JAMNIA (Heb. Jähnel; Gk. Αἰξνά, Ιαξνήλ) - A city on the northern borders of Judea (Josh. 15:5), to be identified with Iabnia, a Philistine city dismantled by Uzziah (2 Chron. 26:6) and known in later times as I., when it was the base of the Syrian generals against Judah (1 Macc. 5:58; 10:69; 15:40); it was subdued by Alexander Jannaeus (Antiq. Iud., XIII, 6, 6; XV, 4). In 63 B.C. Pompey made it independent, but in 30 it was given by Augustus to Herod the Great.

It was very populous and largely inhabited by Jews, who had there a flourishing rabbinical school, which grew with the transfer of the Sanhedrin to I. (70-132). Christianity had martyrs there already under Diocletian; the bishop appears at Nicaea in 325. I. had its port where Eudocia built a church in honor of St. Stephen and St. Thomas with a hospice, although the port was largely inhabited by Samaritans. In the Middle Ages I. was called Yebelin, a corruption of Jähnel, from which the family that governed it took its name. Down to our own days. I. is represented by a Muslim village Yebnah, which in 1948 became part of the Jewish State.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: A. Legendre, s. v. in DB. III, coll. 1115-19; G. Beyer, J., in Zeitschrift des deutschen Palästina-Vereins, 36 (1933), pp. 246-48; F.-M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine, II, Paris 1938, pp. 147, 172, 200; Jona, Palestine of the Crusades, London 1938, p. 41. Bellamides Begatti

@incollection{ec6_iamnia_ebr_jahnel_gr_aiksna_ia, author = {Bagatti, Bellarmino}, title = {Iamnia (Ebr. Jähnel; Gr. ΑἸΞΝΆ, ιαξνήλ)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {1530}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/iamnia-ebr-jahnel-gr-aiksna-iaksnel} }

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Jamnia

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