Tell Balata

Tell Balata

تل بلاطة
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Shown within the West Bank
Location	West Bank
Coordinates	32°12′49″N 35°16′55″E / 32.213618°N 35.281993°E / 32.213618; 35.281993
History
Associated with	Canaanite, Samaritan, Hellenistic

Tell Balata (Arabic: تل بلاطة‎‎) is the site of the remains of an ancient Canaanite/Israelite city located in the Palestinian West Bank. The built-up area of Balata, a Palestinian village and suburb of Nablus, covers about one-third of the tell, and overlooks a vast plain to the east. The Palestinian village of Salim (biblical Salem) is located 4.5 kilometers (2.8 mi) to the east.

The site is listed by UNESCO as part of the Inventory of Cultural and Natural Heritage Sites of Potential Outstanding Universal Value in the Palestinian Territories. Experts estimate that the towers and buildings at the site date back 5,000 years to the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages.

Tell is the Hebrew and Arabic word for an archaeological mound.Balata is the name of the ancient Arab village located on the tell, and of the adjacent Palestinian refugee camp of Balata established in 1950. The name was preserved by local residents and used to refer both to the village and the hill (and later on, the refugee camp).

One theory holds that balata is a derivation of the Aramaic word Balut, meaning acorn; another theory holds that it is a derivation of the Byzantine-Roman era, from the Greek word platanos, meaning terebinth, a type of tree that grew around the spring of Balata. The local Samaritan community traditionally called the site 'The Holy Oak' or 'The Tree of Grace'.