city state · Anatolia and the Levant
Shechem
Origins
Shechem, at Tell Balata near modern Nablus, commanded the pass between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. It appears in Egyptian execration texts and in an account of a campaign by Senusret III of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, and by the 17th century BCE was ringed by massive walls.
Rule and society
Its rulers built a great fortress-temple, among the largest in Canaan, and controlled the highlands around. In the 14th century BCE its king Labayu expanded his territory at the expense of neighbouring vassals of the Egyptian Empire New Kingdom, provoking complaints in the Amarna letters; his sons carried on the struggle.
Decline and legacy
The Canaanite city declined in the 12th century BCE. Shechem later became a centre of the Kingdom of Israel and of the Samaritans, and the Bible preserves memories of its temple of El-Berith.
On the connections map
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- Shechem was a vassal of Egyptian Empire New Kingdom1450 BCE – 1150 BCE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Shechem. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/shechem
- MLA
- “Shechem.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/shechem. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Shechem.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/shechem.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Shechem’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/shechem (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