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Coordinates: 32°14′02″N 35°16′24″E / 32.234°N 35.2733°E / 32.234; 35.2733
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'''Mount Ebal''' ( {{lang-he|{{Script/Hebr|הַר עֵיבָל}}}} ''Har ʿĒyḇāl''; {{lang-ar|جبل عيبال}} ''Jabal ‘Aybāl'') is one of the two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the city of [[Nablus]] in the [[West Bank]] ([[Bible|biblical]] ''[[Shechem]]''), and forms the northern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the southern side being formed by [[Mount Gerizim]].<ref>[http://biblicalstudies.info/top10/ebal-from-east-tb.gif Photograph of the southern face of the mountain]</ref> The mountain is one of the highest peaks in the West Bank and rises to {{convert|940|m|abbr=on}} above [[sea level]], some {{convert|60|m|abbr=on}} higher than Mount Gerizim.<ref name="Sturgis"/> Mount Ebal is approximately {{convert|17|km2|abbr=on}} in area,<ref name="Sturgis"/> and is composed primarily of limestone.<ref name="Cheyne">Cheyne and Black, ''[[Encyclopedia Biblica]]''</ref> The slopes of the mountain contain several large caverns which were probably originally quarries,<ref name="Cheyne"/> and at the base towards the north are several tombs.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia">''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]''</ref>
'''Mount Ebal''' ({{langx|he|הַר עֵיבָל|Har ʿĒyḇāl}}; {{langx|ar|جَبَل عَيْبال|Jabal ʿAybāl}}) is one of the two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the city of [[Nablus]] in the [[West Bank]] ([[Bible|biblical]] ''[[Shechem]]''), and forms the northern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the southern side being formed by [[Mount Gerizim]].<ref>[http://biblicalstudies.info/top10/ebal-from-east-tb.gif Photograph of the southern face of the mountain]</ref> The mountain is one of the highest peaks in the West Bank and rises to {{convert|935|m|abbr=on}} above [[sea level]], some {{convert|60|m|abbr=on}} higher than Mount Gerizim.<ref name="Sturgis">[[Matthew Sturgis]], ''It Ain't Necessarily So'', {{ISBN|0-7472-4510-X}}</ref> Mount Ebal is approximately {{convert|17|km2|abbr=on}} in area,<ref name="Sturgis"/> and is composed primarily of limestone.<ref name="Cheyne">Cheyne and Black, ''[[Encyclopedia Biblica]]''</ref> The slopes of the mountain contain several large caverns which were probably originally quarries,<ref name="Cheyne"/> and at the base towards the north are several tombs.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia">''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]''</ref>
[[File:View of Mount Ebal from the city of Nablus.jpg|thumb|View of Mount Ebal from the city of Nablus]]
[[File:View of Mount Ebal from the city of Nablus.jpg|thumb|View of Mount Ebal from the city of Nablus]]


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In advance of the [[Israelites]]' entry to the [[Promised Land]], {{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|11:29|HE}} records [[Moses]]' direction that "when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal".
In advance of the [[Israelites]]' entry to the [[Promised Land]], {{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|11:29|HE}} records [[Moses]]' direction that "when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal".


