Khirbet et-Tibbâneh (''Hurvat Tibneh'' / ''Kh. Tibna'')( ar, خربة التبانة), sometimes referred to by
historical geographers
Historical geography is the branch of geography that studies the ways in which geographic phenomena have changed over time. It is a synthesizing discipline which shares both topical and methodological similarities with history, anthropology, eco ...
as the ''Timnah of Judah'' (), is a small ruin situated on a high ridge in the
Judaean mountains
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 wh ...
, in the ''Sansan Nature Reserve'', above sea level, about 3 kilometers east of
Aviezer
Aviezer () is a small religious moshav in central Israel. Located seven kilometres south of Beit Shemesh, at the east end of the Elah valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
Th ...
and ca. 7 kilometers southeast of
Bayt Nattif
Bayt Nattif or Beit Nattif ( ar, بيت نتّيف, and alternatively) was a Palestinian Arab village, located some 20 kilometers (straight line distance) southwest of Jerusalem, midway on the ancient Roman road between Beit Guvrin and Jerusal ...
.
The site is thought to have formerly borne the name Timnath (distinct from the
Tel Batash-Timnah site associated with the biblical story of
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 ...
in the lower foothills of Judea along the
Sorek valley
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 ...
). ''Khirbet et-Tibbaneh'' or ''Timnah'' is perched upon a high mountain ridge rising up from the
Elah valley
The Valley of Elah or Ella Valley ("the valley of the terebinth"; from the he, עמק האלה ''Emek HaElah''), called in ar, وادي السنط, Wadi es-Sunt, is a long, shallow valley in Israel and the West Bank best known as the place des ...
and is where the episode of
Judah and
Tamar is thought to have taken place.
Etymology
Orientalists,
Clermont-Ganneau
Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau (19 February 1846 – 15 February 1923) was a noted French Orientalist and archaeologist.
Biography
Clermont-Ganneau was born in Paris, the son of Simon Ganneau, a sculptor and mystic who died in 1851 when Cler ...
and
Edward Robinson, have made a point in showing the etymological Hebrew origins of certain Arabic place-names, saying that the Hebrew place-name Timnah was to be recognised in the Arabic corruption, ''Tibneh'' or ''Tibna''.
John William McGarvey
John William (J. W.) McGarvey (March 1, 1829 – October 6, 1911) was a minister, author, and religious educator in the American Restoration Movement. He was particularly associated with the College of the Bible in Lexington, Kentucky (today Lex ...
(1829–1911) who quotes
Conder on the linguistic evidence of the name says that, in Arabic, "the substitution of B for M is so common (as in Tibneh for
Timnah
Timnath or Timnah was a Philistine city in Canaan that is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in and in connection with Samson. Modern archaeologists identify the ancient site with a tell lying on a flat, alluvial plain, located in the Sorek Valley c ...
)..." Both names have been preserved in the respective sites.
Site and identification
In ancient Jewish classical literature, two distinct sites in the land of Judah bore the name Timnath (Timnah).
['']Encyclopaedia Judaica
The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a 22-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, holidays, langua ...
'' (vol. 15), Jerusalem 1971, p. 1147 (s.v. Timnah) The
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua ( he, סֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ ', Tiberian: ''Sēp̄er Yŏhōšūaʿ'') is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Isra ...
records the names of two towns, both in the tribal inheritance of Judah and having the identical name of Timnath; the one Timnath
(Josh. 15:10) being transcribed alongside the name of
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 ...
, while the other Timnath
(Josh. 15:57) being transcribed alongside the name of Gibeah (of Judah), a town said to be
Jab'a
Jab'a ( ar, الجبعة) is a Palestinian village in the central West Bank, located 17 kilometers north of Hebron and 15 kilometers southwest of Bethlehem. Located three kilometers east of the Green Line, it is located in the Seam Zone, surroun ...
. The
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...
(''Sotah'' 1:8) relates the following tradition: "
Rav
''Rav'' (or ''Rab,'' Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah; a Jewish spiritual guide; or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (1:6) states that:
The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew for ''rabbi''. (For a more nuan ...
has said: There were two Timnaths; one mentioned in connection with
Judah, and the other mentioned in connection with
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 ...
