Dothan (Hebrew: דֹתָן) (also Dotan) was a location mentioned twice in the Hebrew Bible. It has been identified with Tel Dothan (Arabic : تل دوثان), also known as Tel al-Hafireh, located adjacent to the Palestinian town of Bir al-Basha, [1] and ten kilometers (driving distance) southwest of Jenin in the West Bank, near Dotan Junction of Route 60. [2] [3] [4]
The modern consensus is that the archaeological site of Tel Dothan corresponds to ancient Dothan.
Eusebius places Dothan 12 miles to the north of Sebaste; broadly consistent with the modern location. [5]
Van de Velde noted that the Crusaders and later mediaeval travellers had located Dothan at the village of Hittin. [6]
Dothan is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis) in connection with the history of Joseph, as the place in which the sons of Jacob (Israel) had moved their sheep and, at the suggestion of Judah, the brothers sold Joseph to the Ishmaelite merchants (Gen. 37:17). It later appears as the residence of Elisha (Second Book of Kings, 2 Kings 6:13) and the scene of a vision of chariots and horses of fire surrounding the mountain on which the city stood. [7]
The plain near Dothan is also mentioned in the apocryphal Book of Judith. [8]
The city served as an Israelite administrative centre, and archaeologist have discovered a large complex and Hebrew inscriptions at the site. [9] [10]
A bronze bull has been found in an Israelite sanctuary east of Tell Dothan, in the mountains of Samaria, dated to around the 11th century, which may be related to the episode of the golden calf.[ citation needed ]
Castellum Beleismum (Latin) or Chastiau St Job (medieval French) [11] was the Frankish name of a tower built by the Crusaders on the ancient tell in 1156 and given to the Hospitallers in 1187.
Charles William Meredith van de Velde visited the site in 1851, and was considered the first modern traveller to visit it. [12] He described the discovery in his 1854 book: [6]
...I saw a huge tell at the distance of only a few hundred yards from our way, covered over with ruins, and the fragment of an ancient aqueduct, that had been supported on arches. I asked Abu Monsur the name of the tell, and the answer was, "Haida Dothan" (that is, Dothan). "Dothan," I asked, "Dothan?" "Nahm; Dothan, Dothan, Dothan!" exclaimed the testy old shech, as if hurt at my not believing him at the instant. My object in reiterating the question was to get him to repeat the name; for the discovery of Dothan was a very special circumstance, with respect to which I was anxious to assure myself, by having the name properly pronounced.
Van de Velde's visit had taken place a few days before Edward Robinson's; [4] Robinson credited van ve Velde with the discovery. [13]
The Israeli settlement of Mevo Dotan (lit. Approach to Dothan) is named for the city, as is Dothan, Alabama in the US.
Antipatris was a city built during the first century BC by Herod the Great, who named it in honour of his father, Antipater. The site, now a national park in central Israel, was inhabited from the Chalcolithic Period to the late Roman Period. The remains of Antipatris are known today as Tel Afek, although formerly as Kŭlat Râs el 'Ain. It has been identified as either the tower of Aphek mentioned by Josephus, or the biblical Aphek, best known from the story of the Battle of Aphek. During the Crusader Period the site was known as Surdi fontes, "Silent springs". The Ottoman fortress known as Binar Bashi or Ras al-Ayn was built there in the 16th century.
Afula is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of 2022, the city had a population of 61,519.
Gilgal, also known as Galgala or Galgalatokai of the 12 Stones, is the name of one or more places in the Hebrew Bible. Gilgal is mentioned 39 times, in particular in the Book of Joshua, as the place where the Israelites camped after crossing the Jordan River. The Hebrew term Gilgal most likely means "circle of stones". Its name appears in Koine Greek on the Madaba Map.
Azekah was an ancient town in the Shephela guarding the upper reaches of the Valley of Elah, about 26 km (16 mi) northwest of Hebron.
Zir'in, also spelled Zerin and Zerein, was a Palestinian Arab village of over 1,400 in the Jezreel Valley, located 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) north of Jenin. Identified as the ancient town of Yizre'el (Jezreel), it was known as Zir'in during Islamic rule, and was near the site of the Battle of Ain Jalut, in which the Mamluks halted Mongol expansion southward. Under the Ottomans, it was a small village, expanding during the British Mandate in the early 20th century. After its capture by Israel in 1948, Zir'in was destroyed. The Israeli kibbutz of Yizre'el was established shortly after on the village lands of Zir'in.
