Eshtemoa

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Eshtemoa, meaning obedience or "'place where prayer is heard",[1] was an ancient city in the Judaean Mountains, mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible.[2] It is also the name of two people mentioned in the First Book of Chronicles.

Eshtemoa, Judah[edit]

Eshtemoa was an ancient city in the Judaean Mountains, mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible.[2] According to the Book of Joshua, It was a Levitical city belonging to the Tribe of Judah, which was allotted, with the common land round it, to the priests (Joshua 15:50, 21:14). It is later mentioned in the 1 Samuel as one of the cities that received spoils following king David's victory over the Amalekites at Ziklag.[3] It was one of the places frequented by King David as a fugitive (1 Samuel 30: 26-28).

In the 4th-century CE, Eshtemoa was described by Eusebius in his Onomasticon as a large Jewish village.[4][5] The Jerusalem Talmud mentions Eshtemoa as the place of residence of an amora (scholar) who dwelt in the town during the 4th century by the name of Hasa of Eshtemoa.[6]

Eshtemoa is identified with as-Samu, a village about 3½ miles east of Socoh, and about 9 miles south of Hebron, around which there are ancient remains of the ruined city.

Findings[edit]

In 1934, the remains of an ancient Jewish synagogue, now known as the Eshtemoa synagogue, were unearthed at as-Samu'. The synagogue is dated to around the 4th–5th century CE.[7][4] Four seven-branched menorahs were discovered carved onto door lintels and one of them is displayed in Jerusalem's Rockefeller Museum.[8]

Eshtemoa synagogue, an ancient Jewish synagogue found a as-Samu' and dated to the 4th–5th century CE

In 1971, five pottery jars dated to the 9th-8th centuries BCE were found in as-Samu', bearing inscriptions written in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet. These jars contained one of the largest silver hoards ever found in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.[9]

People[edit]

Eshtemoa is mentioned twice in the Hebrew Bible as a name of a person:

References[edit]

  1. ^ Burney, C. F. (1911). "On Certain South-Palestinian Place-Names". The Journal of Theological Studies. os–XIII (49): 83–84. doi:10.1093/jts/os-XIII.49.83. ISSN 0022-5185. Eshtemoa', from שמע, 'hear', may denote 'place where prayer is heard'.
  2. ^ a b Joshua 15:50 Joshua 21:14 1 Samuel 30:28
  3. ^ Yeivin, Ze'ev (2004). "The Synagogue at Eshtemoa' in Light of the 1969 Excavations". 'Atiqot / עתיקות. 48: 155–158. ISSN 0792-8424. JSTOR 23462909.
  4. ^ a b Avraham Negev; Shimon Gibson (July 2005). Archaeological encyclopedia of the Holy Land. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 167–168. ISBN 978-0-8264-8571-7. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  5. ^ Eusebius, Onomasticon - The Place Names of Divine Scripture, (ed.) R. Steven Notley & Ze'ev Safrai, Brill: Leiden 2005, p. 84 (§429), note 429 ISBN 0-391-04217-3
  6. ^ Ben-Zion Rosenfeld (2009). Torah Centers and Rabbinic Activity in Palestine 70-400 C.e: History and Geographic Distribution. BRILL. p. 81. ISBN 978-90-04-17838-0. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  7. ^ Mayer, L.A.; Reifenberg, A. (1939). "The Synagogue of Eshtemoa - Preliminary Report". Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society (JPOS). 19: 314–326. OCLC 873183425.
  8. ^ Léon Yarden (1971). The tree of light: a study of the Menorah, the seven-branched lampstand. East and West Library. p. 151. ISBN 9780852222805. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  9. ^ Kletter, Raz; Brand, Etty (1998). "A New Look at the Iron Age Silver Hoard from Eshtemoa". Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. 114 (2): 139–154. ISSN 0012-1169. JSTOR 27931588.

See also[edit]

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