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Adds clarification between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament of the Christian Bible.
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{{Short description|Site of religious significance.}} |
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{{Other uses|Jacob's Well (disambiguation)}} |
{{Other uses|Jacob's Well (disambiguation)}} |
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{{Infobox ancient site |
{{Infobox ancient site |
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|image = Jacob's Well |
|image = Jacob's Well in 2013.jpg |
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|caption = Jacob's Well in 2013. |
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|caption = "Jacobs Well at Shechem April 17th 1839", in ''[[The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia]]'' |
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|map_type = West Bank |
|map_type = West Bank |
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|map_alt = Map showing the West Bank |
|map_alt = Map showing the West Bank |
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[[File:Jesus and Samaritan at Jacob's well.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Jesus]] and the [[Samaritan Woman at the Well|Samaritan woman]] at Jacob's Well]] |
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[[File:Nablus jacob well 1912.jpg|thumb|Jacob's Well, 1912]] |
[[File:Nablus jacob well 1912.jpg|thumb|Jacob's Well, 1912]] |
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[[File:Abbud20C.jpg|thumb|200px|Coloured postcard of Jacob's Well, by [[Karimeh Abbud]], circa 1925]] |
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[[File:Church of Bir Ya'qub.JPG|thumb|right|200px|The Greek Orthodox ''St. Photini Church'' at Bir Ya'qub in 2008]] |
[[File:Church of Bir Ya'qub.JPG|thumb|right|200px|The Greek Orthodox ''St. Photini Church'' at Bir Ya'qub in 2008]] |
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[[File:Fresco on the dome of the church of Bir Ya'qub.JPG|thumb|right|200px|The dome of ''St. Photini Church'' at Bir Ya'qub (2008)]] |
[[File:Fresco on the dome of the church of Bir Ya'qub.JPG|thumb|right|200px|The dome of ''St. Photini Church'' at Bir Ya'qub (2008)]] |
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| ⚫ | '''Jacob's Well''',{{efn|{{lang-ar|بِئْر يَعْقُوب|Biʾr Yaʿqūb}}; {{lang-gr|Φρέαρ του Ιακώβ|Fréar tou Iakóv}}; {{lang-he|באר יעקב|Beʾer Yaʿaqov}}}} also known as '''Jacob's Fountain''' or the '''Well of [[Shechem|Sychar]]''', is a [[List of Christian holy sites in the Holy Land|Christian holy site]] located in [[Balata village]], a suburb of the [[State of Palestine|Palestinian]] city of [[Nablus]] in the [[West Bank]].<ref name=Bromileyp955>{{harvnb|Bromiley|1982|page=955}}</ref><ref name=Hastingsp535>{{harvnb|Hastings|Driver|2004|pages=535–537}}</ref> The well, currently situated inside an [[Eastern Orthodox]] church and monastery, has been associated in religious tradition with the biblical patriarch [[Jacob]] for roughly two millennia. |
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[[File:Jacob's Well in 2013.jpg|thumb|Jacob's Well in 2013. Photo taken with permission on a rare day the [[Eucharist]] was not being celebrated.]] |
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Jacob’s well was “a spring-fed well.” This well becomes a picture of the “spring” of the Jacob-life inside of everyone of us. Fed by Adam’s fall, this spring has flowed through all of humanity. But Jesus sat as a “lid” to Jacob’s well, sealing its polluted stream. In Christ, Jacob’s clever striving has ended. A living well became a lid to Jacob’s well as Jesus sat there ready to give His living water to all who would come and drink. A well sat upon a well. |
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'''Jacob's Well''' |
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==Religious significance== |
==Religious significance== |
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Jacob's Well is named in the New Testament [[Gospel of John]] as the scene of [[Samaritan woman at the well|Jesus's encounter with the Samaritan woman]]: |
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[[Geoffrey W. Bromiley|Bromiley]] (1982) claims that [[Judaism|Jewish]], [[Samaritan]], [[Christianity|Christian]], and [[Islam|Muslim]] traditions associate the well with [[Jacob]], but only mentions examples of Christian pilgrimage and Western research.<ref name=Bromileyp955/> Samaritan and Christian interest in the site is supported by Gurevich & Harani (2017), who refute any Jewish interest in it. There is no reference yet in this article apart from Bromiley in favour of Muslims associating the well with [[Jacob in Islam|Yakub]]. |
