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Tomb of Samuel
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Tomb of Samuel
The Tomb of Samuel (Arabic: النبي صموئيل, translit. an-Nabi Samu'il or Nebi Samwil, Hebrew: קבר שמואל הנביא, translit. Kever Shmuel ha-Navi), commonly known as Nebi Samuel or Nebi Samwil, is the traditional burial site of the biblical prophet Samuel, atop a steep hill at an elevation of 908 m (2,979 ft) above sea level, in the Palestinian village of Nabi Samwil, in the West Bank.
The site is of both religious and archaeological interest. In the 6th century, a monastery was built at the site in honor of Samuel, and during the early Arab period the place was known as Dir Samwil (the Samuel Monastery). In the 12th century, during the Crusader period, a fortress was built on the area.
The present structure is a mosque from the 14th century, built during the Mamluk period. The purported tomb itself is in an underground chamber which has been repurposed after 1967 as a synagogue, today with separate prayer areas for Jewish men and women.
Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank after the Six-Day War, the site is managed by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
The site is located around Nabi Samwil, a Palestinian village in the Seam Zone of the West Bank, an area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank separated from the rest of the territory by the Israeli West Bank barrier, with the surrounding Palestinian towns of Al Jib, Beit Hanina and Beit Iksa on the other side of the barrier. Nabi Samwil was classified as being in Area C of the West Bank under the Oslo Accords, which left Israel in administrative and military control of the territory pending the transfer of control to the Palestinian Authority. Such transfer, which the accords called for to be completed by 1997, has not occurred since the accords signing in 1995.
Yitzhak Magen conducted archaeological excavations from 1992 to 2003. On the southeastern slope is a 4-acre (16,000 m2) urban settlement dating back to the 8th-7th centuries BCE, and remnants that Magen believed to be the Mizpah in Benjamin of the Book of Samuel. By contrast, Jeffrey Zorn concluded that there are no remains at the site, from the period in which the Samuel narratives are set, and it could therefore not be Mizpah. Magen's own conclusions have been criticised for stretching the evidence beyond the obvious implications, which he himself hints at:
We did not find any remains from the time of the Judges ... not a single structure or even a standing wall from this period. On this basis, it might be tempting to conclude that the site was unoccupied at this time ...
However, if Mizpah in Benjamin was Tell en-Nasbeh on the Nablus Road, Ishmael who had assassinated Gedaliah would not have fled to Ammon via Gibeon which is located to the west near Nabi Samwil which overlooks Jerusalem. Furthermore, Judas Machabeus, preparing for war with the Syrians, gathered his men "to Maspha, over against Jerusalem: for in Maspha was a place of prayer heretofore in Israel".
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Tomb of Samuel
The Tomb of Samuel (Arabic: النبي صموئيل, translit. an-Nabi Samu'il or Nebi Samwil, Hebrew: קבר שמואל הנביא, translit. Kever Shmuel ha-Navi), commonly known as Nebi Samuel or Nebi Samwil, is the traditional burial site of the biblical prophet Samuel, atop a steep hill at an elevation of 908 m (2,979 ft) above sea level, in the Palestinian village of Nabi Samwil, in the West Bank.
The site is of both religious and archaeological interest. In the 6th century, a monastery was built at the site in honor of Samuel, and during the early Arab period the place was known as Dir Samwil (the Samuel Monastery). In the 12th century, during the Crusader period, a fortress was built on the area.
The present structure is a mosque from the 14th century, built during the Mamluk period. The purported tomb itself is in an underground chamber which has been repurposed after 1967 as a synagogue, today with separate prayer areas for Jewish men and women.
Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank after the Six-Day War, the site is managed by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
The site is located around Nabi Samwil, a Palestinian village in the Seam Zone of the West Bank, an area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank separated from the rest of the territory by the Israeli West Bank barrier, with the surrounding Palestinian towns of Al Jib, Beit Hanina and Beit Iksa on the other side of the barrier. Nabi Samwil was classified as being in Area C of the West Bank under the Oslo Accords, which left Israel in administrative and military control of the territory pending the transfer of control to the Palestinian Authority. Such transfer, which the accords called for to be completed by 1997, has not occurred since the accords signing in 1995.
Yitzhak Magen conducted archaeological excavations from 1992 to 2003. On the southeastern slope is a 4-acre (16,000 m2) urban settlement dating back to the 8th-7th centuries BCE, and remnants that Magen believed to be the Mizpah in Benjamin of the Book of Samuel. By contrast, Jeffrey Zorn concluded that there are no remains at the site, from the period in which the Samuel narratives are set, and it could therefore not be Mizpah. Magen's own conclusions have been criticised for stretching the evidence beyond the obvious implications, which he himself hints at:
We did not find any remains from the time of the Judges ... not a single structure or even a standing wall from this period. On this basis, it might be tempting to conclude that the site was unoccupied at this time ...
However, if Mizpah in Benjamin was Tell en-Nasbeh on the Nablus Road, Ishmael who had assassinated Gedaliah would not have fled to Ammon via Gibeon which is located to the west near Nabi Samwil which overlooks Jerusalem. Furthermore, Judas Machabeus, preparing for war with the Syrians, gathered his men "to Maspha, over against Jerusalem: for in Maspha was a place of prayer heretofore in Israel".
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