Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Kingdom of Israel following the split of the

United Monarchy The Kingdom of Israel (Hebrew: מַמְלֶכֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, ''Mamleḵeṯ Yīśrāʾēl'') was an Israelite kingdom that may have existed in the Southern Levant. According to the Deuteronomistic history in the Hebrew Bible ...

. According to , it was located in the tribal territorial allotment of the

tribe of Ephraim According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Ephraim (, ''ʾEp̄rayim,'' in Pausa, pausa: , ''ʾEp̄rāyim'') was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The Tribe of Manasseh, together with Ephraim, formed the Tribe of Joseph. It is one of the Ten L ...

. Shechem declined after the fall of the

northern Kingdom of Israel The Kingdom of Israel ( ), also called the Northern Kingdom or the Kingdom of Samaria, was an Israelite kingdom that existed in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Its beginnings date back to the first half of the 10th century BCE. It c ...

. The city later regained its importance as a prominent

Samaritan Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...

center during the

Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

. Traditionally associated with the city of

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

, Shechem is now identified with the nearby site of

Tell Balata Tell Balata () is an archaeological site in the West Bank near Nablus, Palestine, that includes the remains of an ancient Canaanite and Israelite (Samaritan) city, identified since 1913 with the Biblical city of Shechem. The built-up area of Ba ...

in the Balata al-Balad suburb of the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

.

Geographical position

Shechem's position is indicated in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Bethel Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Bet ...

and Shiloh, on the high road going from

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

to the northern districts (

Judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

xxi, 19), at a short distance from Michmethath (

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

17:7) and of

Dothain Dothan (Hebrew: ) (also Dotan) was a location mentioned twice in the Hebrew Bible. It has been identified with Tel Dothan (), also known as Tel al-Hafireh, located adjacent to the Palestinian town of Bir al-Basha, and ten kilometers (driving dist ...

(

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

37:12–17); it was in the hill-country of

Ephraim Ephraim (; , in pausa: ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath, as well as the adopted son of his biological grandfather Jacob, making him the progenitor of the Tribe of Ephrai ...

(Joshua 20:7; 21:21; 1 Kings 12:25; 1 Chronicles 6:67; 7:28), immediately below

Mount Gerizim Mount Gerizim ( ; ; ; , or ) is one of two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the State of Palestine, Palestinian city of Nablus and the biblical city of Shechem. It forms the southern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the nor ...

(Judges 9:6–7). These indications are substantiated by

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

, who says that the city lay between

Mount Ebal Mount Ebal (; ) is one of the two mountains near the city of Nablus in the West Bank (Bible, biblical ''Shechem''), and forms the northern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the southern side being formed by Mount Gerizim. The mount ...

and Mount Gerizim, and by the

Madaba map The Madaba Map, also known as the Madaba Mosaic Map, is part of a floor mosaic in the early Byzantine church of Saint George in Madaba, Jordan. The mosaic map depicts an area from Lebanon in the north to the Nile Delta in the south, and fro ...

, 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, or located close to, the town of Flavia Neapolis (

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

).

History

Shechem was a ancient commercial center due to its position in the middle of vital trade routes through the region. An old "

Way of the Patriarchs The Road of the Patriarchs or Way of the Patriarchs ( ''Derech haʾAvot'' Lit. ''Way (of) the Fathers'') is an ancient north–south route traversing the land of Israel and the region of Palestine. The modern Highway 60 (Israel-Palestine) follows ...

" trade route runs in the north–south direction.

Chalcolithic

The oldest settlement in Shechem goes back to about five thousand years ago, during the

Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...

period (3500-3000 BCE). At that time agriculture was already practiced.

Early Bronze

During the Early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, activity seems to have moved to the nearby area of Khirbet Makhneh el-Fauqa.The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land
, Volume 3. Ephraim Stern, ed. Israel Exploration Society & Carta, 1993 Some publications claim that Shechem is mentioned in the third-millennium

Ebla tablets The Ebla tablets are a collection of as many as 1,800 complete clay tablets, 4,700 fragments, and many thousands of minor chips found in the palace archives of the ancient city of Ebla, Syria. The tablets were discovered by Italian archaeologist ...