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{{blockquote|So [Jesus] came to a town in [[Samaria]] called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.biblica.com/bible/niv/john/4/ |title=John 4 (NIV) |publisher=Biblica}}</ref>}} |
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The location of Sychar is uncertain; it may have been a town on the eastern slopes of [[Mount Ebal]], or it may be another name for [[Shechem]].<ref>{{harvnb|Douglas|Tenney|Silva|2011|page=1403}}</ref> [[Jacob]] is an Old Testament [[Patriarchs (Bible)|patriarch]] whose story is told in the Hebrew [[Book of Genesis]]. There is no specific mention in the Hebrew Bible (which is only the first 5 books of the Old Testament) of a well owned by Jacob, but the plot of ground described as the location of the well is considered by biblical scholars to be identical with the plot purchased by Jacob in Genesis 33, which was said to be "within sight" of Shechem.<ref name=Hastingsp535/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.biblica.com/bible/?osis=niv:Genesis%2033:18%E2%80%9320 |title=Genesis 33:18-20 (NIV) |publisher=Biblica}}</ref> |
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===Judaism=== |
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According to Gurevich & Harani (2017), "Judaism does not attribute any significance to the site", citing Yitzhak Magen (2009), ''Flavia Neapolis: Shechem in the Roman Period, vol. 1'', p. 32.<ref name=Gurevich28>Gurevich & Harani (2017). p. 28, with note 4 sending to p. 48.</ref> This contradicts Bromiley (1982), who states that "Although the [[Old Testament|OT]] does not refer to it, Jewish, Samaritan, Moslem, and Christian traditions associate this well with the patriarch Jacob."<ref name=Bromileyp955/> No well of Jacob is specifically mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible]] (the base of the [[Old Testament]]); {{bibleverse||Genesis|33:18-20|NIV}} only states that when Jacob returned to Shechem from [[Paddan Aram]], he camped "before" the city and bought the land on which he pitched his tent and erected an altar. |
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===Samaritanism=== |
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Gurevich & Harani write that "[t]he Samaritans believe that the well was purchased by Jacob the Patriarch."<ref name=Gurevich28/> |
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===Christianity=== |
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The present-day church containing the well has been built close to the [[Levantine archaeology|archaeological]] site of [[Tell Balata]], which is thought to be the site of biblical [[Shechem]].<ref name=Hornep50>Horne, 1856, pp. 50-51/</ref> Some Biblical scholars contend that the plot of land is the same one upon which Jacob's Well was constructed. Other Biblical scholars have made note of the well discovered in the "open country" of the "land of the Kedemites" in Genesis 29 where Jacob meets his future bride, Rachel.<ref name=Bromileyp955 /><ref name=Hastingsp535/> |
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The present-day church at [[Balata village]] is close to the archaeological site of [[Tell Balata]], traditionally identified with Shechem.<ref>{{harvnb|Rast|1992|page=31}}</ref> The well within this church has long been associated with the New Testament narrative, and Christian tradition therefore holds this well to have been dug by Jacob.<ref name=Hastingsp535/> The same belief is found among the Samaritans.<ref name=Hastingsp535/><ref name=Gurevich28>{{harvnb|Gurevich|Harani|2017|page=28}}</ref> Scholars such as [[James Hastings]] and [[Geoffrey W. Bromiley]] assert that Jewish tradition likewise connects the well with Jacob,<ref name=Hastingsp535/><ref name=Bromileyp955/> but David Gurevich and Yisca Harani claim that "Judaism does not attribute any religious significance to the site".<ref name=Gurevich28/> |
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Jacob's Well is mentioned by name once in the [[New Testament]] in a passage ({{bibleverse||John|4:5-6|NIV}}) which says that [[Jesus]] "came to a city of [[Samaria]] called [[Shechem|Sychar]], near the field which Jacob gave to his son [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]]. Jacob's well was there."<ref name=Bromileyp955/> [[Gospel of John|John's Gospel]] goes on to describe a conversation between Jesus and a [[Samaritan Woman at the Well|Samaritan woman]] (called [[Photini]] in Orthodox tradition), which took place while Jesus was resting at the well after a tiring journey.<ref name=Becchio>Becchio and Schadé, 2006. Listed under the entry for "Jacob's fountain".</ref> ({{bibleverse||John|4:7-15|NIV}}) The site is counted as a [[List of Christian holy sites in the Holy Land|Christian holy site]]. From a Christian perspective, the reference in John's Gospel to the well seems to hint at a deeper nuptial reading of Jesus as the Bridegroom of Israel come to reunite the divided tribes through a spiritual union with him, the long-awaited Messiah; see [[St. Augustine]]'s Tractate 15 on the Gospel of John. |
