![Tel_Dotan3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Tel_Dotan3.jpg)
Dothan (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: ) (also Dotan) was a location mentioned twice in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
'' 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 ...
town of
Bir al-Basha,
and ten kilometers (driving distance) southwest of
Jenin, near Dotan Junction of
Route 60.
[Robinson, Edward]
Biblical Researches in Palestine and the Adjacent Regions
second edition, page 122; "footnote 434: We learned afterwards from Mr Van de Velde, that he too had unexpectedly lighted upon Dothan a few days earlier."
Identification
![1940s Survey of Palestine map of Tel Dothan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/1940s_Survey_of_Palestine_map_of_Tel_Dothan.png)
The modern consensus is that the archaeological site of Tel Dothan corresponds to ancient Dothan.
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 Chris ...
places Dothan 12 miles to the north of
Sebaste; broadly consistent with the modern location.
Other proposed locations
Van de Velde noted that the
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
and later mediaeval travellers had located Dothan at the village of
Hittin
Hittin ( ar, حطّين, transliterated ''Ḥiṭṭīn'' ( ar, حِـطِّـيْـن) or ''Ḥaṭṭīn'' ( ar, حَـطِّـيْـن)) was a Palestinian village located west of Tiberias before it was occupied by Israel during the 1948 Arab- ...
.
Hebrew Bible
Dothan is first mentioned in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
'' Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...
) in connection with the history of
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
, as the place in which the sons of
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
(Israel) had moved their sheep and, at the suggestion of
Judah, the brothers sold Joseph to the
Ishmaelite merchants (). It later appears as the residence of
Elisha (
Second Book of Kings
The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...
, ) and the scene of a vision of chariots and horses of fire surrounding the mountain on which the city stood.
![Northern views](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Northern_views._Joseph%27s_Well_at_Dothan.jpg)
The plain near Dothan is also mentioned in the
apocrypha
Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
l
Book of Judith.
History and archaeology
Northern kingdom of Israel (Samaria)
The city served as an
Israelite
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
administrative centre, and archaeologist have discovered a large complex and
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
inscriptions at the site.
A bronze bull has been found in an Israelite sanctuary east of Tell Dothan, in the mountains of Samaria, dated to around the 11th century, which may be related to the episode of the golden calf.
Crusader period
Castellum Beleismum (Latin) or Chastiau St Job (medieval French)
was the Frankish name of a tower built by the
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
on the ancient tell in 1156 and given to the
Hospitallers
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...
in 1187.
Modern discovery
Charles William Meredith van de Velde visited the site in 1851, and was considered the first modern traveller to visit it.
He described the discovery in his 1854 book:
...I saw a huge tell at the distance of only a few hundred yards from our way, covered over with ruins, and the fragment of an ancient aqueduct, that had been supported on arches. I asked Abu Monsur the name of the tell, and the answer was, "Haida Dothan" (that is, Dothan). "Dothan," I asked, "Dothan?" "Nahm; Dothan, Dothan, Dothan!" exclaimed the testy old shech, as if hurt at my not believing him at the instant. My object in reiterating the question was to get him to repeat the name; for the discovery of Dothan was a very special circumstance, with respect to which I was anxious to assure myself, by having the name properly pronounced.
Van de Velde's visit had taken place a few days before Edward Robinson's;
[ Robinson credited van ve Velde with the discovery.]
Modern use of the name
The Israeli settlement of Mevo Dotan
Mevo Dotan ( he, מְבוֹא דּוֹתָן, , Dothan's approach) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Located in the south of the Dothan Valley east of Baqa al-Gharbiyye and adjacent to the Palestinian town of Ya'bad, it is organised a ...
(lit. ''Approach to Dothan'') is named for the city, as is Dothan, Alabama
Dothan () is a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties and the Houston county seat in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is Alabama's eighth-largest city, with a population of 71,072 at the 2020 census. It is near the state's southeastern corner ...
in the US.
See also
*Archaeology of Israel
The archaeology of Israel is the study of the archaeology of the present-day Israel, stretching from prehistory through three millennia of documented history. The ancient Land of Israel was a geographical bridge between the political and cultu ...
*List of biblical places
This is an incomplete list of places, lands, and countries mentioned in the Bible. Some places may be listed twice, under two different names. Only places having their own Wikipedia articles are included: see also the list of minor biblical places ...
* Jubb Yussef (Joseph's Well) in Galilee, believed by Muslims to be the site of Joseph's pit or well
References
Bibliography
* (pp
116
-117)
* (p
215
* (pp
219
222)
* (p
57
* (p
194
* (pp
316
- 317)
* (pp.
149
150)
{{coord, 32, 24, 48.70, N, 35, 14, 23.50, E, scale:25000_source:wiki, display=title
External links
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11
IAA
Wikimedia commons
Dothan: Remains from the tel (1953-1964), Daniel M. Master
Book of Genesis
Torah cities
Canaanite cities
Archaeological sites in Samaria
Archaeological sites in the West Bank
Joseph (Genesis)