Shechem

Shechem, Sichem or Shkhem (שְׁכֶם / שְׁכָם "Shoulder", Standard Hebrew Šəḫem / Šəḫam, Tiberian Hebrew Šəḵem / Šəḵām (situated at Tell Balatah {{coor dms|32|12|11|N|35|18|40|E|}}, 2 km east of present-day Nablus) was the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel.

History

In the Amarna Letters, ( of about 1350BC), Shachmu (Shechem) was the center of a kingdom carved out by Labaya (or Labayu), a Canaanite warlord who recruited mercenaries from among the Habiru. Labaya was the author of 3 Amarna letters, 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.

Related Topics:
Amarna Letters - Labaya - Canaanite - Habiru

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The city fell to the Israelites sometime before 1000 BC. In the Book of Judges, it was the center for the ephemeral Israelite kingdom of Abimelech ben Gideon. Later, it was an administrative center under Solomon and the northern Kingdom of Israel.

Related Topics:
Israelites - Book of Judges - Abimelech ben Gideon - Solomon - Kingdom of Israel

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In Classical times, Shechem was the main settlement of the Samaritans, whose cultic center was on Mount Gerizim, just outside of the town. In Acts 7:16 the place is called Sychem, and in the Gospel of John 4:5 it is called Sychar.

Related Topics:
Samaritan - Acts - Gospel of John

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Shechem, which lay in a narrow shoulder of land in the narrow valley between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, approximately 65 km north of Jerusalem, is also the location of Jacob's Well, where John 4:5–6 sets Jesus' meeting with the woman of Samaria, The Ancient Roman and Arab city of Nablus lies 2 km to the west of the site. Josephus, writing in about AD 90 (Jewish Antiquities 4.8.44), placed the city between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, and other ancient writers knew that it was on the outskirts of "Neapolis" (Nablus), but its archaeological site was only stumbled upon in 1903 by a German party of archaeologists led by Dr. Hermann Thiersch at a site known as Tell Balatah, beside the traditional site associated with the tomb of Joseph (Joshua 24:32).

Related Topics:
Mount Gerizim - Mount Ebal - Jerusalem - Jesus - Samaria - Ancient Roman - Arab - Nablus - Josephus - 90 - Jewish Antiquities - Archaeological - 1903 - German - Hermann Thiersch - Tomb - Joseph - Joshua

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Shechem had been a Canaanite settlement, mentioned on an Egyptian stele of a noble at the court of Senusret III (c. 1880–1840 BC). Shechem first appears in the Tanakh in Genesis 12:6–8, which records how Abraham reached the "great tree of Moreh" at Shechem and offered sacrifice nearby. Later Joseph's bones were brought out of Egypt and reburied at Shechem.

Related Topics:
Canaanite - Egypt - Stele - Senusret III - 1880 - Tanakh - Genesis - Abraham - Moreh

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