MEVASERET ZION

Maoz Zion, oldest neighborhood of Mevaseret Zion,
view from Castel National Park, courtesy, Wikipedia

Mevaseret Zion is a town consisting of 15 neighborhoods with a population of over 24,000. It is located on the northwestern outskirts of Jerusalem on a mountain ridge over 2400 feet above sea level and straddles both sides of the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway. It is adjacent to the town of Motza (some information of which can be found within this blog’s posting of “JerusalemCorridor”). The older neighborhoods/townships of Maoz Zion and Mevaseret Yerushalayim are under the jurisdiction of one local council. The newer neighborhoods were not part of either township. Today, Mevaseret Zion is the wealthiest municipality per capita in the Jerusalem District.

During the time of Joshua, the site of Mevaseret Zion and the surrounding area was allotted to the tribe of Benjamin. The Romans built a fortress there, known simply as Castellum to ensure their control of the road to Jerusalem. Centuries after the fall of Crusader rule in the 13^th century, an Arab settlement was built there and the settlers decided to revive the old Roman name and called it “al Qastal”.

During Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, al Qastal, which overlooked the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Highway, was the center of fierce fighting, namely that of Operation Nachshon. At that time, the Arabs had besieged Jerusalem hoping to starve that city’s Jews to death. The capture of Qastal was one of the keys to breaking the siege and the settlement changed hands several times in the course of the fighting. The tides turned when the revered Arab commander, Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni, was killed. Many of the Arabs left their positions to attend al-Husayni's funeral at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, April 9. That same day, Qastal fell to Israeli forces virtually unopposed.

After the war, in 1951, the Jewish village of Maoz Zion ("Stronghold of Zion") was established at the foot of Castel Hill to house Jewish refugees from Iraq, Kurdistan, North Africa and Iran who had been living in a ma'abara, or transit camp, in the area. Many were employed at the nearby Solel Boneh stone quarry.

Mevasseret Yerushalayim was established east of Ma'oz Zion in 1956 by Jewish refugees from North Africa. It was located on a ridge near the armistice line, north of Motza. The residents worked in the fruit orchards in the Arazim Valley.

In 1963, Maoz Zion and Mevasseret Yerushalayim formed a joint local council, which was called Mevasseret Zion. The source of the name came from the Book of Isaiah: "Ascend a lofty mountain, O herald of joy to Zion" (Isaiah 40:9). It encompassed al Qastal and the surrounding area.

Today, the site of Al Qastal is now Castel National Park, consisting of a fortified summit in the Judean Mountains, a memorial for the Israeli soldiers who died there, including a monument designed in 1980 by Yitzhak Yamin, and a memorial to the convoys that tried to break through the blockade of Jerusalem.

Other sites in Mevaseret Zion include: Har'el shopping mall located near the Har'el interchange and houses such internationally known businesses as Magnolia Jewelers; the world's first kosher McDonald's, opened in 1995; Tichon Har’el High School; Yeshivat Sha'arei Mevasseret Zion; Nahal Sorek Street where, in 2003, an archaeological dig unearthed an ancient burial cave dating from the mid-Second Temple period; and the ruins of a medieval structure, Khirbet Beit Mizza, believed by some scholars to be the site of the biblical town of Motzah mentioned in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 18:26) until recent excavations made clear that Motzah of the Hebrew Bible is to be identified with nearby Khirbet Mizzah, today, Tel Motza. 

MOSUL

The Mar Elia Monastery in Mosul, courtesy, Wikipedia

Mosul is a major city in the Assyrian heartland, the Nineveh plains. As such, it is the ancient home of the Assyrian Church of the East, the Chaldean Catholic Church, and the Syriac Orthodox Church. Presently, this heartland is under illegal Arab occupation (and to an extent, colonization) in the north of Arab-occupied Iraq. Located approximately 250 miles north of Baghdad, Mosul stands on the west bank of the Tigris, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank. The metropolitan area has grown to encompass substantial areas on both sides of the river, including Nineveh. The indigenous people of the city are, of course, the Assyrian Christians, descendants of the ancient Assyrians. Alongside, live the Kurds who live mainly in the neighborhood of Nebi Yunus, surrounding the Tomb of Jonah, not far from the supposed Tombs of Daniel and Seth. Both were destroyed by ISIL in 2014. The other non-Arab communities in the city are made up of Armenians, Turkmens, Yazidis, Mandaeans, Circassians, and Shabaks. It also had a sizable Jewish population but they either fled, or were driven out by the Arabs in the 1950s.   

