Shechem

Shechem (ˈʃɛkəm ), also spelled Sichem (ˈsɪkəm ; Šəḵem; Sykhém; Samaritan Hebrew: ࠔࠬࠥࠊࠝࠌ, ), was a Canaanite and Israelite city mentioned in the Amarna Letters, later appearing in the Hebrew Bible as the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel 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 northern 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 the Balata al-Balad suburb of the West Bank. 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). Shechem was a very ancient commercial center due to its position in the middle of vital trade routes through the region. A very old "Way of the Patriarchs" trade route runs in the north–south direction. The oldest settlement in Shechem goes back to about six thousand years ago, during the Chalcolithic period (4000–3500 BCE). At that time agriculture was already practiced. Subsequently, during the Early Bronze Age, activity seems to have moved to the nearby area of Khirbet Makhneh el-Fauqa.