In the [[masoretic text]] and the [[Septuagint]] version of [[Deuteronomy]] 27, an instruction is given to build an [[Altar (Bible)|altar]] on Mount Ebal, constructed from natural (rather than cut) stones, to place stones there and whiten them with lime,<ref>{{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|27:4-6|HE}}</ref><ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia" /> to make [[korban|peace offerings on the altar]], eat there, and write the words of ''this law'' on the stone.<ref>{{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|27:4-8,29|HE}}</ref> According to the [[Samaritan Pentateuch]] and a [[Qumran]] fragment, this instruction actually concerns [[Mount Gerizim]], which the [[Samaritan]]s view as a holy site;<ref name="Peake" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Ulrich|first=Eugene|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=riNKCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA221|title=The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Developmental Composition of the Bible|date=2015-05-20|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-29603-9|pages=221|language=en}}</ref> some scholars believe that the Samaritan version is probably more accurate in this respect, the compilers of the masoretic text and authors of the Septuagint being likely to be biased against the Samaritans.<ref name="Peake" /> Recent [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] work supports the accuracy of the Samaritan Pentateuch's designation of Mount Gerizim rather than Mount Ebal as the sacred site.<ref>Charlesworth, James H. [http://blogs.owu.edu/magazine/2012/07/16/the-discovery-of-an-unknown-dead-sea-scroll-the-original-text-of-deuteronomy-27/ "The Discovery of an Unknown Dead Sea Scroll: The Original Text of Deuteronomy 27?"] ''OWU Magazine''; 2012/07/16</ref>
In the [[masoretic text]] and the [[Septuagint]] version of [[Deuteronomy]] 27, an instruction is given to build an [[Altar (Bible)|altar]] on Mount Ebal, constructed from natural (rather than cut) stones, to place stones there and whiten them with lime,<ref>{{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|27:4-6|HE}}</ref><ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia" /> to make [[korban|peace offerings on the altar]], eat there, and write the words of ''this law'' on the stone.<ref>{{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|27:4-8,29|HE}}</ref> According to the [[Samaritan Pentateuch]] and a [[Qumran]] fragment, this instruction actually concerns [[Mount Gerizim]], which the [[Samaritan]]s view as a holy site;<ref name="Peake" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=Ulrich|first=Eugene|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=riNKCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA221|title=The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Developmental Composition of the Bible|date=2015-05-20|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-29603-9|pages=221|language=en}}</ref> some scholars believe that the Samaritan version is probably more accurate in this respect, the compilers of the masoretic text and authors of the Septuagint being likely to be biased against the Samaritans.<ref name="Peake" /> Recent [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] work supports the accuracy of the Samaritan Pentateuch's designation of Mount Gerizim rather than Mount Ebal as the sacred site.<ref>Charlesworth, James H. [http://blogs.owu.edu/magazine/2012/07/16/the-discovery-of-an-unknown-dead-sea-scroll-the-original-text-of-deuteronomy-27/ "The Discovery of an Unknown Dead Sea Scroll: The Original Text of Deuteronomy 27?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126051707/http://blogs.owu.edu/magazine/the-discovery-of-an-unknown-dead-sea-scroll-the-original-text-of-deuteronomy-27/ |date=2015-11-26 }} ''OWU Magazine''; 2012/07/16</ref> Christophe Nihan and Herve Gonzalez wrote in 2018 that it is now widely agreed that the reading "on Mt. Gerizem" is older than that referring to Mt. Ebal which they say "arguably represents a later, polemical revision."<ref name="Nihan">{{cite book |author1=Christophe Nihan |author2=Herve Gonzalez |editor1-last=Kartvelt |editor1-first=Magnar |editor2-last=Knoppers |editor2-first=Gary N. |title=The Bible, Qumran, and the Samaritans |date=9 July 2018 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-058141-6 |page=98 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KotsDwAAQBAJ&dq=Dead+Sea+Scrolls+Samaritan+Pentateuch+Mount+Gerizim+Mount+Ebal+altar&pg=PA98 |language=en |chapter=Competing Attitudes toward Samaria in Chronicles and Second Zechariah}}</ref>


An instruction immediately subsequent to this orders that, once this is done, the Israelites should split into two groups, one to stay on Mount Ebal and pronounce curses, while the other goes to Mount Gerizim and pronounces blessings.<ref name="Deu_27_11_13">Deuteronomy 27:11-13</ref> The tribes of [[Tribe of Simeon|Simeon]], [[Tribe of Levi|Levi]], [[Tribe of Judah|Judah]], [[Tribe of Issachar|Issachar]], [[Tribe of Joseph|Joseph]] and [[Tribe of Benjamin|Benjamin]] were to be sent to Gerizim, while those of [[Tribe of Reuben|Reuben]], [[Tribe of Gad|Gad]], [[Tribe of Asher|Asher]], [[Tribe of Zebulun|Zebulun]], [[Tribe of Dan|Dan]] and [[Tribe of Naphtali|Naphtali]], were to remain on Ebal.<ref name="Deu_27_11_13" /> No attempts to explain this division of tribes either by their Biblical [[ethnology]] or by their geographical distribution have been generally accepted in academic circles.<ref name="Peake">''Peake's Commentary on the Bible''</ref> More recently, however, some argue that the tribes were divided as equally as possible given the population's census data given in the Book of Numbers. Specifically, the division found in the book of Deuteronomy is the most equal out of 462 possible divisions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Christensen |first1=Duane |title=Deuteronomy 21:10–34:12, Volume 6B |page=24 (citation to original source)}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Broyde/Weiner |first1=Michael/Steven |title=A MATHEMATICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DIVISION OF THE TRIBES AND THE ROLE OF THE LEVITES ON GRIZIM AND AVAL IN DEUTERONOMY 27 |journal=Tradition |date=1992}}</ref>
An instruction immediately subsequent to this orders that, once this is done, the Israelites should split into two groups, one to stay on Mount Ebal and pronounce curses, while the other goes to Mount Gerizim and pronounces blessings.<ref name="Deu_27_11_13">Deuteronomy 27:11-13</ref> The tribes of [[Tribe of Simeon|Simeon]], [[Tribe of Levi|Levi]], [[Tribe of Judah|Judah]], [[Tribe of Issachar|Issachar]], [[Tribe of Joseph|Joseph]] and [[Tribe of Benjamin|Benjamin]] were to be sent to Gerizim, while those of [[Tribe of Reuben|Reuben]], [[Tribe of Gad|Gad]], [[Tribe of Asher|Asher]], [[Tribe of Zebulun|Zebulun]], [[Tribe of Dan|Dan]] and [[Tribe of Naphtali|Naphtali]], were to remain on Ebal.<ref name="Deu_27_11_13" /> No attempts to explain this division of tribes either by their Biblical [[ethnology]] or by their geographical distribution have been generally accepted in academic circles.<ref name="Peake">''Peake's Commentary on the Bible''</ref>