Nineveh was one of the oldest and greatest cities in antiquity. It was settled as early as 6000 BCE and was an integral part of Assyria from as early as the 25th century BCE. Beginning in 2335 BCE, it became part of the Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BCE) which united all the peoples of Mesopotamia under one rule. During the period of the Old Assyrian Empire (2025–1750), and during the reign of Shamshi-Adad I (1809–1776 BCE), Nineveh was listed as a center of worship of the goddess Ishtar. It remained as such also during the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–1056 BCE). Under the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BCE) Nineveh grew in size and importance, particularly under the Kings Tukulti-Ninurta II, Ashurnasirpal II, Shalmaneser III, Adad-nirari III, Tiglath-Pileser III, Shalmaneser V and Sargon II. In approximately 700 BCE, King Sennacherib made Nineveh the new capital of Assyria and immense building work was undertaken. Eventually, the city eclipsed the great city of Babylon, as well as Kalhu and Aššur, making it the largest city in the world. A number of scholars believe the true location of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were in fact at Nineveh. The mound of Kuyunjik in Mosul has been described as the site of the palaces of Sennacherib and his successors including Ashurbanipal who established the Library of Ashurbanipal. Many artifacts from Nineveh from this period had been housed at the Mosul Museum until its destruction by ISIL. In 612 BCE, under Sin-shar-ishkun, Nineveh severely declined as a result of a bloody civil war, a siege, and bitter house to house fighting. Sin-shar-ishkun, himself, was killed defending his capital. His successor, Ashur-uballit II, fought his way out of Nineveh and formed a new Assyrian capital at Harran (today in southeastern Turkey). After the crisis period had ended, the remaining inhabitants of Nineveh built a new city nearby, from its ruins. They called it Mepsila and it succeeded Nineveh as the Tigris bridgehead of the road that linked Assyria and Anatolia with the short lived Median Empire and succeeding Achaemenid Empire (546–332 BCE), thus experiencing a significant economic revival. Mepsila became part of the Seleucid Empire after Alexander's conquests in 332 BCE. While little is known of the city from the Hellenistic period, Mepsila likely belonged to the Seleucid satrapy of Syria, the Greek term for Assyria. Soon, it changed hands once again with the rise of the Sasanian Empire in 225 BCE and became a part of the Sasanian province of Asōristān. Christianity was introduced among the Assyrian people, including in Mepsila, by the apostle Saint Thomas as early as the 1st century, although the ancient Mesopotamian religion remained strong until the 4th century. Since then, the building of churches and monasteries proliferated in and around the city which became an episcopal seat of the Assyrian Church of the East in the 6th century. In 595 St. Elijah's Monastery (Dair Mar Elia) was built, becoming the oldest Christian Monastery in present-day Iraq. The ancient Tahira Church (The Immaculate), established in the 7^th century near Bash Tapia, was considered one of the most ancient churches in Mosul. Its exact location has been disputed by modern archaeologists. Some suggest the remnants of the church of the Upper Monastery, and others, the ruined Mar Zena Church. 

In c. 637, the Nineveh Plains, as with the rest of Assyria and Mesopotamia came under the occupation of the Arab Rashidun Caliphate. Under the occupation, Mepsila became the city of Mosul. Its majority population was Kurdish but with a sizable Assyrian presence. During this time, the historic Church of St. Thomas (Mar Touma) was established. In the 10^th century, the Mar Petion Church, named after Petion, a 5^th century martyr, and the Mar Hudeni Church, named after the 6^th century martyr Hudeni, Maphrian of Tikrit, were established. Mar Hudeni served the Tikrit community in Mosul for many centuries. The Church of Shamoun Al-Safa, named after Saint Peter, dates from the 13th century and was inhabited by the nuns of the Sacred Hearts.

In the early 16^th century, Mosul came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. At mid-century, part of the Assyrian people left the Assyrian church and joined the Catholic church and became known as Chaldeans. This was the beginning of the decline, but not a total decline, of the Assyrian church. The Mar Petion Church became Chaldean in the late 17^th century and the Chaldean St. George's Monastery (Mar Gurguis) was built on the ruins of an earlier Assyrian church. In 1743, the Persians invaded Mesopotamia and the Persian leader Tahmaz Nadir Shah damaged the Assyrian Mar Elia monastery. 150 of the resident monks were killed after they refused to convert to Islam. The monastery lay in ruins until the beginning of the 20th century, when some restoration was completed. As the spread of Chaldean Catholicism progressed, the community’s social structure became highly influenced with the arrival in Mosul by the Dominican fathers who were sent by Pope Benedict XVI in 1750.  Five years later, they established a library on the grounds of St. George’s. In 1828, Mosul became the residence of the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church until the transfer to Baghdad in the mid-20th century. Meanwhile, the ancient Al-Tahira Church became Catholic of the western Syrian rite. Beginning in 1873, the Dominican nuns established a number of schools, health clinics, a printing press, an orphanage, and also workshops to teach girls sewing and embroidery. Over 120 Assyrian Sisters belonged to this congregation. In 1893, another Catholic church, the Roman Catholic Church, was built by the Dominican Fathers on Nineveh Street.

