Shechem
Ancient Canaanite city, later Samaritan center, identified with Tell Balata near Nablus.
Shechem (; , ;), also spelled Sichem (; in the Septuagint, ) and other variants, was an ancient city in the Southern Levant. Described in ancient Egyptian inscriptions from the 19th century BC as a part of Retjenu, it is also recorded as a Canaanite city in the 14th century BC Amarna letters. In the Hebrew Bible, it is described as the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) following the split of the United Monarchy. According to , it was located in the tribal territorial allotment of the tribe of Ephraim. Shechem declined after the fall of the Kingdom of Israel. The city later regained its importance as a prominent Samaritan center during the Hellenistic period. Traditionally associated with the city of Nablus, Shechem is now identified with the nearby site of Tell Balata in Balata village in the West Bank, Palestine.
Quick Facts
- Action
- Defiled Dinah (Genesis 34:2)
- Request
- Asked for Dinah as wife (Genesis 34:4)
- Death
- Slain with the sword by Jacob's sons (Genesis 34:26)
Lore & Background
The name of Shechem is attested as sꜣkꜣmꜣꜣ in Ancient Egyptian and Ša-ak-mi in Amarna letter 289, which indicates the first consonant was */θ/ at this time. The name שְׁכֶם was understood to be derived from the Hebrew word שְׁכֶם shěkem 'shoulder, saddle', from Proto-West Semitic ṯVkm- 'the lowest part of the neck'. The sense of 'shoulder' corresponds with the mountainous configuration of the city. Shechem's position is indicated in the Hebrew Bible: it lay north of Bethel and Shiloh, on the high road going from Jerusalem to the northern districts (Judges xxi, 19), at a short distance from Michmethath (Joshua 17:7) and of Dothain (Genesis 37:12–17); it was in the hill-country of Ephraim (Joshua 20:7; 21:21; 1 Kings 12:25; 1 Chronicles 6:67; 7:28), immediately below Mount Gerizim (Judges 9:6–7). These indications are substantiated by Josephus, who says that the city lay between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, and by the Madaba map, 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).
Reader's Guide
Shechem (Tell Balata) was situated in a narrow valley separating Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, two of the largest mountains in Samaria. This valley was a principal highway for merchants and travelers moving in the hills between northern and southern Israel (see Way of the Patriarchs), and made Shechem a crucial trade hub in this region. Nearby sites: Tell Dothan towards Jenin and the Yizreel Valley, and Tell el-Farah North, north of Jerusalem (50 km). An abundance of water, thanks to numerous natural springs and a high, stable water table, which made digging new wells easy. The fertile valley soil allowed an economy based on agriculture and livestock. The oldest settlement in Shechem goes back to about five thousand years ago, during the Chalcolithic period (3500-3000 BC). During the Early Bronze Age, activity seems to have moved to the nearby area of Khirbet Makhneh el-Fauqa. The first substantial building activity at Shechem (Strata XXII-XXI) dates from the Middle Bronze Age IIA (). It became a very substantial Canaanite settlement, and was attacked by Egypt, as mentioned in the Sebek-khu Stele, an Egyptian stele of a noble at the court of Senusret III (c. 1880–1840 BC). Fortifications were made in the MB IIB (XX-XIX). The Middle Bronze IIC (c. 1590-1550 BC) coincides with the Hyksos period. Strata XVI–XV: Shechem reached its zenith of power and size during the MB IIC. In the Amarna letters of about 1350 BC, Šakmu (i.e., Shechem) was the center of a kingdom carved out by Labaya (or Labayu), a Canaanite prince who recruited mercenaries from among the Habiru. Shechem may be identical to the Sakama mentioned in an account dated to the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (around 1200 BC). A 2002 final published report on the stratigraphic and architectural evidence at Tell Balata indicates that there was a break in occupation between the end of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1150 BC) through to the early Iron Age II (c. 975 BC). 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 BC, according to archaeologist William G. Dever. During the Babylonian captivity (606 to 536 BC), Judean and Samarian remnants reestablished an altar at Shechem.
Elsewhere in Figures of Scripture
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