Zoara
Zoara, called Zoar/Tzoar[1][a] or Bela[b] in the Hebrew Bible,[2] Segor[c] in the Septuagint, and Zughar[d] by medieval Arabs,[3] was an ancient city located in the Dead Sea basin in the Transjordan.[4]
Biblical Zoar is described in Genesis as one of the five "cities of the plain"[5] – a pentapolis at the time of Abram/Abraham (see Patriarchal age), situated in a highly fertile valley mentioned in the Book of Genesis, apparently stretching along the lower Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea plain. The biblical narrative shows the city being spared the "brimstone and fire" which destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in order to provide a refuge for Lot and his daughters.[6]
The town of Zoara, located at modern-day
In the Bible
Zoar, meaning "small" or "insignificance" in Hebrew (a "little one" as Lot called it), was a city east of Jordan in the vale of Siddim, near the Dead Sea. Along with Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, Zoar was one of the 5 cities slated for destruction by God; but Zoar was spared at Lot's plea as his place of refuge (Genesis 19:20–23).
A Zoar is mentioned in Isaiah 15:5 in connection with the nation of Moab. This connection with Moab would be consistent with a location near the lower Dead Sea plain.
Historical city in extra-biblical sources
Roman period
Zoara is mentioned in the 1st century CE by Josephus[8] and in the 2nd by Ptolemy (Geography V, xvi, 4).
Byzantine period
In the 4th century it is again mentioned by Eusebius in his Onomasticon, and in the 5th by Saint Jerome in his annotated version of the work.[9][10]
Zoara is mentioned in
The
In the sixth-century Madaba Map, it is represented in the midst of a grove of palm trees under the names of Balac or Segor.[15]
Early Muslim period
Crusader period
During the Crusader period it took the name of Palmer or Paumier. William of Tyre (XXII, 30) and Fulcher of Chartres (Hist. hierosol., V) have left descriptions of it.[3]
The Syriac Chronicles of Patriarch Michael the Syrian (12th century) and of Bar Hebraeus (13th century; part up to his own time based on Michael) contain some obscure traditions regarding the founding of some of the "cities of the plain". According to these accounts, during the lifetime of Nahor (Abraham's grandfather), a certain Armonius the Canaanite had two sons named Sodom and Gomorrah, for whom he named two newly built towns, naming a third, Zoar, after their mother.[16]
Mamluk period
According to the 14th-century travelogue The Travels Of Sir "Zoar, by the prayer of Lot, was saved and kept a great while, for it was set upon a hill; and yet sheweth thereof some part above the water, and men may see the walls when it is fair weather and clear."[17]
It is not known when the city disappeared.[7]
Christianity
Bishopric
Zoara was part of the late
- Musonius, present at the Second Council of Ephesus (449) and the Council of Chalcedon (451);
- Isidore, mentioned in 518 when Isidore signed the synodal letter of Patriarch John of Jerusalem against Severus of Antioch.
- John, in 536 signed the acts of the synod of Jerusalem convoked by Patriarch Peter against Antime of Constantinople and saw the bishops of the Three Palestines together. In the same year, in May, John also took part in the synod of Constantinople by Patriarch Mena to condemn Antimo.
- An anonymous bishop is mentioned in the Itinera hierosolymitana of the end of the fourth century (Vailhé).