." The Talmudic exegetes have explained that Samson, who lived in the hilltop town of
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 ...
near Beit Shemesh, is said to have 'gone down' to Timnath, but Judah is said to have 'gone up' to Timnath. ''Kh. et-Tibbâneh'' is thought to be the Timnath (Timnah) mentioned in connection with Judah and Tamar
(Genesis 38: 13, 14), although this view remains inconclusive.
''Khirbet et Tibbaneh'' (''Tibna'') was visited by
Palestine Exploration Fund
The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem, and is the oldest known organization in the world created specifically for the study ...
explorers,
Conder and
Kitchener, in the late 19th-century, where they described the ruin as follows: "Timnah - A town of Judah
(Josh. XV. 57), mentioned with Gibeah. There is a ruin called ''Tibna'' near
Jeb'a, in the higher hills of ʾArkûb, distinct from Tibneh
(Sheet XVI), which represents the Timnah of Joshua XV.10."
Others are unsure of its identification, since the site has yet to be fully excavated.
Site's description
The ancient ruin sits on a high mountain ridge about 2 kilometers west of ''Khirbet Sanasin''. On its site is found the remnant of a square Iron Age fortress which apparently offered security along the route from the
valley of Elah
The Valley of Elah or Ella Valley ("the valley of the terebinth"; from the he, עמק האלה ''Emek HaElah''), called in ar, وادي السنط, Wadi es-Sunt, is a long, shallow valley in Israel and the West Bank best known as the place des ...
to
Betar
The Betar Movement ( he, תנועת בית"ר), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. Chapters sprang up across Europe, even during World War II. After t ...
and to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
[Meltzer, M. (2000), p. 213] The area of the fortress is 30 x 30 meters (98 x 98 feet), where two walls made of
fieldstone
Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...
s and ashlar masonry still remain, whose hollowed spaces were filled-in with smaller stones.
Amihai Mazar
Amihai "Ami" Mazar ( he, עמיחי מזר; born November 19, 1942) is an Israeli archaeologist. Born in Haifa, Israel (then the British Mandate of Palestine), he has been since 1994 a professor at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew Univ ...
suggests that the structure served as either a fortress or an administrative center, and most likely manned by a garrison to secure the roads between the major towns of the
Shephelah
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 ...
and the string of settlements along the edge of the hill region.
The mound is almost entirely strewn with razed boulders, and ancillary walls, partially standing, are to be seen on the ruin. On its eastern side is a steep declivity, descending down into the valley below, ''Wadi Tibbaneh'' (''Wadi Tibna''), where it joins Etzion Valley (''Wady el Jindy'') to its south at a drop of about . The valley seemed to have been used for horticulture in ages past. Sherds dot the landscape, with occasional
carob
The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit pods, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and landscap ...
trees,
oaks and
buckthorns. Near the site is a modern-day quarry and two ancient cisterns.
In close proximity to ''Khirbet et-Tibbaneh'' is the old military patrol road, leading from
Tzur Hadassah
Tzur Hadassah ( he, צוּר הֲדַסָּה, ''lit.'' Rock of Hadassah) is a town located in the Jerusalem Corridor, located southwest of Jerusalem, at an altitude of 755 meters above sea level, located on Route 375 west of Betar Ilit, about ...
to
Aviezer
Aviezer () is a small religious moshav in central Israel. Located seven kilometres south of Beit Shemesh, at the east end of the Elah valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of .
History
Th ...
.
History
''Khirbet et-Tibbaneh'' (''Tibna'') is thought to be the "Tapuna" mentioned in the list of
Thothmes III
Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 28 ...
.
Israeli archaeologist
Avi-Yonah
Dr. Michael Avi-Yonah (September 26, 1904 – March 26, 1974) was an Israeli archaeologist and historian. During his career he was a Professor of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and served as secretary of Israel's Department of ...
also thinks the site to have been the ''Timnah'' (Thamnatha) mentioned in the ''
First Book of Maccabees
The First Book of Maccabees, also known as First Maccabees (written in shorthand as 1 Maccabees or 1 Macc.), is a book written in Hebrew by an anonymousRappaport, U., ''47. 1 Maccabees'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)The Oxford Bible Comme ...
