Timnath-Serah (In Judges Ii. 9, Timnath-Heres)

Town in Mount Ephraim, situated on the northern slope of the hill of Gaash (Josh. xxiv. 30). It was given to Joshua as an inheritance, was fortified by him (ib. xix. 50), and served as his place of burial (ib. xxiv. 30). According to the "Onomasticon" of Eusebius, Timnath was an important city in the district of Diospolis (Lydda); and the grave of Joshua was shown there. On the site of the city is situated the modern town of Tibna, about ten miles north of Beth-el on the Roman road from Cæsarea to Jerusalem. Among its ruins and tombs is a grave of remarkable size and construction, which is probably the one identified in the days of Eusebius as that of Joshua. Another tradition, however, of Samaritan origin, locates the tomb farther to the northeast, in the small village of Kafr Ḥaris, which is therefore frequently regarded as the site of Timnath. The city seems to have been identical with the Thamnatha of I Macc. ix. 50, which, according to Josephus ("Ant." xiv. 11, § 2; "B. J." iv. 8, § 1), was the capital of a Jewish toparchy.

Bibliography:

  * Guérin, Judée, iii. 37;
  * idem, Samarie, ii. 89 et seq.;
  * Pal. Explor. Fund, Memoirs, ii. 374 et seq.;
  * idem, Quarterly Statement, 1879, pp. 193 et seq.;
  * Z. D. P. V. ii. 13 et seq.;
  * Schürer, Gesch. 3d ed., ii. 181-186.



E. C. I. Be.