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==History== |
==History== |
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The writings of [[pilgrim]]s indicate that Jacob's Well has been situated within different churches built at the same site over time.<ref name=Bromileyp955/><ref name=Hastingsp535/> By the 330s AD, the site had been identified as the place where Jesus held his conversation with the Samaritan woman, and was probably being used for Christian [[baptism]]s.<ref name=Pringlep258>Pringle |
The writings of [[pilgrim]]s indicate that Jacob's Well has been situated within different churches built at the same site over time.<ref name=Bromileyp955/><ref name=Hastingsp535/> By the 330s [[Anno Domini|AD]], the site had been identified as the place where Jesus held his conversation with the Samaritan woman, and was probably being used for Christian [[baptism]]s.<ref name=Pringlep258>{{harvnb|Pringle|1993|page=258}}</ref>By 384 AD, a [[cruciform]] church was built over the site, and is mentioned in the 4th century writings of [[Saint Jerome]].<ref name=Pringlep258/> This church was most likely destroyed during the [[Nablus#Samaritan revolts|Samaritan revolts]] of 484 or 529AD.<ref name=Pringlep258/> Subsequently, rebuilt by [[Justinian I]], this second [[Byzantine empire|Byzantine]] era church was still standing in the 720sAD, and possibly into the early 9th centuryAD.<ref name=Pringlep258/> |
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The Byzantine church was definitely in ruins by the time the [[First Crusade|Crusaders]] occupied [[Nablus]] in August 1099; early 12th-century accounts by pilgrims to the site speak of the well without mentioning a church.<ref name=Pringlep258/> These include the appointment of [[ |
The Byzantine church was definitely in ruins by the time the [[First Crusade|Crusaders]] occupied [[Nablus]] in August 1099AD; early 12th-century accounts by pilgrims to the site speak of the well without mentioning a church.<ref name=Pringlep258/> These include the appointment of [[Henry Maleverer]] as guardian of the well under the [[king of Jerusalem]].<ref>{{harvnb|Brewer|2001|page=1150}}</ref> There are later 12th-century accounts of a newly built church at Jacob's Well. The first such definitive account comes from [[Libellus de locis sanctis|Theoderic]], who writes: "The well ... is a half a mile distant from the city Nablus: it lies in front of the altar in the church built over it, in which nuns devote themselves to the service of God. This well is called the Fountain of Jacob."<ref name=Pringlep258/> This Crusader era church was constructed in 1175, likely due to the support of [[Queen Melisande]], who retired to Nablus in 1152 where she lived until her death in 1161.<ref name=PUSH/> This church appears to have been destroyed following [[Saladin]]'s victory over the Crusaders in the [[Battle of Hittin]] in 1187.<ref name=Bromileyp955/><ref name=Hastingsp535/> |
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In March 1697, when [[Henry Maundrell]] visited Jacob's Well, the water stood at {{convert|5|ft|m}} deep of the well's total depth of {{convert|35|ft|m}}.<ref name=Hastingsp535/ |
In March 1697, when [[Henry Maundrell]] visited Jacob's Well, the water stood at {{convert|5|ft|m}} deep of the well's total depth of {{convert|35|ft|m}}.<ref name=Hastingsp535/><ref>{{harvnb|Maundrell|1836|pages=105–106}}</ref> [[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Edward Robinson]] visited the site in the mid-19th century, describing the "remains of the ancient church," lying just above the well to the southwest as a "shapeless mass of ruins, among which are seen fragments of gray, granite columns, still retaining their ancient polish."<ref name=Robinsonp132>{{harvnb|Robinson|Smith|1856|page=132}}</ref> Local Christians continued to venerate the site even when it was without a church. In 1860, the site was obtained by the [[Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem|Greek Orthodox Patriarchate]] and a new church, consecrated to [[Photini|St. Photini the Samaritan]], was built in 1893 along with a small monastery.<ref name=Gurevich>{{harvnb|Gurevich|Harani|2017|pages=26–54}}</ref> The [[1927 Jericho earthquake]] destroyed that building. |