The text goes on to list twelve curses, which were to be pronounced by the [[Levite]] priesthood and answered by the people with ''[[Amen]]''.<ref>Deuteronomy 15–26</ref> These ''curses'' heavily resemble laws (e.g. ''cursed be he who removes his neighbour's landmark''), and they are not followed by a list of blessings described in a similarly liturgical framework; scholars believe that these more likely represent what was written on the stones, and that the later list of six explicit blessings,<ref>Deuteronomy 28:3–6</ref> six near-corresponding explicit curses,<ref>Deuteronomy 28:16–19</ref> were originally in this position in the text.<ref name="Peake" /> The present position of these explicit blessings and curses, within a larger narrative of promise, and a far larger narrative of threat (respectively), is considered to have been an editorial decision for the post-exilic second version of Deuteronomy (''Dtr2''), to reflect the [[deuteronomist]]'s worldview after the [[Babylonian Captivity|Babylonian exile]] had occurred.<ref name="Peake" />
The text goes on to list twelve curses, which were to be pronounced by the [[Levite]] priesthood and answered by the people with ''[[Amen]]''.<ref>Deuteronomy 15–26</ref> These ''curses'' heavily resemble laws (e.g. ''cursed be he who removes his neighbour's landmark''), and they are not followed by a list of blessings described in a similarly liturgical framework; scholars believe that these more likely represent what was written on the stones, and that the later list of six explicit blessings,<ref>Deuteronomy 28:3–6</ref> six near-corresponding explicit curses,<ref>Deuteronomy 28:16–19</ref> were originally in this position in the text.<ref name="Peake" /> The present position of these explicit blessings and curses, within a larger narrative of promise, and a far larger narrative of threat (respectively), is considered to have been an editorial decision for the post-exilic second version of Deuteronomy (''Dtr2''), to reflect the [[deuteronomist]]'s worldview after the [[Babylonian Captivity|Babylonian exile]] had occurred.<ref name="Peake" />
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In the [[Book of Joshua]], after the Battle of [[Ai (Bible)|Ai]], Joshua built an altar of unhewn stones there, the Israelites then made peace offerings on it, the ''[[Law of Moses]]'' was written onto the stones, and the Israelites split into the two groups specified in Deuteronomy and pronounced blessings and cursings as instructed there.<ref>Joshua 8:31-35</ref> There is some debate between [[textual criticism|textual scholars]] as to whether this incident in Joshua is one account or spliced together two different accounts, where one account refers to Joshua building an altar, and making sacrifices on it, while the other account refers to Joshua placing large stone slabs there that had been whitened with lime and then had the ''[[Torah]]'' inscribed on them.<ref>''Jewish Encyclopedia''</ref> Either way there is general agreement that the sources of Joshua predate Deuteronomy, and hence that the order to build the altar and make the inscription is likely based on these actions in the sources of Joshua, rather than the other way round, possibly to provide an [[aetiology]] for the site acceptable to the deuteronomist's theology.<ref>[[Richard Elliott Friedman]], ''Who wrote the Bible''; ''Jewish Encyclopedia'', ''Book of Joshua'', ''Deuteronomy''</ref>
In the [[Book of Joshua]], after the Battle of [[Ai (Bible)|Ai]], Joshua built an altar of unhewn stones there, the Israelites then made peace offerings on it, the ''[[Law of Moses]]'' was written onto the stones, and the Israelites split into the two groups specified in Deuteronomy and pronounced blessings and cursings as instructed there.<ref>Joshua 8:31-35</ref> There is some debate between [[textual criticism|textual scholars]] as to whether this incident in Joshua is one account or spliced together two different accounts, where one account refers to Joshua building an altar, and making sacrifices on it, while the other account refers to Joshua placing large stone slabs there that had been whitened with lime and then had the ''[[Torah]]'' inscribed on them.<ref>''Jewish Encyclopedia''</ref> Either way there is general agreement that the sources of Joshua predate Deuteronomy, and hence that the order to build the altar and make the inscription is likely based on these actions in the sources of Joshua, rather than the other way round, possibly to provide an [[aetiology]] for the site acceptable to the deuteronomist's theology.<ref>[[Richard Elliott Friedman]], ''Who wrote the Bible''; ''Jewish Encyclopedia'', ''Book of Joshua'', ''Deuteronomy''</ref>