Toward the end of World War I in the area in and around Assyria and Kurdistan, and after the Assyrian genocide (which happened at the same time as the Armenian genocide) at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, the British defeated the Ottomans, and in 1918, occupied Mosul, and indeed the whole of Mesopotamia.

In 1918, after a massacre of Assyrians by Kurds near Salmas, resulting in the assassination of the Patriarch Shimun XIX Benyamin, his brother Shimun XX Paulos succeeded him and moved the patriarchal seat to Mosul. By this time, the Arab state of Iraq was created by the British and by 1923, half of Mosul’s population was Kurdish. In 1980, Ignatius Zakka I, a native of Mosul, became Assyrian Patriarch of Antioch and all east for the Syriac Orthodox Church.

After the 1991 uprisings by the Kurds, Mosul did not fall within the Kurdish-ruled area, but was included in the northern no-fly zone imposed and patrolled by the United States and Britain. Although this prevented Saddam's forces from mounting large-scale military operations again in the region, it did not stop the regime from implementing a steady policy of "Arabization" by which the demography of some areas of Nineveh Governorate were gradually changed. Mosul fell to US and Kurdish forces on April 11, 2003, when the Iraqi Army 5th Corps, loyal to Saddam, abandoned the city and eventually surrendered, two days after the fall of Baghdad.

In 2008, the murder of a dozen Assyrians, including the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, Paulos Faraj Rahho, threats that others would be murdered unless they converted to Islam, and the destruction of their houses, sparked a rapid exodus of the Assyrian population from the city. Accusations were exchanged between Sunni fundamentalists and some Kurdish groups for being behind this new exodus. But some claims linked it to the imminent provincial elections that took place in January 2009, and the related Assyrian Christians' demands for broader representation in the provincial councils.

Early in 2014, Kurdish intelligence received word that ISIL would attack and occupy Mosul. They, in turn, notified the Americans, British, and new Iraqi government and even offered Iraq military help in the form of the Peshmerga, but was turned down. On June 10, 2014, the Islamic State took over the city. Few Assyrians were left in Mosul following ISIL's takeover. Those that did remain were forced to pay a tax for remaining Christian, and they lived under the constant threat of violence. Churches and monasteries, including the ancient Mar Elia, were vandalized and burned down, their ancient heritage sites dating back to the Iron Age were destroyed, and their homes and possessions seized. They also faced ultimatums to convert to Islam, leave their ancient homelands, or be murdered. Most local female Yazidis were imprisoned and occasionally killed for resistance to being sold as sex slaves. Islamic State either killed or expelled most the males, or forcibly converted some Yazidis and Christians to Islam. In addition, ISIL issued an edict ethnically cleansing the remaining predominantly ethnic Assyrian and Armenian Christian Mosul citizens, after they refused to attend a meeting to discuss their future status. On January 21, 2015, the U.S. began coordinating airstrikes with a Kurdish-launched offensive, to help them begin the planned operation to retake the city. In the countryside around Mosul, Kurdish and Assyrian militia also took up arms to resist ISIL oppression, and successfully repelled ISIL attacks on Kurdish and Assyrian towns and villages. On October 16, 2016, after more than two years of ISIL occupation of Mosul, Iraqi, Kurdish, American and French forces launched a joint offensive to recapture the city. 

MODIIN

ancient tomb in Modiin identified as that of
Matityahu, courtesy Wikipedia

modern Modiin, courtesy, Wikipedia

The city of Modiin is the center of a metropolitan area that also includes the neighborhoods of Maccabim and Re’ut. It is located about midway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In 2019 the population was 93,277. The modern city, built in the 1990s, was named after the ancient Jewish town of Modi'in, the place of origin of the Maccabees.  

