Object description

Tur Shimon or Horvat Tura, the Hebraized form of Khirbet et-Tantura , so-called after the shape of the hill, is an archaeological site in Nahal Sorek. Ancient Tur Shimon, mentioned twice in classical Hebrew literature , has been tentatively identified by archaeologist Boaz Zissu with Khirbet Sammunieh, based on a comparison of the name Tur Shimon with two given Arabic names. In maps of the British Mandate period, the ruin is also named Khirbet et-Tantura. Archaeologists have proposed that this name embodies the Aramaic concept of "mountain" = Tur. In older PEF maps of Conder and Kitchener, the name of the ruin is given as Sammunieh, a name reminiscent of the Hebrew name Shimon. A riverine brook that flows immediately beneath the mountain has also the appellation of Wadi Ismaʻin, thought too to be a corruption of the name Shimon.