, but this has been denied by archaeologists.

Middle Bronze

The first substantial building activity at Shechem (Strata XXII-XXI) dates from the Middle Bronze Age IIA (). It became a very substantial

Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...

ite settlement, and was attacked by Egypt, as mentioned in the

Sebek-khu Stele The Sebek-khu Stele, also known as the Stele of Khu-sobek, is an inscription in honour of a man named Sebek-khu (Khu-sobek), who lived during the reign of Senusret III (reign: 1878 – 1839 BC) discovered by John Garstang in 1901 outside Khu-sobek ...

, an

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

of a noble at the court of

Senusret III Khakaure Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or the hellenised form, Sesostris III) was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth ...

(c. 1880–1840 BCE).

Middle Bronze IIB

Fortifications were made in the MB IIB (XX-XIX).

Late Bronze

In the Amarna Letters of about 1350 BCE, ''Šakmu'' (i.e., Shechem) was the center of a kingdom carved out by

Labaya Labaya (Labayu or Lib'ayu) was the ruler of Shechem and warlord in the central hill country of southern Canaan during the Amarna Period (c. 1350 BC). He lived contemporaneously with Pharaoh Akhenaten. Labaya is mentioned in several of the Amarna L ...

(or Labayu), a Canaanite warlord who recruited mercenaries from among the Habiru. Labaya was the author of three Amarna letters ( EA 252, EA 253, and EA 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.

Late Bronze IIB

Shechem may be identical to the ''Sakama'' mentioned in an account dated to the

Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty an ...

(around 1200 BCE). (See

Papyrus Anastasi I Papyrus Anastasi I (officially designated papyrus British Museum 10247) is an ancient Egyptian papyrus containing a Satire, satirical text used for the training of scribes during the Ramesside Period (i.e. Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth and ...

.)

Iron Age

Iron Age II

During the Iron Age II, Shechem was a city in the northern Kingdom of Israel. It had an estimated population of 1,200 during the 9th and 8th centuries BCE, according to archaeologist

William G. Dever William Gwinn Dever (born November 27, 1933, Louisville, Kentucky) is an American archaeologist, Biblical scholar, historian, semiticist, and theologian. He is an active Biblical scholar, scholar of the Old Testament, and historian, specialized ...

. During the

Babylonian Captivity The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile was the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were forcibly relocated to Babylonia by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The deportations occurred ...

(606 to 536 BCE), those Judahites who remained in the

Kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah was an Israelites, Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Centered in the highlands to the west of the Dead Sea, the kingdom's capital was Jerusalem. It was ruled by the Davidic line for four centuries ...

re-established the altar at Shechem to keep the Israelite worship system going when access to the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

was cut off.

Classical antiquity

Hellenistic Period

During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Shechem was the main settlement of the

Samaritans Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...

, whose religious center stood on Mount Gerizim, just outside the town.

Roman Period - Province of Judea

In 6 CE, Shechem was annexed to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Province of Judea. Of the Samaritans of Sichem not a few rose up in arms on Mt. Gerizim at the time of the Galilean rebellion (67 CE), which was part of the

First Jewish–Roman War The First Jewish–Roman War (66–74 CE), also known as the Great Jewish Revolt, the First Jewish Revolt, the War of Destruction, or the Jewish War, was the first of three major Jewish rebellions against the Roman Empire. Fought in the prov ...

. The city was very likely destroyed by Sextus Vettulenus Cerialis, during that war. In 72 CE, a new city, Flavia Neapolis, was built by

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

to the west of the old one. This city's name was eventually corrupted to the modern

Nablus Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...

.

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

, writing in about 90 CE (''

Jewish Antiquities ''Antiquities of the Jews'' (; , ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus in the 13th year of the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, which was 94 CE. It contains ...

'' 4.8.44), placed the city between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Elsewhere he refers to it as Neapolis. In Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

's reign, the temple on Mt. Gerizim was restored and dedicated to

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

. Like Shechem, Neapolis had a very early Christian community, including the early saint

Justin Martyr Justin, known posthumously as Justin Martyr (; ), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and Philosophy, philosopher. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue did survive. The ''First Apolog ...