During the time of Joshua, the site of Modiin was allotted to the tribe of Judah on its northwestern border, probably where the tribal borders of Dan and Benjamin meet. By the 2^nd century BCE, the town became the residence of the priestly Hasmonean (later referred to as the “Maccabee”) family and was headed by Matityahu. The First Book of Maccabees described his genealogy as "Mattathias, the son of John, the son of Simeon, a priest of the sons of Joiarib, from Jerusalem; and he dwelt at Modin" (I Macc. ii. 1). He had five sons: Judah (Judas Maccabaeus), Eleazar, Simon, John, and Jonathan. In 168 BCE, the ruler of the Syrian-Greek Seleucid Empire which also ruled over Judea, was Antiochus Epiphanes. He had sent his soldiers under Apelles, who is mentioned by Josephus but not in the Book of Maccabees, to Modiin, in order to set up an altar to the heathen god, and ordered Matityahu, as the most influential citizen, whose example would be followed, to sacrifice in accordance with the king's command. He responded: "Though all the nations that are under the king's dominion obey him, . . . yet will I, and my sons, and my brethren, walk in the covenant of our fathers" (I Macc. ii. 19-20). And when a certain Jew was about to obey the command, Matityahu, who was filled with holy wrath, killed the offender and destroyed the altar, while his sons cut down the king's officer. Thus began the Jewish revolt against Seleucid rule and the Hellenisation of the Jewish population. The revolt succeeded in driving out the Seleucids, and the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the end of the revolt is commemorated by the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. In c. 165 BCE, Matityahu died and was buried in Modiin. His children were also buried there and their tombs can still be seen today. After expelling the Seleucids, the Maccabees formed the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled Judea in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE.

Simon eventually built a splendid mausoleum at Modiin, which was adorned with seven pyramids and high columns with sculptures of ships that were said to be visible from the sea (i Macc. 13:25–30; Jos., Ant. 13:210–11). In the time of Jonathan, Modiin and the surrounding area was passed into Jewish possession. An important battle was undertaken against the Seleucid Kendebaois from a camp situated close to Modiin. Judas Maccabaeus is mentioned as having marched out of the town in order to fight Seleucid forces sent against him by Antiochus v (ii Macc. 13:14ff.), suggesting that Modiin was unfortified. John and Judah camped close to Modiin before the battle of Kidron (i Macc. 16:4).

Archaeological excavations have revealed remains dating from this period including a late 2^nd/early 1^st century BCE synagogue, in use until 132 CE (Bar Kokhba revolt), and a 1st-century CE mikveh standing next to it. Modiin was the home town of R. Eleazar of Modi'in, a close relative of Bar Kokhba and perhaps identical with Eleazar the high priest, who appears on coins of the Bar Kokhba revolt. R. *Eleazar was put to death in 135 CE on grounds of treason. Another teacher associated with Modi'in was Rabbi Yossi, but details regarding him and his teachings are sparse.

Abandoned shortly afterward, the ensuing centuries were taken up with travelers, pilgrims, and archaeologists, attempting to identify the location of the ancient town as well as of the Tombs of the Maccabees.

In 1944, during World War II while Israel was under a British Mandate, the custom of the annual Hanukkah torch relay, starting from the Tombs of the Maccabees in Modiin, was established by the Maccabi Sports Federation. Originally, a torch, carried by Israeli runners starting from the site of the Tombs, would make its way to Federation headquarters in Tel Aviv. However, since the 1950s and continuing to this day, the torch would first go to Jerusalem to light the national menorah, then to other parts of the country, and even to communities in the Diaspora.

In July 1948, during Israel’s War of Independence, the area west of the Naḥal Modi'im gorge was occupied by Israeli forces while the Arab settlement of al-Midya remained beyond the 1949 armistice line under Arab Jordanian occupation.  

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Herzl Forest of Ben Shemen was gradually enlarged eastward to become the Modi'im Forest, and an observation tower and amphitheater were built there. In 1964, the Modi'im region development project was started, providing for further afforestation and land reclamation; the area's northern section was set aside as an ultimate reserve for the expansion of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, with plans laid out for the construction of a future city to be named Makkabit. In 1965, a Naḥal outpost settlement, Mevo Modi'im, was established less than a mile from the armistice line by a group affiliated with Po'alei Agudat Israel. After the *Six-Day War, these settlers moved southeastward to set up a new village in the Ayalon Valley, at the foot of the Beth-Ḥoron ascent, while the site of Mevo Modi'im, which has poor and rocky soil, was earmarked for a village to be based on industry and a Po'alei Agudat Israel seminary. Forest planting continued after 1967 on both sides of the former armistice line, carried out in the west by Jewish laborers and in the east by Arabs.

