THERSA (Heb. Tirzah; Gr. Θεραΐ). - A city of ancient Palestine (Josh. 12:24), located in the territory of the tribe of Manasseh (Num. 27:1; Josh. 17:3), chosen by Jeroboam as the capital of the Kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 14:17).

His successors Baasha and Elah resided there, as did the usurper Zimri, who, besieged there by Omri, preferred death in the fire he himself set to the royal palace. After residing there for six years, Omri abandoned it to go and reside in Samaria (v.), the new capital (1 Kings 15:21, 33; 16:6-23). In 743 Menahem, probably governor of T., marched against Samaria, killing the king there; having seized power, he fought the resistance, devastating the territory of Thapsa (to be read as the Gk. Tappūah) as far as T. (2 Kings 15:13).

The site of the city, admired for its beauty and compared with Jerusalem (Song 6:4), has not yet been identified. Among the many localities proposed, once Talūzah, Tejāṣir and el-'Araq are ruled out, two enjoy the greatest probability: Gemma'in, an imposing archaeological hill, the area of Tappūah (= Tell Sejī Abū Zarad), whose proximity is suggested by the episode of Menahem (2 Kings 15:13), and Tell el-Fār'ah, northeast of Nābulus, where important excavations are under way that may provide a solution to the problem.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: F.-M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine, II, Paris 1938, p. 485; The excavations at Tell el Far'ah, in Bibl. archaeologist, 12 (1949), pp. 66-68.

Donato Baldi

@incollection{ec12_thersa_ebr_tirzah_gr_therai, author = {Baldi, Donato}, title = {Thersa (Ebr. TirzĀH; Gr. ΘΕΡΑΪ́)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {53--54}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/thersa-ebr-tirzah-gr-therai} }

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