Ziz
The cliff of Ziz. The ascent (ma'aleh), or pass, by which the hosts of Moab, Ammon, and the Mehunim, according to the announcement of the prophet Jahaziel, proceeded from the Dead Sea to the wilderness of Judah near Tekoa (2Ch 20:16; 2Ch 20:20); "they come up by the ascent of ha-Ziz, and ye shall find them at the head of the wady"; now the pass of Ain Jidy, the route of Arab marauders to the present day.
The name appears in Husasah, the tableland above Ain Jidy, between it and Tekua, and may be related to Hazezon Tamar, the ancient name of Engedi (Ain Jidy). Condor (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, Jan. 1875) identifies Ziz with Khirbet' Aziz. Wady Khubara, the main valley S. of Engedi, runs W. toward this ruin to which the ascent, would be by this watercourse.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Ziz
The ascent (AV wrongly 'clifr') of Ziz(n^VP |"sn ; BA 17 di-ajSaffis 'Acrae, Luc. . . . ' .Kinai) is only once mentioned in the Bible (2 Ch 20'"), and is generally d.assed among unidentified sites. The context, however, leaves no doubt in the mind of the present writer as regards identification. It is the ascent to a clitf, rising above the plain of the Dead .Sea near En-gedi on the edge of the table- land or wilderness of Judaea (see En-GEDI). Conder says of this spot : ' On tlie south are the wolds of the Negeb plateau, with the plains of Beersheba beyond. On the ea.st is the "Solitude," with white peaks and cones of chalk, and deep and narrow watercourses, terminated by the great pointed cliff of Ziz, above Engedi, and by the precipices over the Dead Sea, 200U ft. high' (Tent- Work in Palestine, p. 244). The gorge lying at its base offers one of the few ways of ascent from the western shore of the Dead Sea to the tableland of Jud:ea, and, on the occasion in connexion with which 7Af is mentioned, was selected by the hosts of Amnion, Moab, and Edom for a combined attack on the kingd…
Smith's Bible Dictionary on Ziz
(the projection), The cliff of, the pass by which the horde of Moabites, Ammonites and Mehunim made their way up from the shores of the Dead Sea to the wilderness of Judah near Tekoa. (2 Chronicles 20:16) only; comp. 2Chr 20:20 It was the pass of Ain Jidy—the very same route which is taken by the Arabs in their marauding expeditions at the present day.
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia