SICHEM (Heb. Šēḥḥem «Nuca»; Gr. Sychem or Sychima). - Ancient city of Palestine in the center of the tribe of Ephraim, between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim (Judg. 9:7) like the "neck" on two strong shoulders.
Near the "oak of Mōreh," Abraham raised an altar, and in a vision there received the promise of the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:6); Jacob, under the same tree, hid the idolatrous objects (v. THERAPHIM) of his caravan; there he raised an altar and acquired a plot of land, where Joseph was later buried (Gen. 33:18-20; Josh. 24:32). The sons of Jacob, Levi and Simeon, there avenged the honor of their sister Dinah, violated by Shechem, son of Hamor, the local prince (Gen. 34).
In the 14th century B.C. Šāhmi (letter 289 of Tell el-'Amārnah)
was in the power of the Egyptians. At the beginning of the Israelite conquest Joshua held there a solemn assembly of all 12 tribes (Josh. 8:30) and there the covenant pact was confirmed and renewed (ibid. 24:1); it was among the Levitical and refuge cities (ibid. 20:21). In the time of the Judges there was still in the city a temple to Ba'al bèrith (Judg. 8:33; 9:4), from whose treasury Abimelech took the money to hire partisans for his political designs (ibid. 9:2-6); and because of the hostility of the Shechemites, he marched against the city and destroyed it (ibid. 9:23-45). Rebuilt, it probably became the residence of the prefect "of the mountain of Ephraim" (1 Kings 4:8). After the schism of the Kingdom, S. was the capital of Jeroboam (ibid. 12:1-9,25), and remained a holy city for the Samaritans (v.). Destroyed by John Hyrcanus in 128 B.C., it was reduced to a small village, and confused by ecclesiastical and Jewish writers with the city of Flavia Neapolis (= Nâbulus), founded further north in the time of Vespasian.
The excavations of the years 1913-14, 1926, 1928 and 1934 have established that S. corresponds to today's Tell Balâtah, 5 km. southeast of Nâbulus. The city already existed around 2000 B.C., protected by a sturdy wall of stones and bricks; it was further strengthened by the Hyksos. Around 1000 it was provided with another great wall of cyclopean masonry, of which a section about 10 m. high is still visible, with a triple-tenaille gate toward the northeast, flanked by towers. On a terrace (millâ), placed between the thicknesses of the first circuit on the northwest, the acropolis was built (bèth millâ; Judg. 9:6,20), which probably included the temple of Ba'al bèrith (ibid. 9:4). A large deposit of bronze weapons, Egyptian scarabs, two cuneiform tablets, figurines and vases attest to the period of Egyptian sovereignty.
Bibliography6 works
Donato Baldi