Joseph's Tomb

Joseph's Tomb

Joseph's Tomb in Nablus
Shown within the West Bank
Location	Nablus, West Bank
Coordinates	32°12′48″N 35°17′06″E / 32.21328°N 35.28506°E / 32.21328; 35.28506
Type	tomb
History
Material	local stone
Associated with	Joseph (son of Jacob) (?)
Site notes
Condition	reconstructed
Public access	limited

Joseph's Tomb (Hebrew: קבר יוסף, Qever Yosef; Arabic: قبر يوسف, Qabr Yūsuf) is a funerary monument located in Balata village at the eastern entrance to the valley that separates Mounts Gerizim and Ebal, 300 metres northwest of Jacob's Well, on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus.^[1] It has been venerated throughout the ages by Samaritans, for whom it is the second holiest site; by Jews; by Christians; and by Muslims, some of whom view it as the location of a local sheikh, Yusef al-Dwaik^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} or Dawiqat, who died in the 18th century.

The site is near Tell Balata, the site of Shakmu in the Late Bronze Age and later biblical Shechem.^[5][8] One biblical tradition identifies the general area of Shechem as the resting-place of the biblical patriarch Joseph and his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Multiple locations over the years have been viewed as the legendary burial place of Joseph.^[9] Post-biblical records regarding the location of Joseph's Tomb somewhere around this area date from the beginning of the 4th century CE. The present structure, a small rectangular room with a cenotaph, is the result of an 1868 rebuilding action, and does not contain any architectural elements older than that.^[10][11] While some scholars, such as Kenneth Kitchen and James K. Hoffmeier affirm the essential historicity of the biblical account of Joseph, others, such as Donald B. Redford, argue that the story itself has "no basis in fact".^[12]

There is no archaeological evidence establishing the tomb as Joseph's,^[13] and modern scholarship has yet to determine whether or not the present cenotaph is to be identified with the ancient biblical gravesite.^[14] The lack of Jewish or Christian sources prior to the 5th century that mention the tomb indicates that prior to the 4th century it was a Samaritan site. Samaritan sources tell of struggles between Samaritans and Christians who wished to remove Joseph's bones.^[15]

At key points in its long history, a site thought to be Joseph's Tomb in this area witnessed intense sectarian conflict. Samaritans and Christians disputing access and title to the site in the early Byzantine period often engaged in violent clashes.^[15][16][17] After Israel captured the West Bank in 1967, Muslims were prohibited from worship at the shrine and it was gradually turned into a Jewish prayer room. Interreligious friction and conflict from competing Jewish and Muslim claims over the tomb became frequent. Though it fell under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) following the signing of the Oslo Accords, it remained under IDF guard with Muslims prohibited from praying there.^[18][19] At the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, just after being handed over to the PNA, it was looted and razed by rioting Palestinians.^[20][21] Following the reoccupation of Nablus during Israel's Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, Jewish groups returned there intermittently.^[22] Between 2009 and 2010 the structure was refurbished, with a new cupola installed, and visits by Jewish worshippers have resumed.^[23] The tomb was vandalized by Palestinian rioters in 2015 and again in 2022.^[24][25]