Gibeon (ancient city)

Gibeon
גִּבְעוֹן
Gibeon
Shown within the West Bank
LocationAl Jib
RegionWest Bank
Coordinates31°50′51″N 35°11′11″E / 31.84750°N 35.18639°E / 31.84750; 35.18639
History
PeriodsBronze Age, Iron Age, Hellenistic Period, Roman Period
CulturesCanaanite, Israelite
Site notes
Excavation dates1956–1962
ArchaeologistsJames B. Pritchard
ConditionIn ruins

Gibeon (Hebrew: גִּבְעוֹן, romanizedGiḇəʻōn; Ancient Greek: Γαβαων, romanizedGabaōn) was a Canaanite and later an Israelite city, which was located north of Jerusalem. According to Joshua 11:19, the pre-Israelite-conquest inhabitants, the Gibeonites, were Hivites; according to 2 Samuel 21:2, they were Amorites, there can be also expected that they were a mingled people, since the city of Jerusalem (whose king discovered the aliance in the narrative of the book of Joshua Joshua 10:1) has her nativity disclosed in Ezekiel 16:3. The remains of Gibeon are located in the southern portion of the Arab-majority village of al-Jib in Area C of the West Bank.