Much later in the Book, when Joshua was old and dying, he gathered the people together at [[Shechem]], and gave a farewell speech, and then wrote ''these words in the book of the Torah of God, and took a great stone, and set it under the doorpost which is in the sanctuary of the Lord''.<ref>Joshua 24:1-27</ref> Depending on the way in which the sources of Joshua were spliced together, this may just be another version of the earlier narrative Joshua placing the whitened stones slabs with the ''Torah'' inscribed on them, and some scholars believe that this narrative may have originally been in an earlier location within the Book of Joshua.<ref name="Peake" />
Much later in the Book, when Joshua was old and dying, he gathered the people together at [[Shechem]], and gave a farewell speech, and then wrote ''these words in the book of the Torah of God, and took a great stone, and set it under the doorpost which is in the sanctuary of the Lord''.<ref>Joshua 24:1-27</ref> Depending on the way in which the sources of Joshua were spliced together, this may just be another version of the earlier narrative of Joshua placing the whitened stones slabs with the ''Torah'' inscribed on them, and some scholars believe that this narrative may have originally been in an earlier location within the Book of Joshua.<ref name="Peake" />


In the Biblical narrative, the ''[[terebinth]]'', seemingly next to the sanctuary, was evidently in existence as early as the time of the [[Biblical Patriarchs|Patriarchs]], as [[Jacob]] is described in the [[Book of Genesis]] as having buried the idols of ''strange gods'' (belonging to his uncle Laban) beneath it.<ref>[http://bible.cc/genesis/35-4.htm Genesis 35:4]</ref> According to a [[midrash]], one of these idols, in the shape of a [[dove]], was later recovered by the Samaritans, and used in their worship on Mount Gerizim.<ref name="ReferenceB">Jewish Encyclopedia</ref>
In the Biblical narrative, the ''[[terebinth]]'', seemingly next to the sanctuary, was evidently in existence as early as the time of the [[Biblical Patriarchs|Patriarchs]], as [[Jacob]] is described in the [[Book of Genesis]] as having buried the [[cult image|idols]] of ''strange gods'' (belonging to his uncle [[Laban (Bible)|Laban]]) beneath it.<ref>[http://bible.cc/genesis/35-4.htm Genesis 35:4]</ref> According to a [[midrash]], one of these idols, in the shape of a [[dove]], was later recovered by the Samaritans, and used in their worship on Mount Gerizim.<ref name="ReferenceB">Jewish Encyclopedia</ref>
[[File:MountEivalView.JPG|thumb|[[Tel Aviv]] and [[Gush Dan]] as seen from Mount Ebal]]
[[File:MountEivalView.JPG|thumb|[[Tel Aviv]] and [[Gush Dan]] as seen from Mount Ebal]]


