SICHEM (Hebr. Σύχη) — Gr. Σύχη, “Nux,” “Ancient city of Palestine in the center of the tribe of Ephraim, between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim (Judg. 9:7) like the ‘nape’ between two strong shoulders.
Near the “oak of Moreh,” Abraham built an altar and there received in vision the promise of the land of Canaan (Gen. 12:6); Jacob, under the same tree, hid the idolatrous objects (v. THERAPHIM) of his caravan, built an altar there, and purchased a plot of land where later Joseph was buried (Gen. 33:18–20; Josh. 24:32). The sons of Jacob, Levi and Simeon, avenged the honor of their sister Dinah, who had been violated by Shechem, son of Hamor, the local prince (Gen. 34).
In the fourteenth century B.C., Šakmi (no. 289 of Tell el-‘Amārah)
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was under Egyptian control. At the beginning of the Israelite conquest, Joshua held a solemn assembly of all twelve tribes at Shechem (Josh. 8:30) and there confirmed and renewed the covenant of alliance (ibid. 24:1); it was among the Levitical and refuge cities (ibid. 20:21). In the time of the Judges, a temple to Ba‘al-berith still stood in the city (Judg. 8:33; 9:4), from whose treasury Abimelech drew money to hire partisans for his political designs (ibid. 9:2–6); and because of the Shechemites’ hostility, he marched against the city and destroyed it (ibid. 9:23–45). Rebuilt, it probably became the residence of the prefect “of the hill country of Ephraim” (1 Kgs. 4:8). After the schism of the kingdom, Shechem was the capital of Jeroboam (1 Kgs. 12:1–9, 25) and remained a sacred city for the Samaritans (v.). Destroyed by John Hyrcanus in 128 B.C., it dwindled to a small village and was confused by ecclesiastical and Jewish writers with the city of Flavia Neapolis (= Nablus), founded farther north in the time of Vespasian.
Excavations in 1913–14, 1926, 1928, and 1934 established that Shechem corresponds to modern Tell Balāṭah, 5 km southeast of Nablus. The city already existed around 2000 B.C., protected by a strong wall of stone and brick; it was further reinforced by the Hyksos. Around 1000 B.C. it was provided with another great wall of cyclopean masonry, of which a section about 10 m high remains visible, with a triple gateway to the northeast flanked by towers. On an elevated terrace (millō) placed between the thicknesses of the first wall to the northwest, the acropolis (bēth millō; Judg. 9:6, 20) was built, which probably included the temple of Ba‘al-berith (ibid. 9:4). A large deposit of bronze weapons, Egyptian scarabs, two cuneiform tablets, figurines, and vessels attest to the period of Egyptian sovereignty.