Gibeon
GIBEON(LXX. Γαβαών: Eth. Γαβαωνείτηςthe metropolis and royal city of the Hivites, strongly fortified; whose inhabitants, having deceived the Israelites under Joshua, were allowed to live under bondage, with their fellow-citizens in Chephirah, Beeroth, and Jirjath-jearim: together with which, it was assigned to the tribe of Benjamin. (Josh. ix., 10.2, 18.25.) It was a priestly city ( Josh. 21.17), which may account for the tabernacle being placed there, prior to its removal to the temple prepared for it at Jerusalem. (1 Chron. 16.1. 37--40, 21.29; 2 Chron. 1.2--6; 1 Kings, 8.4, &c.) Josephus, in one place, gives the distance of Gabaon from Jerusalem at 50 stadia, and in another at 40 stadia. ( B. J. 2.19.1, Ant. 7.11.7.) Eusebius places Gibeon 4 Roman miles west of Bethel, while the corresponding article of Jerome sets it at the same distance on the east. ( Onomast. s. v. Γαβαών.) The text of Jerome is here probably corrupted.(Robinson, Bib. Res. vol. 2. p. 137. n. 2.) Its site is fixed by Josh. 10.10, 11, where the Philistines, on their rout at Gibeon, retreat to the plain by Bethoron. (Comp. Joseph. B.J. 2.19.1.) Accordingly, on the camel-road between Jaffa and Jerusalem, by way of Lydda and the two Bethorons, we find a modern village named el-Jîb, situated on a rocky eminence, and exhibiting traces of an ancient city. It is distant from Jerusalem about 2 1/2 hours, by the nearest route, which would equal 60 stadia. It has a fine fountain of water, which discharges itself into a cave excavated so as to form a large subterranean reservoir, near which are the remains of another open reservoir, about 120 feet in length by 100 in breadth, doubtless intended to receive the superfluous waters of the cavern. (Robinson, Bib. Res. vol. ii. pp. 136--138.) This may be the Pool of Gibeon (2 Sam. 2.13), called in Jeremiahthe great waters in Gibeon(41.12).
[G.W]Town 13 km N of Jerusalem, mentioned 45 times in the Bible. It was prominent in the account of the conquest of Canaan (Josh. 9:3-15; 10:9-14), the battle between Joab and Abner at the pool of Gibeon (II Sam. 2:13-17), the sacrifice of the seven descendants of Saul (II Sam. 21:1-6, 8-10), and the holocausts of Solomon (I Kings 3:4-6, 9-13). Josephus mentions the encampment there of Cestius in his attempt to take Jerusalem in A.D. 66 (BJ 2.545-46). The site was identified by the discovery of 24 jar handles inscribed with gb'n in Hebrew.
Gibeon was occupied principally in the Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, Iron I and II, Persian, and Roman periods. Within the Iron Age fortification was a rock-cut pool, 11.1 m in diameter and 10.5 m deep, equipped with a spiral staircase of 79 steps that continued downward for another 13.5 m to the fresh water table. A second access to water was provided by a rock-cut tunnel with 93 steps reaching from inside the ramparts to a spring at the base of the hill. Evidence for a winery and dwellings belonging to the Iron Age was found, as well as tombs of the Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, Late Bronze, and Roman periods. Artifacts are divided between the National Museum in Amman, Jordan, and the University Museum in Philadelphia.
BIBLIOGRAPHYJ. B. Pritchard, Hebrew Inscriptions and Stamps from Gibeon (1959); The Water System at Gibeon (1961); Gibeon, Where the Sun Stood Still (1962); The Bronze Age Cemetery at Gibeon (1963); Winery, Defenses and Soundings at Gibeon (1964).
J. B. PRITCHARD