ABEL-MEHOLAH

ABEL-MEHOLAH (Heb. אָבֵל מְחוֹלָה), ancient city in the Jordan Valley that was the birthplace of the prophet elisha (I Kings 19:16). Abel-Meholah also appears in the Bible as a place through which the Midianites passed in their flight from gideon (Judg. 7:22) and as part of Solomon's fifth administrative district, which comprised the towns of the Jezreel and Beth-Shean valleys (I Kings 4:12). Eusebius identified the place in the Onomasticon with Bethmaela, 10 (Roman) mi. south of Beth-Shean. Accordingly, it is generally accepted that Abel-Meholah lay west of the Jordan at the southern end of the Beth-Shean Valley, apparently in the neighborhood of ʿAyn al-Ḥilwa near the point where the Wadi al-Māliḥ enters the Jordan, perhaps Tell Abu Sifri or Tell Abu Sus. Glueck suggested locating it in Transjordan and to identify it with Tell al-Maqlūb, but this has not been generally accepted. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: N. Glueck, River Jordan (1946), 168 ff.; idem, in: BASOR, 90 (1943), 9 ff.; 91 (1943), 8, 15; idem, in: AASOR, 25–28 (1951), 211 ff.; M. Naor, in: BJPES, 13 (1947), 89 ff.; A. Alt, in: PJB, 24 (1928), 45, 99; 28 (1932), 39 ff.; Abel, Geog, 2 (1938), 234; EM, S.V.; Aharoni, Land, 241, 278; Zobel, in: ZDPV, 82 (1966), 83–108; N. Zori, in: BIES, 31 (1967), 132–5. (Michael Avi-Yonah) ABEL SHITTIM or SHITTIM ABEL SHITTIM or SHITTIM (Heb. אָבֵל הַשִּׁטִּים), a town in the plains of Moab where the Israelites camped before crossing the Jordan (Num. 33:49; Josh. 2:1, 3:1). Several noteworthy events are connected with the place and its surroundings. Here Balaam attempted to curse the tribes (Num. 22–24; Micah 6:5) and the Israelites sinned with the daughters of Moab and were punished by a plague (Num. 25). Abel-Shittim is also mentioned in later sources. Zeno (259 B.C.E.) purchased wheat there for his Egyptian master. It was a flourishing town during the period of the Second Temple, renowned for its fertile date groves and grain fields. Josephus mentions a town Abila 60 ris (about 7 mi.) from the Jordan (Jos., Ant., 4:1; 5:1). The early city has been identified by Glueck with Tell al-Hammām at the outlet of Wadi al-Kafrayn which runs from the Mountains of Moab to the Jordan Valley. Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age I pottery and an abundance of potsherds from the Iron Ages I and II have been found on the tell. In the Hellenistic period, the inhabitants moved to a spot in the Jordan Valley to which they transferred the name of their previous settlement, today Khirbat al-Kafrayn. Captured by the Romans, Abel-Shittim escaped destruction during the Jewish War (66–70) and it was populated at least until the end of the Byzantine period. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Horowitz, Ereẓ Yis, S.V.; Press, Ereẓ, 1 (1951), 3; N. Glueck, River Jordan (1946), passim; idem, in: BASOR, 91 (1943), 13–18; idem, in: AASOR, 25–28 (1951), 371 ff.; Abel, Geog, 2 (1938), 234. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: K. Prag, in: Levant 23 (1991), 55–66. (Michael Avi-Yonah)