==Archaeology==
==Archaeology==
===Mount Ebal site (Northern el-Burnat)===
{{Main|Mount Ebal site}}
In 1980, a structure on Mount Ebal was discovered by Israeli archaeologist [[Adam Zertal]] during the [[Manasseh Hill Country Survey]].<ref name=":0">{{cite book |title=The Iron Age I Structure on Mt. Ebal: Excavation and Interpretation |last=Hawkins |first=Ralph K. |publisher=Eisenbrauns |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-57506-243-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzRULwEACAAJ}}</ref> The [[University of Haifa]] and the [[Israel Exploration Society]] excavated the structure over eight seasons from 1982 to 1989, and uncovered [[Scarab (artifact)|scarabs]], seals, and animal bones dating to the [[Iron Age in Israel|Iron Age I]] period.<ref name=":0" /> Today, most archeologists agree that the structure was a site of an early [[Israelites|Israelite]] [[Place of worship|cultic activity]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, and Early Israel, 1300-1100 B.C.E. |last=Killebrew |first=Ann E. |publisher=Society of Biblical Lit. |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-58983-097-4 |pages=160 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VtAmmwapfVAC&pg=PA160 |quote=... the consensus today tends to support the cultic interpretation of this early Iron I site, if not the biblical one (see Mazar 1990a, 348–50; Coogan 1987; 1990; Zevit 2001, 196–201).}}</ref> Zertal suggested that the structure was possibly the [[altar]] described in the [[Book of Joshua]] as where [[Joshua]] built an altar to [[Yahweh]] and renewed the [[Mosaic covenant|Covenant]] in a large ceremony. This identification is controversial and has been disputed by a number of archaeologists.<ref name="Ulrich">{{cite book |last1=Ulrich |first1=Eugene |title=The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Developmental Composition of the Bible |date=14 April 2015 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-29603-9 |page=61 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=riNKCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |access-date=14 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Antti Laato |editor1-last=Koskenniemi |editor1-first=Erkki |editor2-last=Vos |editor2-first=Jacobus Cornelis de |title=Holy Places and Cult |date=2014 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |isbn=978-952-12-3046-2 |page=55 |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/11077633 |access-date=14 July 2023 |chapter=The Cult Site on Mount Ebal: A Biblical Tradition Rewritten and Reinterpreted}}</ref>

⚫
In February 2021 a portion of the site was destroyed by the [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian Authority]] and the stones were ground up and used to pave a nearby road.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lazaroff |first=Tovah |title='Prophet Joshua's Mount Ebal altar site harmed by Palestinian road work' |publisher=[[JPost]] |date=10 February 2021 |url=https://m.jpost.com/archaeology/joshuas-mount-ebal-altar-site-harmed-by-palestinian-road-work-658521/amp|access-date=11 February 2021}}</ref>[[File:IHM_מזבח_הר_עיבל.jpeg|thumb|The structure on Mount Ebal]]

===Western sites===
===Western sites===
The higher part of the mountain, on the west, contains the ruins of some massive walls called ''Al-Kal'ah'', and east of this are other ruins now called ''Kunaisah''.<ref name="ReferenceB" />
The higher part of the mountain, on the west, contains the ruins of some massive walls called ''Al-Kal'ah'', and east of this are other ruins now called ''Kunaisah''.<ref name="ReferenceB" />

===Northern el-Burnat / Mount Ebal's Altar===
Potentially much more significant remains have been found on the northern side.
[[File:IHM_מזבח_הר_עיבל.jpeg|thumb|Mount Ebal's Altar]]
Like many other sites in the region, by the 20th century there was a large stone heap found on Mount Ebal; this one was known to locals as ''el Burnat'' ([[Arabic]] for ''the Hat''), and was found by [[Adam Zertal]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://research.haifa.ac.il/~archlgy/staff/cv_zertal.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-07-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629062617/http://research.haifa.ac.il/~archlgy/staff/cv_zertal.html |archive-date=2009-06-29}}</ref> within a naturally shaped ''[[amphitheatre]]''.<ref name=Sturgis>[[Matthew Sturgis]], ''It Ain't Necessarily So'', {{ISBN|0-7472-4510-X}}</ref> Upon archaeological investigation, several [[potsherd]]s were found among this heap, and were dated to 1220–1000 BC, a date for which no other remains are found nearby,<ref name=Sturgis /> and so a more substantial archaeological excavation was launched at the site in 1987.<ref name=Sturgis/> The excavation found a large walled structure, seemingly built direct into the bedrock without a doorway or floor, and had been infilled by layers of stone, ash, and earth;<ref name=Sturgis/> on the southwest were found two paved areas split apart by a further wide wall higher at one end than the other and with a surrounding oval wall.<ref name=Sturgis /> Slowly burnt bones were found at the site, and after analysis were discovered to originate from [[Ox|bullocks]], [[goats]], and [[fallow deer]].<ref name=Sturgis />

====Interpretation====
Although the excavating archaeologist believed that the site was the compound containing Joshua's altar,<ref name=Sturgis/> the filled walled structure being the altar itself – the filling being a part of the altar rather than debris (and indicative of an [[Assyria]]n style altar,<ref name=Sturgis /> like that specified in the [[Book of Exodus]] as being ''hollow with boards''<ref>Exodus 27</ref>) – and the ''wall'' between the two courtyards being a ramp (in accordance with the ''no steps'' instruction in Exodus<ref>Exodus 26</ref>), most other archaeologists believe it to be something else.<ref name=Sturgis /> The site has a significant issue in regard to the Biblical account of Joshua's altar, as it is located on the north side of the mountain, and not the south side facing [[Mount Gerizim]], making a curse & blessing ritual held there and on Gerizim somewhat difficult to hold [[antiphon]]ally;<ref name=Sturgis /> the excavating archaeologist proposed that this could be resolved by identifying a mountain to the north as Gerizim rather than the usual location, though the suggestion was ridiculed by both the [[Samaritans]], who found it offensive to move the centre of their religion, and by other scholars and archaeologists.

