Mt. Gerizim

Mt. Gerizim, located southwest of Shechem, rises to an elevation of 2,849 feet and overlooks a north-south and an east-west road making it of strategic importance. Moses instructed the Israelites to assemble at Mt. Gerizim and neighboring Mt. Ebal to the north after entering the land of Canaan. There six tribes would stand on Mt. Gerizim and recite the blessings of obeying God while the remaining six tribes would stand on Mt. Ebal and recite the curses of disobeying God (Deut. 27:11-13). Joshua carried out Moses' instructions after conquering the cities of Jericho and Ai (Josh. 8:33-35). Jotham, the brother of Abimelech the son of Gideon, stood upon Mt. Gerizim to condemn Abimelech for having murdered his brothers (Judg. 9:7).

Sanballat constructed a Temple for the Samaritans on Mt. Gerizim as a place for the Samaritans to worship rather than the Temple in Jerusalem. In 128 B.C.E. John Hyrcanus of the Hasmonean dynasty destroyed the Temple. Around the year 70 C.E. the Romans killed 11,600 Samaritans on the mountain as part of the conflict in the Jewish War against Rome. In the 5th century C.E., Zeno, a Christian emperor, forced the Samaritans off of their sacred mountain and built a church to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Samritans destroyed the structure but it was rebuilt and fortified by Justinian. In the 7th century the structure was totally destroyed in the Arab invasion.

Photograph from the Bible Picture Library of Photo Art (c) Christian Computer Art, 1994-97