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In November 1979, at a time of increased tensions on the West Bank, the custodian of the well, [[Philoumenos (Hasapis) of Jacob's Well|Archimandrite Philoumenos]], was found hatcheted to death inside the crypt housing the well. The assailant, a mentally ill resident of [[Tel Aviv]], was apprehended three years later and confessed to that slaying and others, including an assault on a nun at the monastery and the axe murder of a Jewish psychiatrist in Tel Aviv.<ref name=Gurevich/><ref name=JPost15Dec82>{{cite news|title=Charges Filed in Nablus Axe Murder Case|work=Jerusalem Post|date=15 December 1982}}</ref><ref name=JPost2Dec82>{{cite news|title=TA eccentric 'confesses' to 1979 murders, police say|work=Jerusalem Post|date=2 December 1982}}</ref><ref name=JPost17Dec82>{{cite news|title=Psychiatric Test for Confessed Slayer|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=17 December 1982}}</ref> In 2009, the [[Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem|Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem]] declared Philoumenos a saint thirty years after his death. |
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Abuna (meaning "Father") Ioustinos, a Greek Orthodox priest from Nablus, later spearheaded a huge reconstruction project. Jacob's Well has since been restored and a new church modelled along the designs of the Crusader-era church houses the well inside it, in a crypt on a lower level.<ref name=PUSH/> |
Abuna (meaning "Father") Ioustinos, a Greek Orthodox priest from Nablus, later spearheaded a huge reconstruction project. Jacob's Well has since been restored and a new church modelled along the designs of the Crusader-era church houses the well inside it, in a crypt on a lower level.<ref name=PUSH/> |
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==Physical description and location== |
==Physical description and location== |
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Jacob's Well is located {{convert|76|m|ft|sp=us}} from ''Tell Balata'' in the eastern part of the city of Nablus within the grounds of the Bir Ya'qub monastery.<ref name=Bromileyp955/><ref name=PUSH>{{cite web|title=Bir Ya'qub (Jacob's Well)|url=http://www.pushproject.org/page78/page8/page5/Al-Quds%20Sites.html|publisher=PUSH |
Jacob's Well is located {{convert|76|m|ft|sp=us}} from ''Tell Balata'' in the eastern part of the city of Nablus within the grounds of the Bir Ya'qub monastery.<ref name=Bromileyp955/><ref name=PUSH>{{cite web|title=Bir Ya'qub (Jacob's Well)|url=http://www.pushproject.org/page78/page8/page5/Al-Quds%20Sites.html|publisher=PUSH|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215074901/http://www.pushproject.org/page78/page8/page5/Al-Quds%20Sites.html|archive-date=15 December 2008}}</ref> The well is accessed by entering the church on the monastery grounds, and descending the stairs to a [[crypt]] where the well still stands, along with "a small winch, a bucket, ex-voto icons and lots of lit candles."<ref name=Holyland>{{cite web|title=Nablus, Holy Land|publisher=Atlas Tours|url=http://www.atlastours.net/holyland/nablus.html|access-date=7 December 2008}}</ref> |
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According to Major Anderson, who visited the site in 1866, the well has <blockquote>"a narrow opening, just wide enough to allow the body of a man to pass through with arms uplifted, and this narrow neck, which is about 4 ft. long, opens into the well itself, which is cylindrically shaped, and opens about 7 ft. 6 in. in diameter. The well and upper part of the well are built of [[masonry]], and the well appears to have been sunk through a mixture of alluvial soil and [[limestone]] fragments, till a compact bed of mountain limestone was reached, having horizontal strata which could be easily worked; and the interior of the well presents the appearance of having been lined throughout with rough masonry."<ref name=Bromileyp955/></blockquote> |
According to Major Anderson, who visited the site in 1866, the well has: <blockquote>"...a narrow opening, just wide enough to allow the body of a man to pass through with arms uplifted, and this narrow neck, which is about 4 ft. long, opens into the well itself, which is cylindrically shaped, and opens about 7 ft. 6 in. in diameter. The well and upper part of the well are built of [[masonry]], and the well appears to have been sunk through a mixture of alluvial soil and [[limestone]] fragments, till a compact bed of mountain limestone was reached, having horizontal strata which could be easily worked; and the interior of the well presents the appearance of having been lined throughout with rough masonry."<ref name=Bromileyp955/></blockquote> |
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Based on a measurement made in 1935, the total depth of the well is {{convert|41|m|ft|sp=us}}.<ref name=Bromileyp955/> |
Based on a measurement made in 1935, the total depth of the well is {{convert|41|m|ft|sp=us}}.<ref name=Bromileyp955/> |
