Shahazumah
Shahazumah is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Galilee in modern-day Israel. Known today as El Karm. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Shahazumah appears only in Joshua 19:22 as one of the cities within the tribal allotment of Issachar. The boundary description places it alongside Tabor, indicating its location in the vicinity of Mount Tabor in the lower Galilee region. Issachar's territory occupied a strategically vital area encompassing the eastern portion of the Jezreel Valley and extending toward the Jordan River. This fertile region was ideal for agriculture, fulfilling Jacob's prophetic blessing that Issachar would find the land pleasant and bend his shoulder to agricultural labor (Genesis 49:14-15). The cities listed in Issachar's allotment, including Shahazumah, formed a network of settlements controlling important trade routes and agricultural lands. Though Shahazumah itself plays no further role in the biblical narrative, its inclusion in the tribal boundary list serves the important theological purpose of documenting God's faithful distribution of the Promised Land among the twelve tribes. Each named city, however obscure, represented a concrete fulfillment of the ancestral promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob regarding their descendants' inheritance in the land of Canaan.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Shahazumah's precise identification remains uncertain. The most common proposal places it at Tell el-Muqarqash (also known as El Karm) near the southeastern slopes of Mount Tabor in the lower Galilee region of modern Israel. The association is based on geographical considerations within the tribal boundary description of Issachar, which places Shahazumah near Tabor. Archaeological surveys in the lower Galilee have documented numerous settlement mounds from the Bronze and Iron Ages in this area, reflecting the agricultural productivity that made Issachar's territory desirable. The region around Mount Tabor has been extensively surveyed but many smaller sites await systematic excavation. No inscription or artifact has been found that definitively confirms the identification of any particular site with the biblical Shahazumah.
Verse Appearances (1)
Josh
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →