<< Text Pages >> The Gilgal associated peacefully with Joshua - Stone Circle in Palestine
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Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: The Gilgal associated peacefully with Joshua Alternative Name: Khirbat al MafjirCountry: Palestine
NOTE: This site is 2.483 km away from the location you searched for.
Type: Stone Circle
Nearest Town: Jericho Nearest Village: Khirbat al Mafjir
Latitude: 31.883333N Longitude: 35.466667E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Stone Circle in The Bible. The main mention of Gilgal is when the Book of Joshua states that the Israelites first encamped there after having crossed the Jordan River. In the narrative, after setting up camp, Joshua orders the Israelites to take twelve stones from the river, one for each tribe, and place them there in memory. Some modern scholars have argued that this is an aetiological myth created by the author of Joshua to explain away what is in reality a neolithic stone circle.
According to the biblical narrative, Joshua then orders the Israelites who had been born during the exodus to be circumcised. The Bible refers to the location this occurred as Gibeath Haaraloth; some English translations of the Bible identify Gibeath Haaraloth as the name of the place. However, since the place is elsewhere identified as still being Gilgal, and since Gibeath Haaraloth means hill of foreskins, some scholars now think this is simply a description, and some modern translations follow their lead.
The narrative continues by stating that the place was named Gilgal in memory of the reproach of Egypt being removed by this act of mass circumcision. Although Gilgal is phonetically similar to gallothi, meaning I have removed in Hebrew, some believe that it is more likely that Gilgal means circle of standing stones, and refers to the stone circle that was there.
Some textual scholars see the circumcision explanation, and the 12 stones explanation, as having come from different source texts; the circumcision explanation being a way to explain how the location was regarded as religiously important in local culture, without mentioning the presence of a religious monument (the stone circle) whose existence might have offended the author's religious sensibilities. It is considered by some that this stone circle was the (unnamed) religious sanctuary that was severely condemned by the Book of Amos (Amos 4:4, 5:5) and Book of Hosea (Hosea 4:15)
This Gilgal is said to have been on the eastern border of Jericho (Joshua 4:19). It has been identified with Khirbet en-Nitleh, but today scholars regard Khirbet El Mafjir as the more probable identification. Khirbet El Mafjir is located 2 km northeast of ancient Jericho.
Source: Wikipedia
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