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==Notes and references== |
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;Notes |
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*[[Bir Ma'in]], Arab village near Ramle, connected by a foundation legend to Jacob/Ya'kub and Daughters of Jacob Bridge/Jisr Benat Ya'kub.<ref>Clermont-Ganneau, 1896, vol 2, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/archaeologicalre02cler#page/77/mode/1up 77] ff.</ref> |
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{{notelist}} |
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*[[Daughters of Jacob Bridge]] on the Jordan, associated with biblical Jacob due to a misunderstanding |
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*[[Jubb Yussef (Joseph's Well)]], site associated with biblical Joseph in Muslim tradition |
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*[[Levantine archaeology]] |
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*[[Philoumenos (Hasapis) of Jacob's Well]] |
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;References |
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{{reflist|2}} |
{{reflist|2}} |
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;Bibliography |
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{{refbegin}} |
{{refbegin}} |
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*{{ |
*{{cite book |last1=Becchio |first1=Bruno |last2=Schadé |first2=Johannes P. |title= Encyclopedia of World Religions |publisher= Foreign Media Group |chapter=Jacob's fountain |year=2006 |isbn= 9781601360007}} |
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*{{cite book |last=Brewer |first=E. C. |title=The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable |publisher=Wordsworth |date=2001 |url=https://archive.org/details/wordsworthdictio0000unse_r6r3/page/1150 |url-access=registration |isbn=1-84022-310-3}} |
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*{{ |
*{{cite book |last=Bromiley |first=G. W. |author-link= Geoffrey W. Bromiley |title= International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J |publisher=[[Wm. B. Eerdmans]] |year=1982 |isbn= 9780802837820}} |
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*{{cite journal | |
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*{{ |
*{{cite book |last1=Douglas |first1=J. D. |last2=Tenney |first2=M. C. |last3=Silva |first3=M. |date=2011 |title=Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0-310-22983-4}} |
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| ⚫ | *{{cite journal |last1= Gurevich |first1= David |last2= Harani |first2= Yisca |title= Philoumenos of Jacob's Well: The Birth of a Contemporary Ritual Murder Narrative |year= 2017 |pages= 26–54 |journal=[[Israel Studies]] |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |volume= 22 |number=2 |doi= 10.2979/israelstudies.22.2.02 |jstor= 10.2979/israelstudies.22.2.02 |s2cid= 152231830 |url-access= registration |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.22.2.02}} |
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*{{citation |last=Horne |first=T. H. |authorlink= Thomas Hartwell Horne |title=An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures |publisher= Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts |year=1856}} |
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*{{cite book |last1=Hastings |first1=J. |author-link= James Hastings |last2=Driver |first2=S. R. |title=A Dictionary of the Bible: Volume II: (Part II: I – Kinsman) |publisher=The Minerva Group, Inc. |year=2004 |isbn= 9781410217257}} |
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*[[Henry Maundrell|Maundrell, H.]] (1836). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=LG09AAAAMAAJ A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem: At Easter, A.D. 1697 : to which is Added an Account of the Author's Journey to the Banks of the Euphrates at Beer, and to the Country of Mesopotamia]''. 271 pages. |
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*{{cite book |last=Maundrell |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Maundrell |title= A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, at Easter, A.D. 1697 |year= 1836 |orig-year= 1703 |editor-last=Greenwood |editor-first=F. W. P. |editor-link=F. W. P. Greenwood |publisher= Samuel G. Simpkins |location= Boston |series=Christian Monitor (New Series, Vol. VI) |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LG09AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA105}} |
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*{{ |
*{{cite book |last=Pringle |first=D. |author-link=Denys Pringle |title=Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: A Corpus |publisher= Cambridge University Press |volume=1 |year=1993 |isbn= 9780521390361}} |
