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Nablus
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Situated
63 km north of Jerusalem between the mountains of Gerzim and
Ebal, Nablus was founded in 72 AD by the Roman Emperor Tetus
in honor of his father Flavius Vespasian. It was called Flavia
Neapolis, the 'New City', until 636 AD when the Arabs took
the town, changing its name to Nablus.
Today, Nablus is considered the major commercial, industrial and
agricultural center in the northern West Bank.
Olive oil soap, produced from olive oil and caustic soda, is a Nablus specialty with some of the city's soap factories operating for more than 250 years. Nablus is also renowned for its crafty goldsmiths and its Kenafa, a tasty oriental pastry.
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• Old Town of Nablus
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This
remarkable old town in the city center is a bustling market,
or Souq, with impressive mosques, Turkish baths, and traditional
soap factories. Its architecture rivals that of Jerusalem. The
Great Mosque, al-Kabir, is on the eastern edge of the Old Town
of Nablus. West of the Great Mosque lies al- Shifa Turkish bath.
Built around 1840, it is the oldest operating Turkish bath in
Palestine.
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• Jacob's Well
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Located 1.6km south of Nablus, Jacob's Well is where Jesus met
the Samaritan woman who offered Him a drink of water. Jacob
dug the well for himself, his children, and his flock on a plot
of land he bought upon his return from Mesopotamia. The Crusaders
restored it over the well. Today, it stands within the walled
complex of the Greek Orthodox Monastery.
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• Tell Balata
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Located 3km east of Nablus, Tell Balata, or Shechem, was one
of the earliest and most powerful Canaanite cities. Destroyed
and rebuilt several times, the ruins of this ancient city occupy
a hill rising 525m above sea level. A fortress temple on the
summit of the hill is the largest and most impressive surviving
Canaanite temple in Palestine. Other visible ruins include two
monumental gates, massive city walls, and a governor's palace
with a small private temple, guardrooms, an assembly, living
quarters, and a kitchen.
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• Sabastia (Samaria)
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The ancient royal city of Sebastia, or Samaria, is one of the
largest archeological sites in Palestine. Located 12km northwest
of Nablus, the ruins of ancient Sebastia extend on a hill overlooking
the present village of Sebastia. Excavations at Sebastia indicate
that it was first inhabited during the Chalcolithic period in
4000 BC. It did not gain political importance, however, until
King Omri built his royal city there and named it Samaria. The
visible remains at ancient Sebastia include Roman tombs, a Hellenistic
tower, a Severan basilica, and Herodian gate towers at the entrance
of a colonnaded street with 600 columns on both sides. According
to religious tradition, the head of John the Baptist was found
in Sebastia and a Crusader church, later converted to a mosque,
was built in his honor.
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• Burqin Church
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Located
3km west of Jenin, the village of Burqin contains the ruins
of a Byzantine church and the cave where lepers who were healed
by Jesus once lived. The church has been restored several
times and is still being used by the village's Christian Greek
Orthodox community. It is composed of the leper cave and an
18th century hall and nave. Tradition suggests that on His
way to Jerusalem, Jesus passed by the village and miraculously
healed the lepers.
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• Mt. Gerzim |
Standing
at 881m above sea level, Mt. Gerzim offers a magnificent panoramic
view of Nablus and the surrounding area. Ancient ruins at the
summit include an octagonal church built by Zeno in the fifth
century, and the remains of a mosque and a castle dating back
to the time of Salah ad-Din. A small Samaritan community, inhabiting
the plateau below the summit for the past 2500 years, holds
Mt. Gerzim as sacred. Believing that Mt. Gerzim fitted Abraham's
description better than Mt. Moriah, the Samaritans built a rival
temple to the one in Jerusalem. Though the temple has long been
destroyed, the Samaritans still point out a rock that they believe
is the place where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac
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• Joseph's Tomb
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A little to the north of Jacob's Well is the traditional site
of Joseph's tomb, an Ottoman building with a white dome marks
the site
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• Zababdeh
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Located
6km south of Burqin, Zababdeh is built over the site of a Byzantine
village. A beautiful mosaic of a sixth century church can be
found at the convent of the Rosary Sisters, as well as a Roman
building, known as boubariya.
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• Khirbet Belame
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Khirbet Belame is located at the southern
entrance of Jenin and is the site of the Canaanite city of
Ibleam whose residents resisted the tribe of Manasseh. The
tunnel was apparently cut during the late Bronze Age-Early Iron
Age and was reused during the Roman Byzantine period. The
entrance of the tunnel has a large Roman vault, probably rebuilt
during the Crusader period. At its entrance, a large cistern was
found that might be identified with Bir-es-Sinjib/Sinjil, a
derivative of the Crusader name St. Job. The second part of the
tunnel shows evidence of reuse from the medieval period, while
the end part yielded mainly Early Roman pottery. A large number
of lamps were found, mostly in the second part of the tunnel.
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• Tell Dothan
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The impressive site of Tell Dothan lies in a
fertile plain west of Jenin. Once a flourishing Canaanite city,
Tell Dothan, according to tradition, is where Joseph was sold by
his brothers to some Ishmaelite traders who took him to Egypt.
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