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Adullam
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==Main archaeological sites; identification== Kh. esh-Sheikh Madkur ([[Palestine grid]]: 1503/1175) sits at an elevation of {{convert|434|m|ft|}} above sea-level and is thought by modern [[Historical geography|historical geographers]] to be the "upper Adullam", based on its proximity to Kh. 'Id el-Minya. The name of this latter site is believed by historical geographers to be a corruption of the word "Adullam."<ref name= Aharoni1979>{{Harvnb|Aharoni|1979|p=429}}</ref> The identification of the upper site with the biblical Adullam is still inconclusive, as archaeological evidence attesting to its Old Canaanite name has yet to be found. In the late 19th century, the hilltop ruin and its adjacent ruins were explored by French explorer, [[Victor Guérin]], who wrote: <blockquote>[Upon leaving the hilltop ruin, ''Khirbet el-Sheikh Madkour''], at 11:20 [AM], we descend to the east in the valley. At 11:25 [AM], I examine other ruins, called ''Khirbet A'id el-Miah''. Sixty toppled houses in the ''wadi'' formed a village that still existed in the Muslim period, as [proven by] the remains of a [[mosque]] there observed. In antiquity, the ruins that cover the plateau of the hill of ''Sheikh Madkour'' and which extend in the valley were probably one and the same city, divided into two parts, the upper part and the lower part.<ref>{{Harvnb|Guérin|1869|pp=[https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr06gugoog#page/n351/mode/1up 338]–339]}}</ref></blockquote> While Guérin does not specifically say that the site in question was the ancient Adullam, he holds that {{lang|ar|Kh. esh-Sheikh Madkour}} and {{lang|ar|Kh. 'Id el Minya}} are to be recognised as the same city; the upper and the lower. The site is maintained by the [[Jewish National Fund]] in Israel, and archaeological surveys and partial excavations have been conducted. The site features ancient [[caverns]], cisterns carved into the rock, and a Muslim [[Maqam (shrine)|shrine]] known as {{lang|ar|Wely Sheikh Madkour}}. {{lang|ar|Kh. 'Id el Minya}}, also known as {{lang|ar|'Eid al-Miah}} (Palestine grid: 1504/1181), is the site recognised as Adullam proper,<ref>{{Harvnb|Conder|1879|pp=[https://archive.org/stream/tentworkinpalest02conduoft#page/156/mode/2up 156–158]}}, citing M. [[Clermont-Ganneau]].</ref> being now a [[Tell (archaeology)|tell]] at the southern end of {{lang|ar|Wadi es-Sûr}}, an extension of the [[Elah valley]]. The site was first recognised as the biblical Adullam by French archaeologist [[Clermont-Ganneau]] in 1871, based on its location, a close approximation of the name and the ceramic finds it yielded.<ref>{{Harvnb|Clermont-Ganneau|1875|p=168}}</ref><ref name= IAA2017>{{Harvnb|Radashkovsky|Liraz|2017|p=1}}</ref> The ruin sits at an elevation of {{convert|351|m|ft|}} above sea-level. The ruin is overgrown with vegetation and trees on the northern flanks of the mountain whereon lies {{lang|ar|Kh. esh-Sheikh Madkour}}. Razed stone structures, a stone water trough, and the shaft of a stone [[column]] can still be seen there. [[Palestine Exploration Fund]] surveyor, [[Claude Reignier Conder|C.R. Conder]], mentions having seen in {{lang|ar|ʻAid el-Miyeh}} an ancient well having stone water-troughs round it.<ref>{{Harvnb|Conder|Kitchener|1882|p=[https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp02conduoft/page/440/mode/1up 441]}}</ref> Earlier attempts at identification have led some to call other cave systems by the name of "Cave of Adullam." Early drawings depicting the so-called "[[Adullam cave]]" have tentatively been identified with the cavern of ''Umm el-Tuweimin'', and the cave at ''Khureitun'' (named after [[Chariton the Confessor|Chariton the Ascetic]]),<ref>''[[Palestine Exploration Fund]] Quarterly Statement'' of 1875, pp. 173–174.</ref> although modern day archaeologists and historical geographers have rejected these early hypotheses as being the Cave of Adullam,<ref>C.R. Conder, ''[[Palestine Exploration Fund]] Quarterly Statement'' of 1875, p. 145.</ref> and have accepted that {{lang|ar|ʻAid el-Miyeh}} is the Adullam of old.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tsafrir|Di Segni|Green|1994|p=197}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Abel|1933|p=239}}</ref><ref name= AmitDavid/><ref>{{Harvnb|Avi-Yonah|1976|p=111}}</ref> It has been pointed out that {{lang|ar|Kh. esh-Sheikh Madkour}}, if indeed it is the biblical Adullam, lies only {{convert|7|km}} southwest of [[Khirbet et-Tibbaneh|Timnah]], a site mentioned in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], ch. 38, as being visited by Judah when he went up from Adullam to shear his sheep.<ref>{{Harvnb|Emerton|1975|pp=343–344}}</ref>
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