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Jacob's Well at Sychar

The deep well near Shechem where Yeshua spoke with the Samaritan woman

Herod, Yeshua & Jerusalem's Fall · water system, synagogue / church · Accepted by scholars · found 333

Stone well-head with a bucket inside a church crypt
Photo: Jeremiah K Garrett · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Found 333 — Never lost; described by the Bordeaux Pilgrim (333 CE) and Jerome; cleared and measured by 19th-century explorers (Charles Warren and Claude Conder, Palestine Exploration Fund, 1860s–70s); the crypt and church restored by the Greek Orthodox (Archimandrite Justinus) 1980s–2007

Where Bir Ya'qub, Balata, east of Nablus (ancient Shechem), between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal (West Bank (Palestinian Territories))

Dates from Well of great antiquity; churches from 4th century CE; present church 1893–2007 · Bronze Age origin (traditional); Roman use; Byzantine church · Yaakov (Jacob); Yeshua in Samaria (John 4)

Now at In place; Greek Orthodox Monastery of Jacob's Well, Nablus

How Jacob's Well at Sychar was found

The well sits in the crypt of the Greek Orthodox church of St Photini at Balata, east of Nablus, below the ruins of a Byzantine cruciform church and a Crusader church. Conder measured its depth at about 23 meters in 1875; it is rock-cut, about 2.3 meters wide, and fed by groundwater.

What it is

A deep rock-cut well with a narrow mouth and a wide, plastered shaft, reaching groundwater and still yielding cool water. It lies at the eastern entrance to the pass between Gerizim and Ebal, beside Tell Balata (Shechem) and the traditional tomb of Joseph, near the village of Askar (probably Sychar).

Why it matters for the Bible

Jews, Samaritans, Christians and Muslims all agree on this site, and it is one of the few Gospel locations that is essentially certain. Its depth explains the woman's remark that Yeshua had nothing to draw with and 'the well is deep'. From it one looks up at Mount Gerizim, the 'this mountain' of the conversation, still the Samaritans' holy place today.

The Hebrew word: be-ER

בְּאֵר

בְּאֵר is pronounced be-ER and means well (Strong's H875).

People this discovery connects to

Places

Events

Yeshua and the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) · Jacob buys land at Shechem (Genesis 33:19)

Jacob's Well at Sychar in Scripture

John 4:5-6 'Jacob's well was there' near Sychar — this well.

Questions people ask

What is Jacob's Well at Sychar?
A deep rock-cut well with a narrow mouth and a wide, plastered shaft, reaching groundwater and still yielding cool water. It lies at the eastern entrance to the pass between Gerizim and Ebal, beside Tell Balata (Shechem) and the traditional tomb of Joseph, near the village of Askar (probably Sychar).

When was Jacob's Well at Sychar discovered?
It was found in 333 by Never lost; described by the Bordeaux Pilgrim (333 CE) and Jerome; cleared and measured by 19th-century explorers (Charles Warren and Claude Conder, Palestine Exploration Fund, 1860s–70s); the crypt and church restored by the Greek Orthodox (Archimandrite Justinus) 1980s–2007, at Bir Ya'qub, Balata, east of Nablus (ancient Shechem), between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal.

Where is Jacob's Well at Sychar today?
In place; Greek Orthodox Monastery of Jacob's Well, Nablus.

Which Bible verses does Jacob's Well at Sychar relate to?
John 4:5-6.

Related discoveries

Sources

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