Though some archaeologists agree with the consideration that the site was an altar compound (though not constructed by ''Joshua''), and some (including [[Israel Finkelstein]]) at least agree that it was a cultic location (though not necessarily involving an altar), others believe that it was simply a farmhouse, a guard tower<ref>Assaf Kamar, [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4838962,00.html 'A rare visit to the supposed altar of prophet Joshua,'] [[Ynet]] 9 August 2016.</ref> or the Biblical ''tower of Shechem''.<ref name=Sturgis /> Those considering it to be a farmhouse and/or the ''tower of Shechem'', argue that the paved areas are simply rooms, the ''sloping'' wall simply an [[erosion|eroded]] partition wall, and the infilled enclosure a room that was later changed into a tower – the foundation of the tower being the infill, and the rest of the tower now destroyed.<ref name=Sturgis />

====Access====
Israelis wishing to visit the site today must coordinate their activity with [[Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories|COGAT]], the Israeli defense ministry unit which manages civilian affairs for Palestinians in the West Bank and liaises with Gaza, since Mount Ebal is located in what is now designated as [[West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord|Area B]]. In addition, Israeli citizens visiting the area are required to be escorted by [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] soldiers, to ensure their personal safety. The [[Shomron Regional Council]], as of July 2016, was trying to promote the area as a tourist destination.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kamar |first=Asaf |title=''A rare tour of "the altar of Joshua" on the Mountain of the Curse'' |publisher=[[Ynet]] |date=22 July 2016 |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4827226,00.html |access-date=29 July 2016}}</ref>

====Damage====
⚫
In February 2021 a portion of the site was destroyed by the [[Palestinian National Authority|Palestinian Authority]] and the stones were ground up and used to pave a nearby road.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lazaroff |first=Tovah |title='Prophet Joshua's Mount Ebal altar site harmed by Palestinian road work' |publisher=[[JPost]] |date=10 February 2021 |url=https://m.jpost.com/archaeology/joshuas-mount-ebal-altar-site-harmed-by-palestinian-road-work-658521/amp|access-date=11 February 2021}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
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==External links==
==External links==
*[https://www.thetorah.com/article/joshuas-altar-on-mount-ebal-israels-holy-site-before-shiloh The viewpoint of the archaeologists who excavated the site]
*[https://www.thetorah.com/article/joshuas-altar-on-mount-ebal-israels-holy-site-before-shiloh The viewpoint of the archaeologists who excavated the site]
*[http://ebal.haifa.ac.il/ebal01.html University of Haifa site]
*[http://ebal.haifa.ac.il/ebal01.html University of Haifa site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408060848/http://ebal.haifa.ac.il/ebal01.html |date=2009-04-08 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060218130953/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/sources/sources042.html Franciscan site]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060218130953/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/sources/sources042.html Franciscan site]
*[[Wikiversity:Bible, English, King James, Documentary Hypothesis, Deuteronomist source, First Deuteronomist Version, Curse blessing pairs|The curses and blessings of Ebal and Gerizim, in isolation, at wikiversity]]
*[[Wikiversity:Bible, English, King James, Documentary Hypothesis, Deuteronomist source, First Deuteronomist Version, Curse blessing pairs|The curses and blessings of Ebal and Gerizim, in isolation, at wikiversity]]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebal}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ebal}}
[[Category:Mount Ebal| ]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible mountains]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible mountains]]
[[Category:Sacred mountains]]
[[Category:Sacred mountains of West Asia|Ebal]]
[[Category:Samaritan culture and history]]
[[Category:Samaritan culture and history]]
[[Category:Mountains of Nablus]]
[[Category:Mountains of Nablus]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in the West Bank]]