'' (and later mentioned by
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
), one of several places fortified by
Bacchides in ca. 160 BCE after the death of
Judas Maccabeus
Judah Maccabee (or Judas Maccabeus, also spelled Machabeus, or Maccabæus, Hebrew: יהודה המכבי, ''Yehudah HaMakabi'') was a Jewish priest (''kohen'') and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleuci ...
. Others suggest that the account in ''Maccabees'' may refer to another Timna (Thamnatha), that called ''
Kh. Tibne'' in south-western Samaria, in Mount Ephraim, about 14 kilometers (9 miles) northwest of
Bethel
Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...
.
It is generally accepted that the Mishnaic scholar,
Simeon of Timnah, was born and raised in one of the two Timnahs during the waning years of the Second Temple period, based on the vowels assigned to his name, ( he, שמעון התִּימְנִי, translit=Shimon HaTimni). He is noted for saying: "A
bastard
Bastard may refer to:
Parentage
* Illegitimate child, a child born to unmarried parents
** Bastard (law of England and Wales), illegitimacy in English law
People People with the name
* Bastard (surname), including a list of people with that na ...
is anyone who is born from an
llegalunion for which his parents are liable to
kareth
The Hebrew term ''kareth'' ("cutting off" he, כָּרֵת, ), or extirpation, is a form of punishment for sin, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and later Jewish writings. Kareth in its simplistic meaning refers to an individual being expelled fr ...
."
(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 ...
''Yebamot'' 4:13; Babylonian Talmud, ''Yebamot'' 49a), and which teaching comes to exclude a single parent who gave birth to a child outside of wedlock, and whose child is often wrongly called "
bastard
Bastard may refer to:
Parentage
* Illegitimate child, a child born to unmarried parents
** Bastard (law of England and Wales), illegitimacy in English law
People People with the name
* Bastard (surname), including a list of people with that na ...
" under common law.
Archaeological finds
As of 2018, the site at ''Kh. Tibbaneh'' has yet to be excavated. The site was surveyed by Dani Weiss, Boaz Zissu and Gideon Solimany 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 ...
, during which survey they discovered the segment of an ancient road (200 m. long, 2.5 m. wide). A cursory review of the site has revealed late Iron II sherds.
[ Mazar, A. (1981), p. 246]
Gallery
File:Khirbet et-Tibbaneh - 2.jpg, Khirbet et-Tibbâneh
File:Khirbet et-Tibbaneh.jpg, Walls of Timnah
File:General ruins at Khirbet et-Tibbaneh.jpg, General ruins
File:Khirbet et-Tibbaneh (Tel Timna).jpg, Timnath of Judah
File:Khirbet et-Tibbaneh (Timna of Judah).jpg, Khirbet et-Tibbâneh
File:Timnah - wall.jpg, Remains of thick wall at Khirbet et-Tibbâneh
File:Ruin of Tibbaneh.jpg, Ruin of Timnath (Tibbaneh)
File:Site at Khirbet et-Tibbaneh.jpg, Site at Khirbet et-Tibbâneh
File:Stone at Khirbet et-Tibbaneh.jpg, Stone at Khirbet et-Tibbâneh
File:Thick wall at Timna - Khirbet et-Tibbaneh.jpg, Thick wall at Timnath ruin
File:Three foundation stones.jpg, Three foundation stones
File:View looking north from Tel Tibna.jpg, View looking north from ruin
File:View looking south from Tel Timna.jpg, View looking south
File:Walled structure.jpg, Walled structure
References
Bibliography
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* (Hebrew)
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* () (Hebrew)
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External links
*Survey of Western Palestine, 1880 Map, Map 17
IAA Wikimedia commons
Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is a media repository of free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects in ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khirbet et-Tibbaneh
Historic Jewish communities
Ancient villages in Israel
Ancient Jewish settlements of Judaea
Former populated places in Israel
District of Jerusalem
Archaeological sites in Israel
Canaanite cities
Biblical geography
Iron Age sites in Israel
Ancient Israel and Judah
Hebrew Bible cities
Tells (archaeology)
Biblical cities
Valley of Elah