Recent readers may not have noticed our header having a link on Indexes (Indices). If you go there you will find an Index of articles on Bethlehem and the Birth of Jesus. At this time of the year when many are thinking about the birth of Jesus and it’s meaning for all mankind I thought it would be good to call attention to these articles and photos. There have been several good comments and discussions about the date of the birth of Jesus.
I have many photos of shepherds and sheep, but not one of shepherds watching their sheep by night in the vicinity of Bethlehem. I do have some photos of shepherds with their sheep in the sheepfold at Heshbon in Jordan. I had been at Heshbon one afternoon visiting with the shepherds and making photos. When I saw their makeshift sheepfold I asked if I could come back in the evening and make some photos. The photo here is one made a dusk after the sheep had been gathered into the sheepfold. The shepherd and his family live in the tent. Heshbon was a former Moabite town given to the tribe of Reuben after the Israelites captured the Trans-Jordan tableland (Numbers 32:37).
Shepherds at Heshbon watching their flock at night.
To access the articles on Bethlehem click through here.
There is emphasis in the Hebrew Bible and in the New Testament that the biblical tabernacle and its furniture were made according to the pattern given by God (Exodus 25:9;
“And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes [bulbs, knops, cups] and flowers,” (Exodus 37:20; Hebrews 8:5 ESV).
Earlier this year I made some pictures of almond trees in bloom at a site overlooking the Lebonah valley, on the north side of Shiloh. It is, in my judgment, a thing of beauty.
An almond blossom at a site overlooking the Lebonah Valley north of Shiloh.
Tirzah is used in the Bible as the name of one of the daughters of Zelopehad. She and her sisters were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph (Numbers 36:11; Joshua 12:24). The man in Song of Songs (or Solomon) tells his lady “You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners” (6:4 ESV). The context, including Jerusalem, indicates he is comparing her to a beautiful city.
This photo shows a few of the excavated ruins of Tel el Farah, thought to be the site of Tirzah.
In today’s post we consider the name Tirzah as the name of a place.
Joshua captured the king of Tirzah during the conquest of the promised land (Joshua 12:24; 17:3).
Earlier when Abraham was at Shechem, the LORD promised him and his descendants the land of Canaan (modern Nablus) (Genesis 12:1-9).
About 931 BC after the death of Solomon Jeroboam rebelled and became king over Israel (the northern kingdom) at Shechem (1 Kings 11). Later the capital was moved to Tirzah (1 Kings 14:17).
R. K. Harrison describes the importance of Tirzah in the kingdom of Israel: “perhaps as the result of increasing political and economic relationships with Syria. Tirzah was the capital of Israel during the time of Baasha (1 Kings 15:21,33) and Elah (1 Kings 16:8-9). The seven-day reign of Zimri ended when he burned the palace over himself at Tirzah was being besieged by Omri (1 Kings 16:17-18). After ruling from Tirzah for six years, Omri moved the capital of Israel to Samaria (1 Kings 16:23-24) , probably because of his economic and political alignment with Phoenicia. Menahem, a resident of Tirzah, was able to overthrow Shallum (752 B.C.) toward the close of the northern kingdom’s existence and to usurp the throne, ruling for almost eleven years.
In 1982 I first visited Tel el Farah with the late Jimmy Cravens, a photographer friend from Tampa, Florida. The site still showed evidence of excavation. The gentlemen in the photo lived in a little house on the tel and served as the caretaker. I recall that he is showing us some of the walls that indicated a divider between the poor and those better off. He said he had worked with De Vaux during all of the excavations. The image is scanned from a slide that is still in good condition after 40 years.
The location of Tirzah is not certain. W. F. Albright identified it with Tel el Farah, a mound located about seven miles NE of Shechem (at modern Nablus). Roland De Vaux was associated with the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem and conducted nine seasons of archaeological excavations at Tel el Farah between 1946 and 1960. Most of the tel is currently covered by an orchard.
Several archaeological artifacts from Tel el Farah are displayed in the Louvre. This is a shrine or temple model from the site.
Tel el Farah north (likely Tirzah) should not be confused with Tel el-Farah south (likely Besor). See our article about a visit there a few years ago here. Google Earth Pro includes one photo from the south site with the information about the north site. It is easy to make this mistake.
If you wish to look up the site on Google Earth Pro or the maps you will need to search for Tel Fara North. Remember also that the site is in Palestine.
Ferrell's Travel Blog 
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