|
|occupants=
|event=
|excavations = 1956 - 19621956–1962
|archaeologists= [[James B. Pritchard]]
|condition = In ruins
|notes=
}}
'''Gibeon''' ({{lang-he|{{Script/Hebrew|גִּבְעוֹן}}}}, ''Gīḇəʻōn''; {{lang-grc-gre|Γαβαων}}, ''Gabaōn'')<ref>[[Madaba Map]], 6th cent.</ref> was a [[Canaan|Canaanite]] and, later, an [[Israelite]] city, which was located north of [[Jerusalem]]. According to {{bibleverse||Joshua|10:12|HE}} and {{bibleverse||Joshua|11:19|HE}}, the pre-Israelite-conquest inhabitants, the Gibeonites, were [[Hivites]]; according to {{bibleverse|2|Samuel|21:2|HE}}, they were [[Amorites]]. The remains of Gibeon are located in the southern portion of the [[State of Palestine|Palestinian]] village of [[al-Jib]], [[West Bank]].
==Biblical account==
[[File:1880 map of El Jib showing the well (marked Ain), cisterns (marked Cis) and Caves.png|thumb|left|A 1880 map of [[Alal Jib]] showing the well (marked Ain), cisterns (marked Cis), and Caves]]
===Canaanite city===
After the destruction of [[Jericho]] and [[Ai (Bible)|Ai]], the [[Hivite]] people of Gibeon sent ambassadors to trick [[Joshua]] and the Israelites into making a treaty with them. According to the Bible[[Deuteronomist|writer]] of the [[book of Deuteronomy]] ({{Bibleverse|Deut|7:1-2|}}; {{Bibleverse-nb|Deuteronomy|20:16-20|NRSV}}), the Israelites were commanded to destroy all non-Israelite Canaanites in Palestinethe land. The Gibeonites presented themselves as ambassadors from a distant, powerful land. Without consulting God ({{bibleverse|Joshua|9:14|9}}), the Israelites entered into a [[Covenant (biblical)|covenant]] or peace treaty with the Gibeonites. The Israelites soon found out that the Gibeonites were actually their neighbors, livingneighbors—living within three days' walk of them ([[Joshua 9:17]])—and and [[Joshua then]] realised that he had been deceived;. however, heHe kept the letter of his covenant with the Gibeonites, however, to let them live in exchange for their servitude,: decidingthey to have themwere assigned as woodcutters and water- carriers and condemningcondemned (cursing)or them''cursed'') to work forever in these trades ({{bibleverse|Joshua|9:3-27|9}}). Theologian [[John Gill (theologian)|John Gill]] suggests that this curse was a particular example of [[Noah]]'s curse on Canaan.<ref>[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/joshua/9.htm Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible on Joshua 9], accessed 26 March 2017; cf. {{bibleverse|Genesis|9:3–27|9}}</ref>
In retaliation for allying with the Israelites, the city was later besieged by a coalition of five other Amorite kings led by [[Adonizedek]], king of [[Jerusalem]], along with [[Hoham]] of [[Hebron]], [[Piram]] of [[Jarmuth]], [[Japhia]] of [[Lachish]], and [[Debir]] of [[Eglon, Canaan|Eglon]]. The Gibeonites appealed to Joshua, who led the subsequent victory over the Amorites amid miraculous circumstances, including deadly hailstones and the suspension of the movement of the sunSun and moonMoon, until the Amorites were completely defeated ({{bibleverse|Joshua|10:1–15|9}}).<ref name=pritchard62 />
===Israelite city===
Following the capture of the [[Ark of the Covenant]] by the Philistines, the remaining part of the [[Tabernacle]] was moved from [[Shiloh (biblical city)|Shiloh]] to the "great [[high place]]" in Gibeon ({{bibleverse|1|Samuel|4:1-22|NIV}}, {{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|21:29|HE}}).
{{bibleverse|2|Samuel|21:2|HE}} indicates that King [[Saul]] pursued the Gibeonites and sought to kill them off "in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah" ({{bibleverse|2|Samuel|21:5|HE}}). His anger at the [[Gibeonites]]<ref>2 Samuel 21:2</ref> was not personal hatred, but was induced by zeal for the welfare of the Israelites.<ref>Num. Rashi 8:4</ref> Following Saul's death, fighting between the soldiers of [[Joab]] and those of [[Abner]] took place beside the [[Pool of Gibeon]] (2 Samuel 2:12). It was inIn this area that, King [[David]] conquered the [[Philistines]] ({{bibleverse|2|Samuel|5:25|HE}} and {{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|14:16|HE}}).
