( he, אֶשְׁתָּאוֹל) 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 ...

, and a

biblical 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 ...

location mentioned in the Books of Joshua and

Judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

and in the

first Book of Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...

. Located north of , 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 .

History

Antiquity

In 2013, archaeological excavations conducted by 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 ...

near discovered the oldest structure ever found in the

Shfela 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 ...

region of the

Judean Hills The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills ( he, הרי יהודה, translit=Harei Yehuda) or the Hebron Mountains ( ar, تلال الخليل, translit=Tilal al-Khalīl, links=, lit=Hebron Mountains), is a mountain range in Palestine and Israel whe ...

, dating back to the first permanent human settlement in the area some 10,000 years ago. Excavations at the site continued into 2014, led by A. Yaroshevich on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Biblical era

was in the territory allotted to the

Tribe of Dan The Tribe of Dan (, "Judge") was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the Torah. They were allocated a coastal portion of land when the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, later moving northwards. Biblical narrative In th ...

(), and located on the border 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 ...

. Although listed in as being a city in the plain, it is actually partly in the hill country, partly in the plain. According to the biblical narrative,

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

began to be agitated by the Spirit of God in the locality of Mahaneh Dan (the camp of Dan), the district "between

Zorah Zorah ( he, צרעה) or Tzorah (), was a biblical town in the Judaean Foothills. It is identified with the depopulated village of Sar'a. It has been identified with the former village of Sar'a, now often referred to as Tel Tzora. Location Zor ...

and " (). After his death in Gaza, Samson's body was brought back for burial in the tomb of his father Manoah between and Zorah (). Five scouts from and Zorah were sent out to find a land suitable for the tribe of Dan. ().

Modern

Modern was founded on the lands of the depopulated

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

villages of and after the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

. It was part of a plan to establish settlements in the Jerusalem corridor in order to create a contiguous bloc between the coastal plain and

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. The first residents were Jewish

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 ...

, who settled there in December 1949. They worked in land reclamation and forestry. The

Jewish National Fund Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...

(JNF) established a 45-

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...

nursery in to supply saplings for JNF forests. Later, the moshav branched out into poultry and other agricultural enterprises. At the end of the 1990s, the moshav absorbed 100 new families.

Gallery

EshtaolFeb282022.jpg, Eshtaol Eshtaol (997009452426205171.jpg, Eshtaol,

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

Boris Carmi Boris Carmi (1 January 1914 in Moscow, as Boris Winograd – 18 September 2002 in Tel Aviv) was a Russian-born Israeli photographer. He is considered as one of the pioneers of Israeli photojournalism and documented the very beginnings of the foun ...

, Meitar collection,

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא� ...

References

Bibliography

*Golani, Amir (27/11/2008)
Eshta’ol
''Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel'', No. 120. *Solimany, Gideon (11/03/2009)
Eshta’ol Junction
''Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel'', No. 121. *Golani, Amir and Dan Storchan (01/01/2009)
Eshta’ol
''Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel'', No. 121. *Freikman, Michael (23/07/2010)
Eshta’ol
''Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel'', No. 122. *Storchan, Dan (20/12/2010)
Eshta’ol, Survey of Sha‘ar Ha-Gāy–Hartuv Junctions
''Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel'', No. 122. *Storchan, Dan (22/11/2012)
Eshta’ol
''Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel'', No. 124.

External links

Moshav website
{{Mateh Yehuda Regional Council Moshavim Populated places established in 1949 Populated places in Jerusalem District Yemeni-Jewish culture in Israel Ancient Jewish settlements of Judaea 1949 establishments in Israel