**THERSA** (Hebr. Tiršah; Gr. Θεσπᾶ). — A city of ancient Palestine (Jos. 12:24), situated in the territory of the tribe of Manasseh (Num. 27:1; Jos. 17:3), chosen by Jeroboam as the capital of the Kingdom of Israel (1 Kgs. 14:17).
There resided his successors Baasha and Elah, and the usurper Zimri, who, besieged by Omri, preferred death in the fire he himself set to the royal palace. After dwelling there for six years, Omri abandoned it to reside in Samaria (q.v.), the new capital (1 Kgs. 15:21-33; 16:6-23). In 743 BC, Menahem, probably governor of T., marched against Samaria, killing the king there; seizing power, he fought resistance, devastating the territory of Thapsa (to be read with the Gr. Tappūah) as far as T. (2 Kgs. 15:13).
The site of the city, admired for its beauty and compared to Jerusalem (Cant. 6:4), has not yet been identified. Among the many proposed locations, Tālūzah, Tejāṣir, and el-'Araq have been discarded; two remain most probable: *Gemma'in*, an imposing archaeological hill, the area of Tappūah (= Tell Šejh Abū Zarad), whose proximity is suggested by the episode of Menahem (2 Kgs. 15:13), and Tell el-Fār'ah, northeast of Nābulus, where important excavations are underway that may provide a solution to the problem.