; we hear even of bishops of Neapolis. 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 the

Blessed Virgin Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

.

Later history

The city of Nablus was Islamicized in the Abbasid and Ottoman periods. In 1903 near Nablus, a German party of archaeologists led by Dr. Hermann Thiersch stumbled upon the site called

Tell Balata Tell Balata () is an archaeological site in the West Bank near Nablus, Palestine, that includes the remains of an ancient Canaanite and Israelite (Samaritan) city, identified since 1913 with the Biblical city of Shechem. The built-up area of Ba ...

and now identified as ancient Shechem. Nablus is still referred to as Shechem by Israeli

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

speakers, even though the original site of Shechem lies east of the modern-day city. Shechem

In the Bible

Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)

Shechem first appears in the Hebrew Bible in

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

12:6–8, which says that

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

reached the "great tree of Moreh" at Shechem and offered sacrifice nearby. Genesis,

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...

,

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

and

Judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

hallow Shechem over all other cities of the land of Israel. 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 the

covenant Covenant may refer to: Religion * Covenant (religion), a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general ** Covenant (biblical), in the Hebrew Bible ** Covenant in Mormonism, a sacred agreement b ...

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 word ''shékém'' – "shoulder,

saddle A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not know ...

", corresponding to the mountainous configuration of the place. On a later sojourn, two sons of

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

,

Simeon Simeon () is a given name, from the Hebrew (Biblical Hebrew, Biblical ''Šimʿon'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Šimʿôn''), usually transliterated in English as Shimon. In Greek, it is written Συμεών, hence the Latinized spelling Sy ...

(Shimon) and

Levi Levi ( ; ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelites, Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim) and the great-grandfather of Aaron ...

, avenged their sister

Dinah In the Book of Genesis, Dinah (; ) was the seventh child and only named daughter of Leah and Jacob. The episode of her rape by Shechem, son of a Canaanite or Hivite prince, and the subsequent revenge of her brothers Simeon and Levi, commonly ...

's abduction and

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

by "

Shechem Shechem ( ; , ; ), also spelled Sichem ( ; ) and other variants, was an ancient city in the southern Levant. Mentioned as a Canaanite city in the Amarna Letters, it later appears in the Hebrew Bible as the first capital of the Kingdom of Israe ...

the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land" of Shechem. Jacob's sons said to the Shechemites that if "every male among you is

circumcised Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

, then we will give our daughters to you and take your daughters to ourselves." Once the Shechemites agree to the mass circumcision, however, Jacob's sons except for

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

exploit the following soreness, with Shimon and Levi massacring all of the city's men, and the rest robbing their treasures, and stealing their women. This eventually leads to Shimon and Levi not getting a blessing from Jacob for betraying his trust, hurting innocents, misusing religious rites and endangering their tribe to the

wrath Anger, also known as wrath ( ; ) or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong, uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt, or threat. A person experiencing anger will often experience physical ef ...

of neighbouring people. Following the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan after their

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

from Egypt, according to the biblical narrative,

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

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 which their ancestors had served on the other side of the

Euphrates River The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through S ...

, or the gods of the

Amorites The Amorites () were an ancient Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people from the Levant. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Eg ...

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. The oak is associated with the Oak of Moreh where Abram had set up camp during his travels in this area. Shechem and its surrounding lands were given as a

Levitical city In the Hebrew Bible, the Levitical cities were 48 cities in ancient Israel set aside for the tribe of Levi, who were not allocated their own territorial land when the Israelites entered the Promised Land. Numbers 35:1-8 relates God's command t ...

to the

Kohathites The Kohathites were one of the four main divisions among the Levites in biblical times, the other three being the Gershonites, the Merarites, and the Aaronites (more commonly known as Kohanim). The Bible claims that the Kohathites were all desce ...

. 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 Jacob's Well, also known as Jacob's Fountain or the Well of Shechem, Sychar, is a List of Christian holy sites in the Holy Land, Christian holy site located in Balata village, a suburb of the State of Palestine, Palestinian city of Nablus in t ...

