Hazar-susah
Hazar-susah is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Khirbet esh Shamsaniyat. It appears across 2 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Hazar-susah, meaning "village of the mare" or "enclosure of horses," appears in two Old Testament passages as a settlement within the territorial allotment of the tribe of Simeon. In Joshua 19:5, it is listed among the Simeonite cities within the inheritance of Judah in the Negev, and in 1 Chronicles 4:31 the parallel list records the same site, confirming its consistent tradition as a Simeonite settlement. The name's equestrian connotation, suggesting horses or mares, is notable in the context of the Negev, where the semi-arid landscape would have supported pastoralism and possibly horse breeding or cavalry staging. The Negev in the biblical period served as the transitional zone between the agricultural highlands of Judah and the wilderness of the Sinai, and settlements in this region often functioned as administrative, military, or supply points. The Simeonite tribe, whose territory was enclave within Judah, gradually merged with the southern tribe over time, and their Negev settlements reflect the southernmost extent of organized Israelite habitation in the land. The inclusion of Hazar-susah in both the Joshua allotment and the Chronicles genealogical-geographical list confirms its place in the corporate memory of the tribe of Simeon.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Hazar-susah is tentatively identified with Khirbet esh Shamsaniyat, a site north of Beer-sheba in the northern Negev. The identification is based on geographical position and phonological similarity between the ancient and modern place names. The site has not been subject to major excavation, though surface survey indicates ancient occupation. The broader Beer-sheba basin, within which Hazar-susah falls, has been thoroughly studied, and Iron Age pottery consistently found across the region attests to Israelite-period settlement. The name's connection to horses may reflect the site's role as a waystation on ancient routes crossing the Negev, where animals would be watered and rested.
Verse Appearances (2)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]