ADASA

ADASA (Heb. חֲדָשָׁה, Ḥadashah). (1) A village on a small hill strategically overlooking the Beth-Horon road close to the place of Judah Maccabee's final victory over Nicanor. Nicanor fell in the battle and his army fled toward Gazera/Gezer (i Macc. 7:39–40, 45; cf. Elasa which is probably a scribal error for Adasa in ii Macc. 14:6). The town is mentioned in the Mishnah as a place with 50 inhabitants, or with three courtyards and two households (Er. 5:6). It is the present-day Khirbet 'Adasa, a little more than 5 mi. (9 km.) north of Jerusalem. The site has not been excavated, but visible archaeological remains include the remains of a settlement with scattered Herodian, Roman, and Byzantine pottery, rock-hewn caves, and agricultural features round about. This site is not to be confused with another Khirbet 'Adasa north of Jerusalem, situated immediately to the northeast of Tell el-Ful, mentioned by some scholars, which has remains that only date back to Mamluk times. Yet another Khirbet 'Adasa is situated west of Gibeon (el-Jib), but the remains there are primarily of the Byzantine period. (2) Ḥadashah/Adasa is also the name of a town in the Shephelah of Judah. It is mentioned in Joshua 15:37 and located close to Migdal-Gad and Zenan. Since Lachish and Eglon are referred to in the same district, Adasa's location should probably be sought in southwest Judah. However, no convincing suggestion has thus far been proposed for the site. Eusebius (26:1) situated Adasa of Joshua 15:37 at a totally different location, close to Gophna (Jifna), but Jerome (27:1) rightly expressed his doubts about this identification.

bibliography:

B. Bagatti, Ancient Christian Villages of Samaria (2002), 20–21; B. Bar-Kochva, Judas Maccabaeus (1989), 349 ff.; M. Fischer, B. Isaac, and I. Roll, Roman Roads in Judaea. ii: The Jaffa-Jerusalem Roads (1996), 120–22; G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville, R.L. Chapman, and J.E. Taylor, The Onomasticon by Eusebius of Caesarea (2003), 22–105; A. Kloner, Survey of Jerusalem: The Northeastern Sector (2001), 21; Y. Tsafrir, L. Di Segni, and J. Green, Tabula Imperii Romani. Iudea, Palaestina. Maps and Gazetteer (1994), 57.

[Shimon Gibson (2^nd ed.)]