no definite historical context to allow it to be dated on that basis.[14]

Modern location

Robinson suggested that Talluza might be ancient Tirzah (Latin form: Thersa), one of 31 Canaanite cities which the Bible lists as having been conquered by Joshua; the modern Arabic name being a derivation of the ancient name by way of its Hebrew form, or possibly its original Canaanite form, whereby the r sound was replaced with a l.[15] French explorer Victor Guérin also argued that Talluza was the site of ancient Thirza.[16] Later, Conder and Kitchener suggested that Tayasir was a more likely candidate;[17] however, today Tell el-Farah (North), northeast of modern Nablus is generally accepted as the site of Tirzah.

References

  1. ISBN 978-90-5356-503-2
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0-664-22084-6
    .
  3. ^ Conder & Kitchener (1882), p. 228
  4. ^ Robinson (1856), p. 303
  5. ^ Guérin (1874), p. 366
  6. ^ R. de Vaux, "Les fouilles de Tell el-Far'ah" Revue Biblique 68, 1961, pp. 576-592
  7. ^ a b c de Vaux, Roland (1992). E.Stern (ed.). האנצקלופדיה החדשה לחפירות ארכיאולוגיות בארץ ישראל [The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Land of Israel] (in Hebrew). Vol. IV. pp. 1297–1302.
  8. ISBN 978-0-13-276288-5
    . Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  9. ^ Deborah Sebag, The Early Bronze Age Dwellings in the Southern Levant, Bulletin du Centre de recherche français de Jérusalem [En ligne], 16|2005, mis en ligne le 09 octobre 2007, Consulté le 23 mai 2010. URL : http://bcrfj.revues.org/index256.html
  10. ^ Joshua 12:24
  11. ^ 1 Kings 14:17
  12. ^ 1 Kings 15:33, 1 Kings 16:8 and 1 Kings 16:23.
  13. ^ 2 Kings 15:14
  14. ^ Song of Songs 6:4
  15. ^ Robinson and Smith, 1856, pp. 302 -303
  16. ^ Guerin, 1874, pp. 365-368 ff
  17. ^ Conder and Kitchener, SWP II, 1882, pp. 216, 228

Bibliography

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