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Shiḥin (Heb. שִׁיחִין) or Asochis

SHIḤIN (Heb. שִׁיחִין) or ASOCHIS, Galilean city. The first mention of it is made by Josephus (Ant. 13:337; Wars 1:86), who describes its capture by Ptolemy Lathyrus on a Sabbath in approximately 103 B.C.E. It was obviously a large Jewish city at that time, for 10,000 inhabitants were taken captive. Josephus locates the city in a plain of the same name (plain of Asochis; Life, 207, 233, 384). Situated in the center of Galilee, it served as his headquarters for some time. The city survived the First Jewish War. It is referred to as Shiḥin or Kefar Shiḥin several times in talmudic literature. There it is described as a place where mustard was grown and as the site of a pottery industry, which used the black soil of the area. A fire in one of the kilns drew help from Castra at Sepphoris, from where Shiḥin was visible. The priestly family of Jeshebab (Huzpith) lived them after the war of Bar Kokhba. The identification of Shiḥin with Tell al-Badawiyya (see *Hannaton) is confirmed by the Roman pottery and ruins found on the site.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Saarisalo, in: JPOS, 9 (1929), 35; Albright, in: BASOR, 11 (1923), 11.


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.