David then became the king of the [[United Monarchy]]. Much later, after the death of his rebellious son [[Absalom]] and his restoration to the throne, the kingdom of Israel was visited by a three-year drought, which led David to ask God what was wrong. The drought was then revealed to be divine judgement against [[King Saul]]'s decision to completely exterminate the Gibeonites ({{bibleverse|2|Samuel|21:1|HE}}), in his "zeal for Israel and Judah". The blame for this [[genocide]] is also attributed to [[House of Saul|Saul's family]]. This event is not itself recorded in the biblical narrative,<ref>[[Jerusalem Bible]], note at 2 Samuel 21:2: "The account of these events has not been preserved"</ref> although Gill refers to a Jewish tradition linking this slaughter to the slaughter of the priests at [[Nob, Israel|Nob]] (1 Samuel 22:6-196–19).<ref>[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/2_samuel/21.htm Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible] on 2 Samuel, accessed 18 August 2017, quoting Babylonian Talmud: [[Bava Kamma]], [http://come-and-hear.com/babakamma/babakamma_119.html fol. 119. 1]: "For indeed where do we find that Saul slew the Gibeonites? It must therefore be because he slew Nob, the city of the priests".</ref> The culpability of Saul's family in the genocide could also imply that it wasn't a singular event. David asked the surviving Gibeonites what he could offer to make amends. In retribution, they asked for seven of Saul's male descendants to be given to them to kill, seven signalling the sign of completion. David handed over [[Armoni and Mephibosheth]], two of the sons of [[Saul]] and the five sons of [[Merab]] (Saul's daughter) to the Gibeonites, who hanged them. He saved Jonathan's son, also called [[Mephibosheth]], from this peril because of his covenant with [[Jonathan (1 Samuel)|Jonathan]] ({{bibleverse|2|Samuel|21:1-9|NIV}}). [[Amasa]] was also killed here ({{bibleverse|2|Samuel|20:8|HE}}).
On his accession to kingship, King David's son [[Solomon]] met with all of the kingdom of Israel's leaders at Gibeon and offered one thousand1,000 [[sacrifice|burnt offerings]] ({{bibleverse|1 Kings|3:4|HE}}, {{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|1:6|NKJV}}). On this occasion, God appeared to him in a dream ({{bibleverse|1 Kings|3:5|HE}}) and granted him [[wisdom]] ({{bibleverse|1 Kings|3:12|HE}}, {{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|1:7-12|NKJV}}).
[[Hananiah, son of Azzur]], came from this city ([[Jeremiah 28#Verse 1|Jeremiah 28:1]]).
After the [[Babylonian captivity|exile]] of the Israelites to [[Babylon]], Gibeon belonged to [[Judea]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Nehemiah|3:7|HE}}</ref> Gibeon is mentioned in the [[Book of Nehemiah]] as one of the towns resettled by the Jewish exiles returning from the [[Babylonian captivity]] and who helped to construct the walls of Jerusalem during the reign of [[Artaxerxes I]] (Xerxes).<ref>{{bibleverse|Nehemiah|3:7|HE}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Josephus |author-link=Josephus |title=Josephus Complete Works |publisher=Kregel Publications |translator=William Whiston |translator-link=William Whiston |date=1981|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |page=236 (''Antiquities'' 11.5.7.) |language=en|isbn=0-8254-2951-X }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{bibleverse|Nehemiah|7:6|HE}}</ref>
====Significance====
{{bibleverse|1|Chronicles|16:39|HE}} suggests that worship before the tabernacle at Gibeon continued alongside worship in [[Jerusalem]] after David brought the [[Ark of the Covenant]] back there, although "nothing ... is said of this in the Books of Samuel".<ref>Barnes, W. E. (1899), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/cambridge/1_chronicles/13.htm Cambridge Bible for Schools on 1 Chronicles 13], accessed 22 February 2020</ref> Theologian Hans-Peter Mathys notes that, "no other OT book mentions a regular (sacrificial) cult in Gibeon. Its historical authenticity is sometimes supported by the argument that {{bibleverse|1|Kings|3:3|HE}} (''"[[Solomon]] ... went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place; a thousand burnt- offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar''") confirms its existence and speaks out against it. ItThese isfour more likelyverses, howeverthough, thatwere thesemore four verses werelikely conceived by the Chronicler, [who] ... is at pains to portray an uninterrupted and legitimate (sacrificial) cult spanning the entire period from the desert era (with its tabernacle), including the LORD's residence at Gibeon, right up to Solomon's establishment of the [[Temple of Solomon|temple]] in Jerusalem."<ref>Mathys, H. P., ''1 and 2 Chronicles'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), [https://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 The Oxford Bible Commentary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122193211/http://b-ok.org/dl/946961/8f5f43 |date=2017-11-22 }}, p. 277</ref>
== Later history ==
==Eclipse as explanation for sun standing still==
During the early phases of the [[First Jewish–Roman War]], the Roman governor of Syria, [[Gaius Cestius Gallus (governor of Syria)|Cestius Gallus]], camped in Gibeon while en route to Jerusalem and again during his retreat.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Guy MacLean |title=For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE |date=2021 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-24813-5 |location=New Haven |pages=537}}</ref>
A 2017 paper suggested that the biblical story of the Israelites' victory against the Amorites over Gibeon, where God made the sun stand still ({{bibleverse||Joshua|10:12|HE}}), may be identified with an annular eclipse which occurred on 30 October 1207 BCE.<ref name=Humphreys>{{cite journal |last1= Humphreys |first1= Colin |author-link1= Colin Humphreys |last2= Waddington |first2= Graeme |title= Solar eclipse of 1207 BC helps to date pharaohs |journal= Astronomy & Geophysics |volume= 58 |date= 1 October 2017 |issue= 5 |pages= 5.39–5.42 |doi= 10.1093/astrogeo/atx178 |url= https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/58/5/5.39/4159289 |access-date= 18 March 2021|doi-access= free }}</ref> This theory is problematic, however, as the battle took place in midsummer according to Jewish tradition.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seder Olam Rabbah 11:2 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Seder_Olam_Rabbah.11.2?vhe=Seder_Olam,_Warsaw_1904&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en |access-date=2022-11-08 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref>
==In Jewish law==
===Middle Bronze Age===
Permanent settlements in Gibeon appeared in Middle Bronze Age I-II. Many jar handles were stamped with the word gb ̨n(Gibeon). <ref>{{Cite book |last=Laughlin |first=John |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203087657-34/gibeon-el-jib |title=Fifty Major Cities of the Bible |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780203087657}}</ref>
The Middle Bronze Age is known from shaft tombs on the west of the city: 26 MBI tombs have been found, but the crudeness of the pottery they contain indicates that the people may have been nomads camping on an unfortified site. The remains are similar to those found elsewhere at [[Jericho]], [[Lachish]] and [[Tel Megiddo|Megiddo]]. In MBII, however, a substantial city with finely made pottery was found. 29 MBII tombs have been found, apparently containing multiple burials (as opposed to the single burials of the MBI tombs).