In 1985, the construction of the town of Maccabim, which was led by the International Maccabi organization began, and the project of founding nearby Re'ut, led by an association of Israeli army officers, started in 1987. The towns were united into Maccabim-Re'ut in 1990. Meanwhile, the modern-day city of Modiin was planned by the famed Israeli architect Moshe Safdie. The cornerstone was laid in 1993. It was built as a modern planned city with high standards of urban planning. Environmental issues and future growth were taken into consideration from the early design stages. Large greenspaces were incorporated into the city's layout and today comprise 50% of the area within the city limits. The city was opened for residency in 1996. It was later merged with Maccabim-Re’ut to create the unified municipality of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut. In 2008, it was decided to cap the growth of Modi'in to allow for the development of Lod and Ramla.

In 2007, Modi'in was selected as one of the inaugural cities for the Israel Baseball League. The baseball team was named the Modi'in Miracle, but did not play games in Modi'in as there is no baseball stadium there.

In 2008, the Pioneers of the Israeli Football League (American Football) relocated to Modi'in. The Pioneers played all their home games in Modi'in. In their first year, they won the IFL Championship. After an unsuccessful 2009–10 season, their second in Modi'in, the Pioneers relocated once again to Tel Aviv, where most of the team's players lived.

In 2014, Modi'in was the site of the funeral for the kidnapped and murdered teens Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-Ad Shaer and Elad Yifrah. Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke at the funeral.

The city center is a large traffic circle. On the north side of the circle is the central train station, to the northeast is the Azrieli shopping mall, and to the west and south is the Anaba park which contains a small artificial lake used for recreational boating. The traffic circle straddles a major northeast–southwest artery, HaHashmona'im Blvd., that connects to the southwest with route 431 and to the northeast with route 443 (at Shilat Junction) providing connectivity to Jerusalem (southeast) and Lod (northwest).

Approximately 3 miles west-northwest of the city center is an industrial zone, and to the west (on route 431) is the Yishpro commercial center. The industrial zone is also linked to route 443 via its own interchange, between Shilat Junction and the Maccabim Junction at the eastern side of the Ben Shemen JNF forest. This keeps most of the commercial traffic out of the city proper, so that the two arteries between the city and its industrial zone (Emek HaEla and HaShdera Hamerkazit) carry primarily commuters rather than trucks.

Aside from Maccabim-Re’ut, the following neighborhoods surround Modiin: HaShvatim, Moriah, HaPrachim, HaNachlim, Masuah, “Malibu”, HaKramim, Avnei Chen, HaNevi’im, HaMeginim, and HaTzipporim.

MIZPAH

ruins of ancient Mizpah, courtesy, Pinterest

The Biblical Mizpah is the name of several towns located around the Land of Israel. The location that this posting will concentrate on will be that in the tribal territory of Benjamin, north of Jerusalem as described in Joshua 18:26. On several occasions, this Mizpah served as the seat of assemblies at which the Israelites discussed their affairs. When a Levite traveler's concubine was raped and murdered by the men of nearby Gibeah, a town in Benjamin, the other tribes of Israel met at Mizpah where they decided to attack the men of Benjamin for this grievous sin. At the same time, the decision was made not to permit marriage between Israelite women and Benjaminite men. Later, Mizpah was a major meeting place in the time of Samuel who assembled the people there in order to fight against the Philistines who had stolen the Ark of the Covenant. After the return of the Ark, Samuel gathered all Israel at Mizpah to offer a sacrifice to the Lord and ask Him to forgive their sin. It was also at Mizpah that the people of Israel identified their first king – Saul – who was chosen by lot from all the tribes and families of Israel. During the time of the divided kingdom, King Asa of Judah fortified Mizpah against the attacks of the King of Israel (I Kings xv. 22; II Chron. xvi. 6). Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, established the capital of Judah there after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem (II Kings xxv. 23; Jer. xl. 6 et seq., xli. 1); he was later assassinated by Ishmael, a surviving member of the House of David (ii Kings 25:22ff.; Jer. 40–41). The prophet Jeremiah settled there after his release from the Babylonian Captivity. Under Nehemiah, Mizpah served as a district capital (Neh. 3:7, 15, 19). Since the time of the Maccabees, it was a place of solemn assembly (I Macc. iii. 46) for the worship of god. In the 1^st century, it was a seat of learning and home to the Tanna Shimon of Mizpah.

According to the 12^th century Spanish rabbi and traveler Benjamin of Tudela, the town was identified with the town of “Nov” and it still contained a Jewish community. Yehoseph Schwarz, who explored the land in the mid 19^th century, found the site occupied by the Arab settlement of Tel al Safiyah. Modern archaeologists, however, have placed the location of ancient Mizpah at the ruins of, what the Arabs refer to as, “Tel en Nasbeh”, about 8 miles north of Jerusalem. Other archaeologists however, have identified one other site - Neby Samwil, a place of pilgrimage for Jews for thousands of years and located almost 600 feet above the plain of Gibeon.