Latest revision as of 12:20, 4 December 2024

"Ebal" redirects here. For the California high school athletic league, see East Bay Athletic League.
Ebal
View of Mount Ebal
Highest point
Elevation935 m (3,068 ft)
Coordinates32°14′02″N 35°16′24″E / 32.234°N 35.2733°E / 32.234; 35.2733
Geography
Ebal is located in State of Palestine
Ebal
Ebal
Location of Mount Ebal within Palestine
Ebal is located in the West Bank
Ebal
Ebal
Location of Nablus within the West Bank, Palestine
Map

Mount Ebal (Hebrew: הַר עֵיבָל, romanized: Har ʿĒyḇāl; Arabic: جَبَل عَيْبال, romanized: Jabal ʿAybāl) is one of the two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the city of Nablus in the West Bank (biblical Shechem), and forms the northern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the southern side being formed by Mount Gerizim.[1] The mountain is one of the highest peaks in the West Bank and rises to 935 m (3,068 ft) above sea level, some 60 m (200 ft) higher than Mount Gerizim.[2] Mount Ebal is approximately 17 km2 (6.6 sq mi) in area,[2] and is composed primarily of limestone.[3] The slopes of the mountain contain several large caverns which were probably originally quarries,[3] and at the base towards the north are several tombs.[4]

View of Mount Ebal from the city of Nablus

Biblical account

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In advance of the Israelites' entry to the Promised Land, Deuteronomy 11:29 records Moses' direction that "when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal".

In the masoretic text and the Septuagint version of Deuteronomy 27, an instruction is given to build an altar on Mount Ebal, constructed from natural (rather than cut) stones, to place stones there and whiten them with lime,[5][4] to make peace offerings on the altar, eat there, and write the words of this law on the stone.[6] According to the Samaritan Pentateuch and a Qumran fragment, this instruction actually concerns Mount Gerizim, which the Samaritans view as a holy site;[7][8] some scholars believe that the Samaritan version is probably more accurate in this respect, the compilers of the masoretic text and authors of the Septuagint being likely to be biased against the Samaritans.[7] Recent Dead Sea Scrolls work supports the accuracy of the Samaritan Pentateuch's designation of Mount Gerizim rather than Mount Ebal as the sacred site.[9] Christophe Nihan and Herve Gonzalez wrote in 2018 that it is now widely agreed that the reading "on Mt. Gerizem" is older than that referring to Mt. Ebal which they say "arguably represents a later, polemical revision."[10]

An instruction immediately subsequent to this orders that, once this is done, the Israelites should split into two groups, one to stay on Mount Ebal and pronounce curses, while the other goes to Mount Gerizim and pronounces blessings.[11] The tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin were to be sent to Gerizim, while those of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali, were to remain on Ebal.[11] No attempts to explain this division of tribes either by their Biblical ethnology or by their geographical distribution have been generally accepted in academic circles.[7]

The text goes on to list twelve curses, which were to be pronounced by the Levite priesthood and answered by the people with Amen.[12] These curses heavily resemble laws (e.g. cursed be he who removes his neighbour's landmark), and they are not followed by a list of blessings described in a similarly liturgical framework; scholars believe that these more likely represent what was written on the stones, and that the later list of six explicit blessings,[13] six near-corresponding explicit curses,[14] were originally in this position in the text.[7] The present position of these explicit blessings and curses, within a larger narrative of promise, and a far larger narrative of threat (respectively), is considered to have been an editorial decision for the post-exilic second version of Deuteronomy (Dtr2), to reflect the deuteronomist's worldview after the Babylonian exile had occurred.[7]

In the Book of Joshua, after the Battle of Ai, Joshua built an altar of unhewn stones there, the Israelites then made peace offerings on it, the Law of Moses was written onto the stones, and the Israelites split into the two groups specified in Deuteronomy and pronounced blessings and cursings as instructed there.[15] There is some debate between textual scholars as to whether this incident in Joshua is one account or spliced together two different accounts, where one account refers to Joshua building an altar, and making sacrifices on it, while the other account refers to Joshua placing large stone slabs there that had been whitened with lime and then had the Torah inscribed on them.[16] Either way there is general agreement that the sources of Joshua predate Deuteronomy, and hence that the order to build the altar and make the inscription is likely based on these actions in the sources of Joshua, rather than the other way round, possibly to provide an aetiology for the site acceptable to the deuteronomist's theology.[17]

Much later in the Book, when Joshua was old and dying, he gathered the people together at Shechem, and gave a farewell speech, and then wrote these words in the book of the Torah of God, and took a great stone, and set it under the doorpost which is in the sanctuary of the Lord.[18] Depending on the way in which the sources of Joshua were spliced together, this may just be another version of the earlier narrative of Joshua placing the whitened stones slabs with the Torah inscribed on them, and some scholars believe that this narrative may have originally been in an earlier location within the Book of Joshua.[7]

