Shechem

Shechem was an ancient city in the Southern Levant. It is described in Egyptian inscriptions from the 19th century BC as part of Retjenu, and it is recorded as a Canaanite city in the Amarna letters of the 14th century BC. In the Hebrew Bible it is described as the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel, called Samaria, following the split of the United Monarchy, and it is placed in the territorial allotment of the tribe of Ephraim. Shechem declined after the fall of the Kingdom of Israel, and the city later regained importance as a prominent Samaritan center during the Hellenistic period. It is traditionally associated with the city of Nablus, but is now identified with the nearby site of Tell Balata in Balata village in the West Bank, Palestine.