Shechem
Where is Shechem today? Tell Balata on the eastern edge of Nablus in the West Bank, where Abram built an altar and Joshua renewed the covenant.
- Today
- Tell Balata, Nablus (West Bank)
- Country
- Palestine (West Bank)
- Status
- Archaeological site: Tell Balata park; Jacob's Well nearby
- Identification
- Certain
Shechem, built in the pass between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, is one of the oldest cities of Canaan. When Abram reached the promised land he built his first altar near Shechem, by the oak of Moreh. Jacob bought land here, and Joseph's bones, brought up from Egypt, were buried in that plot. Before his death Joshua gathered the tribes of Israel at Shechem to renew the covenant, and the division of the kingdom also began here. By tradition, Jacob's well from John 4 lies right beside Shechem.
Read the chapters
- Genesis 12
The call of Abraham — a turning-point chapter in which a man is asked to leave everything familiar for an unknown land and sets out on the strength of a great promise.
- Genesis 33
- Joshua 24
- Judges 9
- 1 Kings 12
- Acts 7
Related topics
Related people
- Paul
- Peter
- Abraham
- Solomon
- Joseph
- Noah
- Elijah
- Adam
- Deborah
- Elisha
- Gideon
- Eve
- Isaac
- Sarah
- Samson
- Jacob
- Joshua
- Barnabas
- Stephen
- Lydia
- Matthew
- Timothy
- Methuselah
- Seth
- Abel
- Cain
- Ishmael
- Hagar
- Lot
- Rachel
- John the Apostle
- Philip the Apostle
- Judas Iscariot
- Mark
Related verse collections
- Bible Verses About Creation
- Bible Verses About Salvation
- Bible Verses About Courage
- Bible Verses About Repentance
- Bible Verses About Family
- Bible Verses About Marriage
- Bible Verses About Generosity
- Bible Verses About Witness
- Bible Verses About Loneliness
- Bible Verses About New Beginnings
- Bible Verses About Trials and Testing
- Bible Verses About Strength
- Bible Verses About God's Promises
- Bible Verses About Work and Labor
Reading plans
- The Bible for Beginners — 10 Days
- Advent — 24 Days to Christmas
- The Early Church Through Acts — 28 Days
- The Bible in a Year — 365 Days from Cover to Cover
- 30 Days with the Gospel — An Introduction to the New Testament
Books
Places in the Bible
Where is Shechem today, and in which country?
Shechem today is the Tell Balata mound on the eastern edge of the city of Nablus in the West Bank. In the Bible it is where Abram built his first altar on reaching the promised land (Genesis 12:6-7) and where Joshua renewed Israel's covenant. On the mound visitors see Bronze Age walls, a city gate and temple remains; close by are the Greek Orthodox church built over what tradition calls Jacob's Well and the small Samaritan community living on Mount Gerizim.
Where is Joseph's tomb?
According to the Bible, the Israelites brought Joseph's bones from Egypt and buried them at Shechem, in the plot of land Jacob had bought (Joshua 24:32). Tradition identifies the tomb with a small shrine at the eastern entrance of Nablus, near Tell Balata, though the identification is debated.
Are Shechem and Nablus the same place?
Not exactly. Ancient Shechem is the Tell Balata mound on the eastern edge of today's Nablus. Nablus itself continues the Roman city of Flavia Neapolis, founded right next to it, and takes its name from Neapolis.