===Late Bronze Age===
[[File:Gibeon oil press.jpg|thumb|oil press cave ]]
No trace of a Late Bronze age city has been found.<ref name=pritchard62p157>Pritchard (1962), pp. 157-158</ref> Only seven tombs are known from the period, but they nevertheless point to a degree of sophistication, as they contained imported [[Cypriot Bichrome ware|Cypriote ware]] and local potters attempted to copy [[Mycenaean pottery|Mycenaean]] and Cypriote pottery. It would appear that some, at least, of these tombs had been cut during earlier periods and were being reused.<ref name=newencyc/><ref name=pritchard65/> Pritchard suggested that somewhere in an area not touched by his four-year dig, remains of the Bronze Age "great city" from the Book of Joshua might still be found.<ref name=pritchard62/>
===Iron Age===
[[File:Gibeon well 01.jpg|thumb|upright|Gibeon well]]
Gibeon flourished during the late Iron Age II, when the city had large fortifications, a large wine industry and an advanced water system. To the east of the tell, a lavish cemetery of the same period was discovered.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Finkelstein |first=Israel |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1081371337 |title=Hasmonean realities behind Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles |publisher=[[SBL Press]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-88414-307-9 |pages=32 |oclc=1081371337 |author-link=Israel Finkelstein}}</ref>
====Wall, pool, and spring tunnel====
[[File:Gibeon spring.jpg|thumb|The spring water at Gibeon]]
During the early [[Iron Age]], a massive wall was constructed around the crown of the hill and a huge pool was [[cut in the living rock]] just inside the wall. In a first phase it was cut with a diameter of 11.8 m to a depth of 10.8 m, with a spiral staircase of 79 steps cut into the walls of the pool, and in a second phase a tunnel was added that continues downwards to a water chamber 24 m below the level of the city. It is possible, but cannot be proven, that this structure is the "[[pool of Gibeon]]" of {{bibleverse|2 Samuel|2:13|KJV}}. Later in the Iron Age, another tunnel of 93 steps was constructed to a better water source{{dubious|Source = spring, right? A pool (the old water source) is not a spring; this one is, or so it seems.|date=March 2021}} below the city starting from a point near the pool. A second access point to this source from the base of the hill is still in use today.<ref name=pritchard62/><ref name=newencyc/>
====Wine industry====
[[File:Wine cellars at Gibeon.jpg|thumb|Rock-cut 2 meter deep wine cellars ]]
The flat and fertile land with many springs which surrounds it gave rise to a flourishing economy, attested to in the large number of ancient jars and wine cellars discovered there. The jars could hold 45 litres of wine each and 66 wine cellars two meters deep and dug out of rock have been unearthed in Jib.<ref name=Brooksp93>Brooks, 2005, p. 93-94.</ref>
==Sources==
{{sfn whitelist |CITEREFExecutive_Committee_of_the_Editorial_BoardJacobs1905}}
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite book| title = Rebuilding the House of Israel: Architectures of Gender in Jewish Antiquity
==External links==
*{{Commonscatinline|Gibeon}}
*[http://www.bibleplaces.com/gibeon.htm Gibeon (BiblePlaces.com)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008084739/http://www.bibleplaces.com/gibeon.htm |date=2015-10-08 }} includes pictures
*[https://www.mad-in-israel.com/2018/04/05/visiting-tel-gibeon-water-system/ Visiting Tel Gibeon Water system], blog with photos and video (5 April 2018). Accessed March 2021.
[[Category:Iron Age sites in Asia]]
[[Category:13 Kohanic cities]]
[[Category:Tribe of Benjamin]]
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