(Genesis 33:18–19; 34:2, etc.), and

Joseph's tomb Joseph's Tomb (, ''Qever Yosef''; , ''Qabr Yūsuf'') is a funerary monument located in Balata village at the eastern entrance to the valley that separates Mounts Gerizim and Ebal, northwest of Jacob's Well, on the outskirts of the West Ban ...

(Joshua 24:32), the city was destined to play an important part in the history of Israel. Jerubbaal (Gideon), whose home was at

Ophrah Ophrah (), ( or ) is a name in the Hebrew Bible meaning "a fawn" given to: * A city of Benjamin (), probably identical with Ephron () and Ephraim (), the modern Palestinian town of Taybeh. The Israeli settlement of Ofra is close to the site as we ...

, visited Shechem, and his concubine who lived there was mother of his son

Abimelech Abimelech (also spelled Abimelek or Avimelech; ) was the generic name given to all Philistine kings in the Hebrew Bible from the time of Abraham through King David. In the Book of Judges, Abimelech, son of Gideon, of the Tribe of Manasseh, is ...

(

Judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

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 the

New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is a translation of the Bible in American English. It was first published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches, the NRSV was created by an ecumenical committee of scholars "comprising about thirt ...

and New American Bible Revised Edition). After Gideon's death, Abimelech was made king (Judges 9:1–45).

Jotham Jotham or Yotam (; ; ) was the eleventh king of Judah, and son of Uzziah and Jerusha, daughter of Zadok. Jotham was 25 years old when he began his reign, and he reigned for 16 years. Edwin R. Thiele concluded that his reign commenced as a coreg ...

, the youngest son of Gideon, made an allegorical speech on

Mount Gerizim Mount Gerizim ( ; ; ; , or ) is one of two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the State of Palestine, Palestinian city of Nablus and the biblical city of Shechem. It forms the southern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the nor ...

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 of Baal-berith where the people had fled for safety. The city was rebuilt in the 10th century BC and was probably the capital of

Ephraim Ephraim (; , in pausa: ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath, as well as the adopted son of his biological grandfather Jacob, making him the progenitor of the Tribe of Ephrai ...

(1

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations. *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...

4). Shechem was the place appointed, after

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

's death, for the meeting of the people of Israel and the investiture of his son

Rehoboam Rehoboam (; , , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the Kingdom of Judah after the split of the united Kingdom of Israel. He was a son of and the successor to Solomon and a grandson of David. In the account of I Ki ...

as king; the meeting ended in the secession of the ten northern tribes, and Shechem, fortified by

Jeroboam Jeroboam I (; Hebrew language, Hebrew: ''Yārŏḇʿām''; ), frequently cited Jeroboam son of Nebat, was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Kingdom of Israel following a Jeroboam's Revol ...

, became the capital of the new kingdom (1 Kings 12:1; 14:17; 2

Chronicles Chronicles may refer to: * Books of Chronicles in the Bible * Chronicle, chronological histories * ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', a novel series by C. S. Lewis * ''The Chronicles of Prydain'', a novel series by Lloyd Alexander. * ''Holinshed's Chro ...

10:1). After the kings of Israel moved, first to Tirzah () and later on to

Samaria Samaria (), the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Shomron (), is used as a historical and Hebrew Bible, biblical name for the central region of the Land of Israel. It is bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The region is ...

, Shechem lost its importance, and we do not hear of it until after the fall of Jerusalem (587 BC; ). The events connected with the restoration were to bring it again into prominence. When, on his second visit to Jerusalem,

Nehemiah Nehemiah (; ''Nəḥemyā'', "Yahweh, Yah comforts") is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period as the governor of Yehud Medinata, Persian Judea under Artaxer ...

expelled the grandson of the high priest

Eliashib Eliashib ( ''’Elyāšîḇ'', " El restores") the High Priest is mentioned in Nehemiah 12:10,22 and 3:1, 20-21,13:28 and possibly the Book of Ezra of the Hebrew Bible as (grand)father (Nehemiah 12:22) of the high priest Johanan (Ezra 10:6). Some ...

(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 the

Samaritans Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...

. The latter, who were left unmolested while the orthodox Jews were chafing under the heavy hand of

Antiochus IV Antiochus IV Epiphanes ( 215 BC–November/December 164 BC) was king of the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death in 164 BC. Notable events during Antiochus' reign include his near-conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt, his persecution of the Jews of ...

( ''Antiquities'', XII, v, 5, see also Antinomianism 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 before

John Hyrcanus John Hyrcanus (; ; ) was a Hasmonean (Maccabee, Maccabean) leader and Jewish High Priest of Israel of the 2nd century BCE (born 164 BCE, reigned from 134 BCE until he died in 104 BCE). In rabbinic literature he is often referred to as ''Yoḥana ...

, and their temple was destroyed (''Antiquities'', XIII, ix, 1). The

Book of Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...

, which is considered scripture to the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

,

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

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. The

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

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".

New Testament

Shechem is mentioned in The Book of Acts ( Acts 7, ). It is not known whether the

Samaritan Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...

city of Sychar () in the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

() 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 son

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

." John 4 () mentions one of the women of Sychar going to

Jacob's Well Jacob's Well, also known as Jacob's Fountain or the Well of Shechem, Sychar, is a List of Christian holy sites in the Holy Land, Christian holy site located in Balata village, a suburb of the State of Palestine, Palestinian city of Nablus in t ...

. Some scholars believe the location of Sychar is at the foot of

Mount Ebal Mount Ebal (; ) is one of the two mountains near the city of Nablus in the West Bank (Bible, biblical ''Shechem''), and forms the northern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the southern side being formed by Mount Gerizim. The mount ...

, but other scholars disagree because the proposed location is 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. Some of the inhabitants of Sychar were "Samaritans" who believed in

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

when he tarried two days in the neighborhood (). Sychar and/or Shechem city must have been visited by the

Apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

on their way from Samaria to Jerusalem ().

Distinguish from

*Sichem is an old spelling for

Zichem Zichem is a village of the town of Scherpenheuvel-Zichem in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Zichem was an independent municipality until the municipal redistribution of 1977. History Zichem belonged to Maria van Loon-Heinsberg, who was ...

, a Flemish municipality which was named after the biblical Sichem; it is now merged into

Scherpenheuvel-Zichem Scherpenheuvel-Zichem (; ) is a municipality and city located in the province of Flemish Brabant, Flemish Region, Belgium, encompassing the towns of Averbode, Messelbroek, Okselaar, Scherpenheuvel, Schoonderbuken, Keiberg, Kaggevinne, Testel ...

. *Sekem is an anthroposophical and

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic foundation and farming village centered on principles for

biodynamic agriculture Biodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture based on pseudoscientific and esoteric concepts initially developed in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). It was the first of the organic farming movements. It treats soil fertility, ...

in Egypt; this name refers to Shechem, and to the Ancient Egyptian

hieroglyph Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined ideographic, logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct characters. ...

pronounced 'Sekem' meaning '

vitality Vitality (, , ) is the capacity to live, grow, or develop. Vitality is also the characteristic that distinguishes life, living from non-living things. To experience vitality is regarded as a basic psychological drive and, in philosophy, a comp ...

' or 'life'.

References

Sources

* Cornel Heinsdorff: "Christus, Nikodemus und die Samaritanerin am Jakobsbrunnen", Berlin/New York 2003, 218–220, *

External links

*
Full archaeological and biblical discussion of Shechem
*
''Jewish Encyclopedia:''
Shechem {{Authority control Populated places established in the 4th millennium BC Populated places disestablished in the 1st century 60s disestablishments in the Roman Empire Archaeological sites in the West Bank Hebrew Bible cities Torah cities Canaanite cities Levitical cities Tribe of Ephraim ʿApiru Razed cities Former populated places in Palestine History of Nablus Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) Ancient Samaritan settlements Chalcolithic sites of Asia

Geographical position

History

Chalcolithic

Early Bronze

Middle Bronze

Middle Bronze IIB

Late Bronze

Late Bronze IIB

Iron Age

Iron Age II

Classical antiquity

Hellenistic Period

Roman Period - Province of Judea

Later history

In the Bible

Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)

New Testament

Distinguish from

See also

References

Sources

External links