In the Biblical narrative, the terebinth, seemingly next to the sanctuary, was evidently in existence as early as the time of the Patriarchs, as Jacob is described in the Book of Genesis as having buried the idols of strange gods (belonging to his uncle Laban) beneath it.[19] According to a midrash, one of these idols, in the shape of a dove, was later recovered by the Samaritans, and used in their worship on Mount Gerizim.[20]

Tel Aviv and Gush Dan as seen from Mount Ebal

Archaeology

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Mount Ebal site (Northern el-Burnat)

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Main article: Mount Ebal site

In 1980, a structure on Mount Ebal was discovered by Israeli archaeologist Adam Zertal during the Manasseh Hill Country Survey.[21] The University of Haifa and the Israel Exploration Society excavated the structure over eight seasons from 1982 to 1989, and uncovered scarabs, seals, and animal bones dating to the Iron Age I period.[21] Today, most archeologists agree that the structure was a site of an early Israelite cultic activity.[22] Zertal suggested that the structure was possibly the altar described in the Book of Joshua as where Joshua built an altar to Yahweh and renewed the Covenant in a large ceremony. This identification is controversial and has been disputed by a number of archaeologists.[23][24]

In February 2021 a portion of the site was destroyed by the Palestinian Authority and the stones were ground up and used to pave a nearby road.[25]

The structure on Mount Ebal

Western sites

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The higher part of the mountain, on the west, contains the ruins of some massive walls called Al-Kal'ah, and east of this are other ruins now called Kunaisah.[20]

References

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  1. ^ Photograph of the southern face of the mountain
  2. ^ a b Matthew Sturgis, It Ain't Necessarily So, ISBN 0-7472-4510-X
  3. ^ a b Cheyne and Black, Encyclopedia Biblica
  4. ^ a b Jewish Encyclopedia
  5. ^ Deuteronomy 27:4–6
  6. ^ Deuteronomy 27:4–8,29
  7. ^ a b c d e f Peake's Commentary on the Bible
  8. ^ Ulrich, Eugene (2015-05-20). The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Developmental Composition of the Bible. BRILL. p. 221. ISBN 978-90-04-29603-9.
  9. ^ Charlesworth, James H. "The Discovery of an Unknown Dead Sea Scroll: The Original Text of Deuteronomy 27?" Archived 2015-11-26 at the Wayback Machine OWU Magazine; 2012/07/16
  10. ^ Christophe Nihan; Herve Gonzalez (9 July 2018). "Competing Attitudes toward Samaria in Chronicles and Second Zechariah". In Kartvelt, Magnar; Knoppers, Gary N. (eds.). The Bible, Qumran, and the Samaritans. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 98. ISBN 978-3-11-058141-6.
  11. ^ a b Deuteronomy 27:11-13
  12. ^ Deuteronomy 15–26
  13. ^ Deuteronomy 28:3–6
  14. ^ Deuteronomy 28:16–19
  15. ^ Joshua 8:31-35
  16. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia
  17. ^ Richard Elliott Friedman, Who wrote the Bible; Jewish Encyclopedia, Book of Joshua, Deuteronomy
  18. ^ Joshua 24:1-27
  19. ^ Genesis 35:4
  20. ^ a b Jewish Encyclopedia
  21. ^ a b Hawkins, Ralph K. (2012). The Iron Age I Structure on Mt. Ebal: Excavation and Interpretation. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-57506-243-3.
  22. ^ Killebrew, Ann E. (2005). Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanites, and Early Israel, 1300-1100 B.C.E. Society of Biblical Lit. p. 160. ISBN 978-1-58983-097-4. ... the consensus today tends to support the cultic interpretation of this early Iron I site, if not the biblical one (see Mazar 1990a, 348–50; Coogan 1987; 1990; Zevit 2001, 196–201).
  23. ^ Ulrich, Eugene (14 April 2015). The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Developmental Composition of the Bible. BRILL. p. 61. ISBN 978-90-04-29603-9. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  24. ^ Antti Laato (2014). "The Cult Site on Mount Ebal: A Biblical Tradition Rewritten and Reinterpreted". In Koskenniemi, Erkki; Vos, Jacobus Cornelis de (eds.). Holy Places and Cult. Pennsylvania State University Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-952-12-3046-2. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  25. ^ Lazaroff, Tovah (10 February 2021). "'Prophet Joshua's Mount Ebal altar site harmed by Palestinian road work'". JPost. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
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