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| ⚫ |
*{{cite book | |
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*{{cite book |last=Rast |first=Walter E. |date=1992 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Z0YrPfeHa8C&pg=PA31|title=Through the Ages in Palestinian Archaeology: An Introductory Handbook |publisher=Trinity Press International |isbn=1-56338-055-2}} |
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| ⚫ | *{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=E.|author-link= Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith |first2=E. |author-link2=Eli Smith |year=1856 |title= Later Biblical Researches in Palestine and adjacent regions: A Journal of Travels in the year 1852 |location=London |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |url= https://archive.org/details/laterbiblicalre01smitgoog}} |
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{{refend}} |
{{refend}} |
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[[Category:Church buildings in the Kingdom of Jerusalem]] |
[[Category:Church buildings in the Kingdom of Jerusalem]] |
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[[Category:State of Palestine in the Roman era]] |
[[Category:State of Palestine in the Roman era]] |
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[[Category:Shechem]] |
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The original story of the discovery of the well, by Jacob, and of his meeting Rachel. Specifically, verses 2,3,10,11 of Chapter 29 of Genesis.<ref>{{cite web |title=King James Bible: King James Version (KJV) |url=https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Genesis-Chapter-29/ |website=King James Bible Online |publisher=King James Bible Online |access-date=June 15, 2021}}</ref> |
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Jacob's Well in 2013.
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  Shown within the West Bank | |
| Location | Near Balata village, West Bank |
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| Coordinates | 32°12′34″N 35°17′07″E / 32.209461°N 35.285331°E / 32.209461; 35.285331 |
| Type | Well |
Jacob's Well,[a] also known as Jacob's Fountain or the Well of Sychar, is a Christian holy site located in Balata village, a suburb of the Palestinian city of Nablus in the West Bank.[1][2] The well, currently situated inside an Eastern Orthodox church and monastery, has been associated in religious tradition with the biblical patriarch Jacob for roughly two millennia.
Jacob's Well is named in the New Testament Gospel of John as the scene of Jesus's encounter with the Samaritan woman:
So [Jesus] came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well.[3]
The location of Sychar is uncertain; it may have been a town on the eastern slopes of Mount Ebal, or it may be another name for Shechem.[4] Jacob is an Old Testament patriarch whose story is told in the Hebrew Book of Genesis. There is no specific mention in the Hebrew Bible (which is only the first 5 books of the Old Testament) of a well owned by Jacob, but the plot of ground described as the location of the well is considered by biblical scholars to be identical with the plot purchased by Jacob in Genesis 33, which was said to be "within sight" of Shechem.[2][5]
The present-day church at Balata village is close to the archaeological site of Tell Balata, traditionally identified with Shechem.[6] The well within this church has long been associated with the New Testament narrative, and Christian tradition therefore holds this well to have been dug by Jacob.[2] The same belief is found among the Samaritans.[2][7] Scholars such as James Hastings and Geoffrey W. Bromiley assert that Jewish tradition likewise connects the well with Jacob,[2][1] but David Gurevich and Yisca Harani claim that "Judaism does not attribute any religious significance to the site".[7]
The writings of pilgrims indicate that Jacob's Well has been situated within different churches built at the same site over time.[1][2] By the 330s AD, the site had been identified as the place where Jesus held his conversation with the Samaritan woman, and was probably being used for Christian baptisms.[8] By 384 AD, a cruciform church was built over the site, and is mentioned in the 4th century writings of Saint Jerome.[8] This church was most likely destroyed during the Samaritan revolts of 484 or 529 AD.[8] Subsequently, rebuilt by Justinian I, this second Byzantine era church was still standing in the 720s AD, and possibly into the early 9th century AD.[8]
