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Hizma
Hizma (Arabic: حزما) is a Palestinian town in the Jerusalem Governorate, seven kilometers from Jerusalem's Old City. The town, mostly located in Area C of the West Bank, borders four Israeli settlements, Neve Yaakov and Pisgat Ze'ev (both officially considered part of Jerusalem), Geva Binyamin and Almon.
Hizma is identified with the biblical town of Azmaveth of the Israelite tribe of Benjamin. Archaeological findings confirm a Jewish presence during Roman times, marked by a thriving stoneware industry, and the discovery of a burial cave housing ossuaries inscribed in the Hebrew alphabet. Byzantine period ceramics were also found at the site. Throughout Ottoman, British, and Jordanian rule, Hizma was a small village inhabited by Muslims.
Since 1967, Hizma has been occupied by Israel. The village is cut off from Jerusalem by the Israeli West Bank barrier in the west and from the West Bank by settlements in the east. As of 2017, Hizma had a population of about 7,118 residents.
In the 1920s, Albright suggested that Hizma was identical with the biblical town of (Beth) Azmaveth of the Israelite tribe of Benjamin (see Ezra 2:24; Neh. 7:28, 12:29).
Gibson, after surveying the village in 1981, questioned this identification, citing the lack of archaeological remains from the necessary time period. However, another survey conducted two years later by Uri Dinur yielded Iron Age II pottery.
Dinur and Feig found sherds from Iron Age II, Persian and Hellenistic period. Based on the findings, Finkelstein asserts that Hizma can be positively identified with Azmaveth.
Stone vessels made of chalkstone (a type of soft limestone) are typical for and unique to Jewish sites from the time between the second half of the first century BCE and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE), frequently found in Judea, Transjordan, Galilee and the Golan, with Hizma being one of the few identified quarrying and production sites. Towards the end of the Roman period, there was an industry in Hizma producing fine stoneware from the local limestone. Products included vases and bowls turned on a lathe, and mugs carved by hand. Examples of stoneware that may have originated here have been found in many places in the Jerusalem region, mostly dating from the first and second centuries CE.
A burial cave from the first centuries BCE and CE was found in Hizmeh in 1931. Six ossuaries were present, two of which had inscriptions, which bear the names Hoshea and Mariam in Hebrew and Aramaic using the Jewish script. In 1983, an ancient Jewish ossuary said to be from Hizma appeared in the Jerusalem antiquities market and was acquired by the Department of Antiquities. This ossuary is inscribed in Aramaic, indicating it belonged to "Yehoḥanah, Granddaughter of the High Priest Theophillus". Josephus, the historian, references a high priest of the same name, appointed by Vitellius in the brief period before he was informed of Tiberius' death, approximately around 37 AD.
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Hizma
Hizma (Arabic: حزما) is a Palestinian town in the Jerusalem Governorate, seven kilometers from Jerusalem's Old City. The town, mostly located in Area C of the West Bank, borders four Israeli settlements, Neve Yaakov and Pisgat Ze'ev (both officially considered part of Jerusalem), Geva Binyamin and Almon.
Hizma is identified with the biblical town of Azmaveth of the Israelite tribe of Benjamin. Archaeological findings confirm a Jewish presence during Roman times, marked by a thriving stoneware industry, and the discovery of a burial cave housing ossuaries inscribed in the Hebrew alphabet. Byzantine period ceramics were also found at the site. Throughout Ottoman, British, and Jordanian rule, Hizma was a small village inhabited by Muslims.
Since 1967, Hizma has been occupied by Israel. The village is cut off from Jerusalem by the Israeli West Bank barrier in the west and from the West Bank by settlements in the east. As of 2017, Hizma had a population of about 7,118 residents.
In the 1920s, Albright suggested that Hizma was identical with the biblical town of (Beth) Azmaveth of the Israelite tribe of Benjamin (see Ezra 2:24; Neh. 7:28, 12:29).
Gibson, after surveying the village in 1981, questioned this identification, citing the lack of archaeological remains from the necessary time period. However, another survey conducted two years later by Uri Dinur yielded Iron Age II pottery.
Dinur and Feig found sherds from Iron Age II, Persian and Hellenistic period. Based on the findings, Finkelstein asserts that Hizma can be positively identified with Azmaveth.
Stone vessels made of chalkstone (a type of soft limestone) are typical for and unique to Jewish sites from the time between the second half of the first century BCE and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE), frequently found in Judea, Transjordan, Galilee and the Golan, with Hizma being one of the few identified quarrying and production sites. Towards the end of the Roman period, there was an industry in Hizma producing fine stoneware from the local limestone. Products included vases and bowls turned on a lathe, and mugs carved by hand. Examples of stoneware that may have originated here have been found in many places in the Jerusalem region, mostly dating from the first and second centuries CE.
A burial cave from the first centuries BCE and CE was found in Hizmeh in 1931. Six ossuaries were present, two of which had inscriptions, which bear the names Hoshea and Mariam in Hebrew and Aramaic using the Jewish script. In 1983, an ancient Jewish ossuary said to be from Hizma appeared in the Jerusalem antiquities market and was acquired by the Department of Antiquities. This ossuary is inscribed in Aramaic, indicating it belonged to "Yehoḥanah, Granddaughter of the High Priest Theophillus". Josephus, the historian, references a high priest of the same name, appointed by Vitellius in the brief period before he was informed of Tiberius' death, approximately around 37 AD.