Excavations have been started at the site of the Biblical city of Shechem, first residence of the rulers of the northern Israelite’ Kingdom and first mentioned in the Bible in connection with Abraham’s entry into Canaan, it was reported here today from Amman. The site is located in the town of Nablus in the Jordanian-held portion of Palestine.
The excavations, the largest ever undertaken in Jordan, are under the auspices of Drew University, Madison, New Jersey and the MacCormick Theological Seminary of Chicago, in cooperation with the American Schools of Oriental Research an the Bollingen Foundation of New York.
Dr. Awni Dajani, director of the Jordanian Department of Antiquities, announced that members of the expedition hope to uncover ruins dating to the period of Joshua, who entered into a treaty with the inhabitants of Shechem. The city, which declined in importance when the capital of the northern kingdom was moved to Samaria, was finally destroyed by John Hyrcanus in the Second Century B. C. E.
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