Zanoah ( he, זָנוֹחַ) is a

moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...

in central

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Located adjacent to

Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh ( he, בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ ) is a city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of in . History Tel Beit Shemesh The small archaeological tell northeast of the modern city wa ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Mateh Yehuda Regional Council Mateh Yehuda Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית מטה יהודה, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Yehuda'', ar, مجلس إقليمي ماتيه يهودا ) is a regional council in the Jerusalem District of Israel. In 2008 it was home to 3 ...

. In it had a population of .

Modern history

The village was established in 1950 by

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

, and was initially named ''Dayraban Gimel'' after the nearby depopulated

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village of

Dayr Aban Dayr Aban (also spelled Deir Aban; ar, دير آبان) was a Palestinian Arab village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict, located on the lower slope of a high ridge that formed the western slope of a mountain, to the east of Beit Shemesh. It was for ...

. In the following years the founders left and were replaced by immigrants from

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Education

The Beit Shemesh Yeshiva is located in Zanoah. Most of the students are from Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef. Aside from

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

study, the curriculum includes English language and mathematics, and unlike many such institutions in Israel today, students study for the

Bagrut Te'udat Bagrut (, ''lit.'' "maturity certificate", Arabic: شهادة بجروت) is a certificate that attests that a student has successfully passed Israel's high school matriculation examination. Bagrut is a prerequisite for higher education ...

matriculation exams. From 2004 to 2015, when it closed, Zanoah was also the home of Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah, which offered a

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is typically a year-long break before or after college/university during which students engage in various educational and developmental activities, such as travel or some type of regular work. Gap yea ...

program for international English-speaking students.

History of archaeological site

The old site lies on a hill, adjacent to the watercourse Nahal Zanoah, a stream that runs north and drains into

Nahal Sorek Naḥal Sorek ( he, נחל שורק, translation=Brook of Sorek; ar, وادي الصرار, translit=Wadi al-Sirar), also Soreq, is one of the largest, most important drainage basins in the Judean Hills. It is mentioned in the Book of Judges 16:4 ...

. Although listed in Joshua 15:34 as being a city in the plain, it is actually partly in the hill country, partly in the plain. The ruins of ''Khurbet Zanuʻ'' which lie on a high hill south of the moshav are thought to be the ancient village of Zanoah, mentioned in Egyptian letters, later part of the

tribe of Judah According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah (, ''Shevet Yehudah'') was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel, named after Judah, the son of Jacob. Judah was the first tribe to take its place in the Land of Israel, occupying the southern ...

(

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

15:34), and in the "

Second Temple period The Second Temple period in Jewish history lasted approximately 600 years (516 BCE - 70 CE), during which the Second Temple existed. It started with the return to Zion and the construction of the Second Temple, while it ended with the First Jewis ...

... reinhabited," as recorded in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

(

Nehemiah Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. He was governor of Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (465–424 BC). The name is pronounced ...

3:13). During the 1st-century CE, the village was known by the name ''Zenoha''. An

overhead power line An overhead power line is a structure used in electric power transmission and distribution to transmit electrical energy across large distances. It consists of one or more uninsulated electrical cables (commonly multiples of three for three-p ...

now runs through the ancient site. The site reeks with antiquity, with the signs of an old settlement everywhere. The area of the old settlement is extensive, with razed structures that once stood as walls and houses. Shards of broken pottery are strewn extensively throughout the grounds, with several open-mouthed cisterns and antres. Zanoah is mentioned in the

Book of Nehemiah The Book of Nehemiah in the Hebrew Bible, largely takes the form of a first-person memoir concerning the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile by Nehemiah, a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court, and the dedic ...

as one of the towns resettled by the Jewish exiles returning from the

Babylonian captivity The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon, the capital city of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, following their defeat ...

and who helped to construct the walls of Jerusalem during the reign of

Artaxerxes I Artaxerxes I (, peo, 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ἀρταξέρξης) was the fifth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, from 465 to December 424 BC. He was the third son of Xerxes I. He may have been the " Artasy ...

(Xerxes). Nehemiah further records that those returnees were the very descendants of the people who had formerly resided in the town before their banishment from the country, who had all returned to live in their former places of residence. Whether the reference there refers to the Zanoah in the

Shefelah The Shephelah or Shfela, lit. "lowlands" ( hbo, הַשְּפֵלָה ''hašŠǝfēlā'', also Modern Hebrew: , ''Šǝfēlat Yəhūda'', the "Judaean foothills"), is a transitional region of soft-sloping rolling hills in south-central Israel str ...

or to the Zanoah in the Judaean mountains is now unclear, as there were two places by the same name. According to the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

, compiled in the 2nd-century CE (Munich MS., ''Menahot'' 83b), the finest of the wheat used to grow in the valley adjacent to Zanoah, from whence it was taken for the offering of the ''Omer'' in the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

(3rd–4th century CE) mentions Zanoah in his ''

Onomasticon Onomasticon may refer to: *Onomasticon (Eusebius) *Onomasticon of Amenope *Onomasticon of Joan Coromines *Onomasticon of Julius Pollux *Onomasticon of Johann Glandorp *''Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum Onomasticon may refer to: *Onomasticon (Eusebius ...

'' as a village "within the borders of Eleutheropolis (Beit Gubrin) on the way to Ailia (Jerusalem)," and which was still inhabited in his day. C.R. Conder and H.H. Kitchener described the ruins of ''Khurbet Zanûa'', visited by them in 1881. An archaeological survey of the site was conducted in 2008 by Pablo Betzer on behalf of the

Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of ...

(IAA).

Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2008
Survey Permit # S-44 The site has never been excavated.

Gallery of the nearby Zanoah Ruin (Kh. Zanua)

File:Old house in the Old Zanoah Ruin.jpg, Zanoah ruin, old house of recycled stones File:Remains of arched doorway of house - Zanoah.jpg, Arched doorway, Kh. Zanua (Old Zanoah) File:Zanoah ruins - voussoir stone.jpg, Voussoir stone in Zanoah File:Gaping hole of cistern.jpg, Gaping hole in cistern at the Zanoah Ruin File:General ruins of Kh. Zanoah.jpg, General view of ruins at the Zanoah ruin (Khurbet Zanua) File:Khirbet Zanoah(cistern).jpg, Open cistern at the Zanoah ruin File:Khirbet Zanoah, near Beit Shemesh.jpg, Open pit in the Old Zanoah File:Mouth of pit.jpg, Stone covering of cistern File:Razed stones at Zanoah Ruin.jpg, Razed blocks of hewn stones at Zanoah File:Stone relics - Kh. Zanoah.jpg, Stone relics at ruin of Zanoah File:Rock-carved foundation of house at Zanoah ruin.jpg, Rock-carved foundation of house in the Zanoah ruin File:View of Khirbet Zanoah.jpg, General view of ruins at Khurbet Zanua (Zanoah) File:Stone relic of Zanoah Ruin.jpg, Stone relic of Zanoah File:House foundation at Kh. Zanoah.jpg, House foundation at Kh. Zanoah

Notes

References

External links

Zanoah in Antiquity
Archaeological Survey of Israel {{Mateh Yehuda Regional Council Moshavim Populated places established in 1950 Populated places in Jerusalem District Hebrew Bible places Canaanite cities 1950 establishments in Israel Biblical cities Talmud places Yemeni-Jewish culture in Israel