The Byzantine church was definitely in ruins by the time the Crusaders occupied Nablus in August 1099 AD; early 12th-century accounts by pilgrims to the site speak of the well without mentioning a church.[8] These include the appointment of Henry Maleverer as guardian of the well under the king of Jerusalem.[9] There are later 12th-century accounts of a newly built church at Jacob's Well. The first such definitive account comes from Theoderic, who writes: "The well ... is a half a mile distant from the city Nablus: it lies in front of the altar in the church built over it, in which nuns devote themselves to the service of God. This well is called the Fountain of Jacob."[8] This Crusader era church was constructed in 1175, likely due to the support of Queen Melisande, who retired to Nablus in 1152 where she lived until her death in 1161.[10] This church appears to have been destroyed following Saladin's victory over the Crusaders in the Battle of Hittin in 1187.[1][2]
In March 1697, when Henry Maundrell visited Jacob's Well, the water stood at 5 feet (1.5 m) deep of the well's total depth of 35 feet (11 m).[2][11] Edward Robinson visited the site in the mid-19th century, describing the "remains of the ancient church," lying just above the well to the southwest as a "shapeless mass of ruins, among which are seen fragments of gray, granite columns, still retaining their ancient polish."[12] Local Christians continued to venerate the site even when it was without a church. In 1860, the site was obtained by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and a new church, consecrated to St. Photini the Samaritan, was built in 1893 along with a small monastery.[13] The 1927 Jericho earthquake destroyed that building.
In November 1979, at a time of increased tensions on the West Bank, the custodian of the well, Archimandrite Philoumenos, was found hatcheted to death inside the crypt housing the well. The assailant, a mentally ill resident of Tel Aviv, was apprehended three years later and confessed to that slaying and others, including an assault on a nun at the monastery and the axe murder of a Jewish psychiatrist in Tel Aviv.[13][14][15][16] In 2009, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem declared Philoumenos a saint thirty years after his death.
Abuna (meaning "Father") Ioustinos, a Greek Orthodox priest from Nablus, later spearheaded a huge reconstruction project. Jacob's Well has since been restored and a new church modelled along the designs of the Crusader-era church houses the well inside it, in a crypt on a lower level.[10]
Jacob's Well is located 76 meters (249 ft) from Tell Balata in the eastern part of the city of Nablus within the grounds of the Bir Ya'qub monastery.[1][10] The well is accessed by entering the church on the monastery grounds, and descending the stairs to a crypt where the well still stands, along with "a small winch, a bucket, ex-voto icons and lots of lit candles."[17]
According to Major Anderson, who visited the site in 1866, the well has:
"...a narrow opening, just wide enough to allow the body of a man to pass through with arms uplifted, and this narrow neck, which is about 4 ft. long, opens into the well itself, which is cylindrically shaped, and opens about 7 ft. 6 in. in diameter. The well and upper part of the well are built of masonry, and the well appears to have been sunk through a mixture of alluvial soil and limestone fragments, till a compact bed of mountain limestone was reached, having horizontal strata which could be easily worked; and the interior of the well presents the appearance of having been lined throughout with rough masonry."[1]
Based on a measurement made in 1935, the total depth of the well is 41 meters (135 ft).[1]
32°12′34.06″N 35°17′7.19″E / 32.2094611°N 35.2853306°E / 32.2094611; 35.2853306
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Religious sites under the Palestinian Authority
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|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem Governorate |
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| Hebron Governorate |
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| Jenin Governorate |
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| Jericho Governorate |
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| Jerusalem Governorate |
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| Nablus Governorate |
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| Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate |
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| Salfit Governorate |
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| Tulkarm Governorate |
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| Gaza Governorate |
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† Access to the site is controlled by Israel. | ||
| International |
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|---|---|
| National |
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