Arraba, also Arrabah, Arrabeh or Arrabet Jenin, is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank located 12 kilometers southwest of Jenin. It has an elevation of 350 meters above sea level and lies near Sahl Arraba, a plain that lies between Mount Carmel and Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, Arraba had a population of 11,479 in 2017.
Nein — also Nain or Naim in English — is an Arab village in northern Israel. Located in the Lower Galilee, 14 kilometers (8.7 mi) south of Nazareth, Nein covers a land area of approximately 1,000 dunams and falls under the jurisdiction of Bustan al-Marj Regional Council, whose headquarters it hosts. Its total land area consisted of 3,737 dunums prior to 1962. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2022 it had a population of 1,994.
Burqin is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank located 5 km west of Jenin. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) census, its population was 5,685 in 2007 and 7,126 in 2017. The majority of Burqin's residents are Muslims, and 20 Christian families live in the town. The Byzantine-era Burqin Church or St. George's Church is one of the oldest churches in the world.
Beitin is a Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank, located 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) northeast of Ramallah along the Ramallah-Nablus road. The Palestinian village of Dura al-Qar' and Ein Yabrud lie to the north, Rammun to the east, Deir Dibwan to the southeast and al-Bireh to the southwest. The Israeli settlement of Beit El is northwest of Beitin.
Sulam is an Arab village in north-eastern Israel. Known in ancient times as Shunama and Shunem, it is first mentioned in the Amarna Letters in the 14th century BCE. Archaeological excavations in the village attest to habitation extending from the Bronze Age through to modern times. Located near Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bustan al-Marj Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 2,710.
Jurish is a Palestinian town in Nablus Governorate in the northern West Bank, located 27 kilometers southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 1,541 inhabitants in 2017.
Majdal Bani Fadil is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate of the State of Palestine in the northern West Bank, located 23 kilometers (14 mi) southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 2,907 inhabitants in 2017.
Bir al-Basha is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, located 15 km southwest of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 1,307 inhabitants in mid-year 2006 and 1,725 by 2017.
Zububa is the northernmost Palestinian village in the West Bank, located 10 km Northwest of the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had an estimated population of 2322 inhabitants in.
al-Karmil is a Palestinian village located twelve kilometers south of Hebron. The village is in the Hebron Governorate Southern West Bank, within Area A under total Palestinian control. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 9,740 in 2017. The primary health care facilities for the village are designated by the Ministry of Health as level 2.
Tell es-Safi was an Arab Palestinian village, located on the southern banks of Wadi 'Ajjur, 35 kilometers (22 mi) northwest of Hebron which had its Arab population expelled during the 1948 Arab–Israeli war on orders of Shimon Avidan, commander of the Givati Brigade.
Tel Yokneam, also spelled Yoqne'am or Jokneam, is an archaeological site located in the northern part of the modern city of Yokneam Illit, Israel. It is known in Arabic as Tell Qamun, believed to be a corruption of the Hebrew name. The site is an elevated mound, or tell, spanning around 40 dunams and rising steeply to a height of 60 meters (200 ft). With a few brief interruptions, Yokneam was occupied for 4,000 years, from the Middle Bronze Age to the Ottoman period.
Chezib, also known as Achzib of Judah, is a biblical place-name associated with the birth of Judah's son, Shelah (Genesis 38:5), corresponding to the Achzib of the Book of Joshua (15:44), a town located in the low-lying hills of the plain of Judah, known as the Shefela. In I Chronicles 4:22, the town is rendered as Chozeba. The place is now a ruin.
Horvat Maon/Horvat Ma'on, Arabic: Khirbet Ma'in or Tell Máîn, is an archaeological site in the Hebron Hills, West Bank, rising 863 metres (2,831 ft) above sea level, where the remains of the ancient town of Ma'on have been excavated. The town, now a ruin, is mentioned in the Book of Joshua and the Books of Samuel. It still had a Jewish population during the Roman and Byzantine periods, and a synagogue was discovered there. The site was ultimately abandoned around the time of the Muslim conquest.
Tel al-Hafireh (Tel Dothan) Tel al-Hafireh is an archeological site that lies 6 kilometers south of Jenin, close to the village of Bir al-Basha.
See Van de Velde's Syria and Palestine vol. i. p. 364. That traveller may claim the discovery of the site. He visited the spot, whereas E Robinson, like ourselves, only had it pointed out at a distance
