David G. Hansen
The “Hour-Glass” road system.
Roads from the north and south come together as they go through Ramallah and El-Bireh.
Is ABR’s Khirbet Nisya Biblical Ai?
Military commanders and strategists are influenced by geography. Whether conducting sweeping defensive and offensive operations with large armies, or leading small numbers of soldiers, they search for locations that give them an advantage over their adversaries. These topographic features vary depending on the objective of the military operations and the nature of the terrain. They may be mountain passes (such as that at Megiddo), or dominating plateaus (the Colon Heights) or hills and gorges that inhibit movement (the Judean Hills).
Roads frequently traverse militarily important terrain and when they do, the roads will dictate how a commander will replenish his army and direct his route. Throughout history, the combination of an important road network coupled with critical geographic features has influenced how and whether a military leader defends and attacks.
Such a special situation is found near the present day town of Ramallah, ten miles north of Jerusalem.
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The terrain around Ramallah, described by David Livingston as an “hourglass,” has troubled armies for millennia. Commanders who wanted to travel north and south along the watershed route to avoid the Jordan Valley or the seacoast roads, have found their armies constricted by the waist of this hourglass. Steep valleys on either side of the waist, and a dominating hill just to the east, have further subjected their armies to the risk of ambushes. At Ramallah, the watershed road intersects with the important route leading up from the coastal highway, the Biblical “way to Beth-Horon.” This gentle, winding and narrow ascent is easily defended but has been a traditional westerly invasion route. Thus, this unique combination of terrain and a valuable road system makes Ramallah a strategic prize for any commander.
The Bible describes many military encounters in this region and it undoubtedly explains why the territory was the tribal bound-arc between Benjamin and Ephraim and later became the border for the nations of Judah and Israel. Extra-Biblical history also has its share of military leaders who recognized the importance, but topographical difficulties, of the Ramallah area. When Napoleon was urged to take Jerusalem following his victory at Gaza in 1799, he is supposed to have said, “I should not want to share the fate of Cestius; I will not be bogged down in the mountains.” He referred to the Roman general Cestius Gallus who lost his command in 66 AD on the slopes of the Beth Horon road. The famous World War I British Lord General A11enby, while campaigning in Palestine against the Turks and Germans in 1918, turned to the mountains only after capturing Jaffa. His forces took a scant 12 days to go the 53 miles from the Beersheba-Gaza line to Jaffa; however, the 22 miles from Jaffa to Jerusalem through Ramallah took a cosily 21 days.
The Bible implies that Bethel, and its outpost Ai, were strategically important locations in this sensitive territory. Although the traditional sites for Bethel (Beitin) and Ai (Et-Tell) are known to be ancient military strongholds, they do not meet the test for critical terrain: that is, cities that command terrain so valuable that possession of them holds the key to the land. On the other hand, Ramallah, 2 miles southwest of Beitin, more closely matches the criteria. It is hard to imagine why a commander during any historical period would defend at Beitin and Et-Tell instead of the more militarily significant points around Ramallah; or, an invader like Joshua would attempt entry to the land through a location other than the vicinity of Ramallah.
El-Bireh is a modern village adjacent to Ramaliah and is a convincing location for the strategically important Biblical Bethel. El-Bireh straddles the waist of Livingston’s “hourglass” and is directly on the north-south watershed road. This contrasts with Beitin’s location, two miles north of the hourglass’ waist and on a winding side road some distance from the
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watershed road. The strategic value of El-Bireh is further enhanced since it is adjacent to the critical junction of the watershed road with the “way to Beth-Horon.”
Neither Beitin nor El-Bireh have a direct view into the Jordan Valley. Both would have required protection and warning of danger from the east. The Bible’s description of Ai indicates it must have served as an eastern “eye” for Bethel At El-Bireh, the Jordan Valley is hidden by a hill directly east of the town. A commander who chose El-Bireh as the strategic key to the defense of the region would logically locate an observation post on the hill. The modern Israeli government has done exactly that and built Pesagot, a police outpost and settlement, on the crest of the hill. (Before Pesagot was built, there was a military garrison stationed on the hilltop.) A short distance east of the crest, and a little below, lies the outcropping Khirbet Nisya. Although the Jordan Valley is observable both from the crest and Khirbet Nisya, Khirbet Nisya offers a distinctive view of the fork of an ancient trail whose branches extend to the north and south of E1-Bireh. Thus, by stationing observers at Khirbet Nisya, a military commander at El-Bireh could monitor traffic into and out
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of the region and receive timely intelligence should invaders attempt to move up from the Jordan Valley. Although Et-Tell may have provided a similar service to Beitin, it is not as accessible to its sister city nor does it control such unique views of the invasion routes from the Jordan ValIey as does Khirbet Nisya.
Archaeological evidence will ultimately resolve the debate of whether Et-Tell, Khirbet Nisya or some other site is ancient Ai. But until it does, my study of the region’s strategic relevance forces me to conclude that the general area around Ramallah, and specifically El-Bireh, is a much more likely candidate for the location of Bethel than Beitin.
Having established that point, I believe a very strong case can be made for Khirbet Nisya to be the site of Bethel’s eastern outpost, Ai.