Located in Palestine, the land of
peace and the
burial site of all prophets, on
the north
road connectingJerusalem- Nablus.
It
was mentioned in the Holy Bible
under the name
"OPHNI
" (see Joshua 18:20-24). It's
history dates back to 1500 B.C.
It's inhabitants sprung from the
GHASSAN
Arab Tribes of Yemen, south of the
Arab Peninsula.
It has a strategic military
positioon, which lured the Roman
leader Titus to use it as a
foot-hole and occupy
Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
It is divided into 2 regions by a
valley known
as
"Al Karma Valley" which means
"Grapes Valley" or "Ishkol
Valley" in Hebrew.
It
was regarded as the 2nd largest
city to Jerusalem
and
was designated as the "Goftanic
District".
It
has two churches, one Catholic
established in 1856 and another
Eastern Orthodox established in
1858.
It has one historic church known
as the
"Church
of Virgin Mary" housing monumental
poles and master pieces of
architecture.
It
has an ancient Roman Castle known
as
"Al-Borj"
which means "Tower". This tower
was
used
ass a jail house during the Othman
Empire.
It
was destroyed 7 times and was
embedded by
salt so that to unyoke its eminent
fame. The water spring there is a
sufficient reminding indicator to
the
civilization of ancient buildings
still standing buried under
ground.
It
was invaded by the "Basques"
Crusaders
who came from Southern France.
Stones
discovered at Jifna are a spoken
icon of the Basques.
The Holy Family passed through
Jifna during
the
course of their relocation to
Bethlehem as
a
result of an order issued by
Augustus Ceasar. This is
"a
glimpse of" a lot of things which
bind us to
the land of our forefathers.
Gophna
-
(Jifna)
ORIGINAL
TEXTS
ENGLISH
TRANSLATION
Eusebius,
Onomasticon
168:15-18
(ca.
295 A.D.)
Valley of
the bunch
of grapes
(Num
13:24-25),
whence the
men sent
to spy the
land
brought
back fruit
as a
sample of
the land:
they say
this is
Gophna,
which
means
"grape-vine".
Is located
at a
distance
of 15
miles from
Jerusalem,
on the
road
leading to
Neapolis.
It is a
question
whether
this
tradition
is true.
BIBLICAL
BACKGROUND
Num.
13:17-25
The
reconnaissance
in
Canaan
Moses
sent
them
[the
explorers]
to spy
out
the
land
of
Canaan,
and
said
to
them,
"Go up
there
into
the
Negeb,
and go
up
into
the
hill
country,
18 and
see
what
the
land
is
like,
and
whether
the
people
who
live
in it
are
strong
or
weak,
whether
they
are
few or
many,
19 and
whether
the
land
they
live
in is
good
or
bad,
and
whether
the
towns
that
they
live
in are
unwalled
or
fortified,
20 and
whether
the
land
is
rich
or
poor,
and
whether
there
are
trees
in it
or
not.
Be
bold,
and
bring
some
of the
fruit
of the
land."
Now it
was
the
season
of the
first
ripe
grapes.
21 So
they
went
up and
spied
out
the
land
from
the
wilderness
of Zin
to
Rehob,
near
Lebo-hamath.
22
They
went
up
into
the
Negeb,
and
came
to
Hebron;
and
Ahiman,
Sheshai,
and
Talmai,
the
Anakites,
were
there.
(Hebron
was
built
seven
years
before
Zoan
in
Egypt.)
23 And
they
came
to the
Wadi
Eshcol,
and
cut
down
from
there
a
branch
with a
single
cluster
of
grapes,
and
they
carried
it on
a pole
between
two of
them.
They
also
brought
some
pomegranates
and
figs.
24
That
place
was
called
the
Wadi
Eshcol,
because
of the
cluster
that
the
Israelites
cut
down
from
there.
25 At
the
end of
forty
days
they
returned
from
spying
out
the
land.
MORE
ANCIENT
SOURCES
Josephus,
War
2,
566-568
(1st
cent.
A.D.)
They
also
chose
other
generals
for
Idumea;
Jesus
the son
of
Sapphias,
one of
the high
priests;
and
Eleazar
the son
of
Ananias,
the high
priest;
they
also
enjoined
Niger,
the then
governor
of
Idumea,
who was
of a
family
that
belonged
to Perea,
beyond
Jordan,
and was
thence
called
the
Peraite,
that he
should
be
obedient
to those
forenamed
commanders.
Nor did
they
neglect
the care
of other
parts of
the
country;
but
Joseph
the son
of Simon
was sent
as
general
to
Jericho,
as was
Manasseh
to Perea,
and
John,
the
Essene,
to the
toparchy
of
Thamma;
Lydda
was also
added to
his
portion,
and
Joppa
and
Emmaus.
But
John,
the son
of
Matthias,
was made
the
governor
of the
toparchies
of
Gophritica
and
Acrabastene;
as was
Josephus,
the son
of
Matthias,
of both
the
Galilees.
Gamala
also,
which
was the
strongest
city in
those
parts,
was put
under
his
command.
Josephus,
War
3,54-55
(1st
cent.
A.D.)
It
(Judea)
was
parted
into
eleven
portions,
of which
the
royal
city
Jerusalem
was the
supreme,
and
presided
over all
the
neighboring
country,
as the
head
does
over the
body. As
to the
other
cities
that
were
inferior
to it,
they
presided
over
their
several
toparchies;
Gophna
was the
second
of those
cities,
and next
to that
Acrabatta,
after
them
Thamna,
and
Lydda,
and
Emmaus,
and
Pella,
and
Idumea,
and
Engaddi,
and
Herodium,
and
Jericho.
Josephus,
War
6,115-117
(1st
cent.
A.D.)
Now
Caesar
not only
received
these
men very
kindly
in other
respects,
but,
knowing
they
would
not
willingly
live
after
the
customs
of other
nations,
he sent
them to
Gophna,
and
desired
them to
remain
there
for the
present,
and told
them,
that
when he
was
gotten
clear of
this
war, he
would
restore
each of
them to
their
possessions
again;
so they
cheerfully
retired
to that
small
city
which
was
allotted
them,
without
fear of
any
danger.
But as
they did
not
appear,
the
seditious
gave out
again
that
these
deserters
were
slain by
the
Romans,-which
was
done, in
order to
deter
the rest
from
running
away by
fear of
the like
treatment.
This
trick of
theirs
succeeded
now for
a while,
as did
the like
trick
before;
for the
rest
were
hereby
deterred
from
deserting,
by fear
of the
like
treatment.
ICONOGRAPHIC
PARALLELS
Tabula
Peutingeriana
(4th
cent.
A.D.)
Cofna