Catholic titular see
The
- Francesco Maria Cutroneo (March 15, 1773 – November 1780)[20]
- José Nicolau de Azevedo Coutinho Gentil (July 18, 1783 – 1807)
- Jean-Henri Baldus, (March 2, 1844 – September 29, 1869)[21]
- Claude-Thierry Obré (December 14, 1877 – December 14, 1881)[22]
- Pedro José Sánchez Carrascosa y Carrión (March 30, 1882 – 1896)
- Patrick Vincent Dwyer (January 30, 1897 – July 9, 1909)
- René-Marie-Joseph Perros, (September 17, 1909 – November 27, 1952)[23]
- Antonio Capdevilla Ferrando (March 24, 1953 – August 12, 1962)[24]
- Wacław Skomorucha (November 21, 1962 – August 25, 2001)
Archaeology
Locating Zoara: sources
Prior to the major archaeological excavations in the 1980s and 1990s that took place in Zoara, scholars proposed that several sites in the area of Khirbet Sheikh 'Isa and al-Naq' offered further evidence of Zoara's location and history. Further information regarding Zoara in different historical epochs were obtained through the descriptions of Arabian geographers, suggesting that Zoara served as an important station in the Aqaba-to-Jericho trade route, and through Eusebius' statement that the Dead Sea was situated between Zoar and Jericho. Researchers who have studied ancient texts portray Zoara as a town erected in the middle of a flourishing oasis, watered by rivers flowing down from the high Moab Mountains in the east. The sweet dates that grew abundantly on the palm trees surrounding Zoara are also mentioned in some historical texts.[25]
Surveys and digs (1986-1996)
Several excavation surveys[dubious ] have been conducted in this area in the years 1986-1996.[citation needed]
Sanctuary of Saint Lot
Ruins of a basilical church that were discovered in the site of Deir 'Ain 'Abata ("Monastery at the Abata Spring" in Arabic), were identified as the Sanctuary of Agios (Saint) Lot. An adjacent cave is ascribed as the location where Lot and his daughters took refuge during the destruction of Sodom.[citation needed]
Mixed Christian-Jewish cemetery
About 300 engraved funerary steles in the Khirbet Sheikh 'Isa area in
See also
- "Cities of the plain"
- Admah – one of the five "cities of the plain"
- Sodom and Gomorrah – two of the five "cities of the plain"
- Zeboim – one of the five "cities of the plain"
- Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth
- Transjordan (region), biblical term (via Vulgate) for territories east of the Jordan Valley-Dead Sea line
- Zoar Valley in the state of New York is named after Zoara.
Notes
References
- ^ Genesis 14:8, Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB): "...the Melech Bela (the same is Tzoar)..."
- ^ Politis 2020, p. 20.
- ^ a b c d e Guy Le Strange (1890). Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500]. Alexander P. Watt for the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, p. 289. Re-accessed 15 Jan 2024.
- ^ Jericke, Detlef (March 2010). "Zoar". Das wissenschaftliche Bibellexikon im Internet (WiBiLex) (in German). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.
- ^ Genesis 13:10, 14:2–8
- ^ Genesis 19:22–30
- ^ a b c This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Vailhé, Siméon (1912). "Zoara". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
{{cite encyclopedia}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - Ant. Jud., XIII, xv, 4; Bell. Jud., IV, viii, 4
- ^ Wolf, Carl Umhau, ed. (2006) [manuscript, 1971]. The Onomasticon of Eusebius Pamphili, Compared with the Version of Jerome and Annotated. tertullian.org. Zeta, in Genesis.
Zogera (Zogora).467 In Jeremia. City of Moab. It is now called Zoora or Sigor (Segor), one of the five cities of Sodom.
- OCLC 490976390.
- ^ Egeria, The Pilgrimage of Etheria, trans. M. L. McClure and C. L. Feltoe (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1919), 20, 23–24.
- ^ "Pesachim 52a:10".
- ^ "Yevamot 122a:16".
- ^ Description of the Roman World
- ^ Herbert Donner, The Mosaic Map of Madaba. An Introductory Guide, Palaestina Antiqua 7 (Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1992), 37–94; Eugenio Alliata and Michele Piccirillo, eds., The Madaba Map Centenary: Travelling Through the Byzantine Umayyad Period. Proceedings of the International Conference Held in Amman 7–9 April 1997, Studium Biblicum Franciscannum Collectio Maior 40 (Jerusalem: Studium Biblicum Franciscannum, 1999), 121–24
- ^ Hilkens, Andy (2014). The Anonymous Syriac Chronicle up to the Year 1234 and its Sources (PDF). Thesis for the title of Doctor in History. University of Ghent. p. 249. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
- Mandeville, John (1900). The Travels Of Sir John Mandeville. Macmillan. p. 40.
- ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 1013
- OCLC 955922748.
- ^ "Bishop Francesco Maria Cotroneo [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ "Bishop Jean-Henri Baldus [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ "Bishop Claude-Thierry Obré [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ "Bishop René-Marie-Joseph Perros [Catholic-Hierarchy]". catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ "Bishop Antonio Capdevilla Ferrando [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ "Contract for a Date Crop - P.Yadin 19 (Yadin Papyri)". www.kchanson.com. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- .
Bibliography
- Politis, Konstantinos D. (2020). Ancient Landscapes of Zoara I: Surveys and Excavations at the Ghor as-Safi in Jordan, 1997–2018. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-22229-6.