Mizpah in Benjamin
Mizpah (Hebrew מצפה, Watchtower ) is the name of an ancient city, probably at Tell -en- Nasbeh 12 km north-west of Jerusalem, near Ramallah.
Biblical testimonies
A first mention learns Mizpah in the book of Joshua. According to Chapter 15, it belongs to the tribe of Judah, according to Chapter 18 to Benjamin. In the biblical view of history of pre-state Israel Mizpah plays a greater role. So gather there the Israelites (Judges 20f. EU ) to adopt measures against the tribe of Benjamin. After 1 Sam 7 Mizpah is a meeting place and starting point of a successful battle against the Philistines. Finally, Saul is anointed king at Mizpah (1 Sam 10,17 EU).
King Asa of Judah is said to have fortified the city in the first half of the 9th century BC as a frontier fortress against Israel (1 Kings 15:22 EU). Political significance won Mizpah, as the governor appointed by the Babylonians put Gedaliah after the conquest of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 BC located at Mizpah, presumably because the under Asa heavily fortified Mizpah offered a good replacement for the destroyed Jerusalem. It became the center of the home at heart. After a short time Gedaliah was assassinated by members of the royal dynasty ( Jer 40 EU ) and ( 2 Kgs 25 EU). As archaeological investigations revealed Mizpah was not destroyed and was well settled in the exile. Also among the Persians made it a center of the province of Yehud ( ( Neh 3,15 EU), while Jerusalem and the surrounding area was almost completely depopulated.
Archeology
Under the direction of WF bathing Tell- en- Nasbeh was in five campaigns (1926, 1927, 1930, 1932, 1935) excavated to about 3/8. Since large parts of the mound were affected by severe erosion, many of the excavation results have only limited validity.
The oldest traces of settlement date from the late Chalcolithic period around 3000 BC. Ceramic and some finds from tombs such as Pearl necklaces can be assigned to the Early Bronze Age. From the end of the Early Bronze Age to the beginning of the Iron Age I to Tell was apparently uninhabited. No clear explanation has been found for the settlement gap, however.
In the Iron Age I to Tell was settled again, as can be derived from findings of Philistine pottery. During this time, apparently was also some caves - dug - as tanks or silos. Remains of a wine press are also dated to this time. In the Iron Age II, the city was spared from destruction and a relatively stable city layout, as it is also known from other Israelite settlements developed: an outer wall with connected buildings, a street and an inner ring building. From the Iron Age II also originate a city wall of 660 meters in length ( fully excavated ) with eleven towers and a Torkomplex, two towers outside the walls, storage bunkers and tombs. Among the small finds inscribed ostraca, weights and cylinder and stamp seals. One of them is labeled " the Ja'asanjahu (part of ), servant of the king " and is often associated with a person of the same name from 2 Kings 25:23 EU. From everyday life to make-up sticks, brooches, pins, earrings, anklets, etc. So-called female Pfeilerfigurinen provide information about the religious beliefs of the people found.
From Babylonian times some homes of the four- room type, the quality to stand out from other houses come. On the northern edge of the mound there is a building which is created significantly larger than a private home. Maybe this will become the seat of a governor has been. Numerous other buildings build over the old map from the Iron Age II is striking a bronze ring with a dedicatory inscription in a presumably neobabylonischen typeface, as well as the frequent occurrence of seal impressions with the inscription מצה. Presumably this refers to the settlement Moza at Jerusalem, which supplied agricultural products to Mizpah.
Also in the Persian period the Tell was still inhabited. This is indicated with the inscription Yehud seal impressions. There were also coins from Ptolemaic, Seleucid, Hasmonean, Roman and Byzantine times. Well in this period ends, the settlement of the tell.