Zanoah


Zanoah is a moshav in central Israel. Located adjacent to Beit Shemesh, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of.

History

The village was established in 1950 by immigrants from Yemen, and was initially named Dayraban Gimel after the nearby depopulated Arab village of Dayr Aban. In the following years the founders left and were replaced by immigrants from Morocco.

Education

The Beit Shemesh Yeshiva is located in Zanoah. Most of the students are from Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef. Aside from Talmud study, the curriculum includes English language and mathematics, and unlike many such institutions in Israel today, students study for the Bagrut matriculation exams. From 2004 to 2015, when it closed, Zanoah was also the home of Yeshivat Yesodei HaTorah, which offered a gap year program for international English-speaking students.

Geography and archaeology

Nahal Zanoah is a stream that runs north and drains into Nahal Sorek.
The ruins on a high hill south of the moshav are thought to be the ancient village of Zanoah mentioned in Egyptian letters, later part of the tribe of Judah, and in the "Second Temple period... reinhabited," as recorded in the Bible. During the 1st-century CE, the village was known by the name Zenoha. The site reeks with antiquity, with the signs of an old settlement everywhere. The site is extensive, with razed structures that once stood as walls and houses. Shards of broken pottery are strewn on the grounds everywhere, with several open-mouthed cisterns and antres.
An archaeological survey of the site was conducted in 2008 by Pablo Betzer on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. According to the Mishnah, the finest of the wheat used to grow in the valley adjacent to Zanoah, from whence it was taken for the offering of the Omer in the Temple. Although listed in Joshua 15:34 as being a city in the plain, it is actually partly in the hill country, partly in the plain.
C.R. Conder and H.H. Kitchener described the ruins of Khurbet Zanûa, visited by them in 1881.

Gallery of the nearby Zanoah Ruin (Kh. Zanua)