Mozah (Motza)
מֹצָה
Where was biblical Mozah? At Tel Motza, by Route 1 at Jerusalem's western entrance. I mark it very likely.
In the days of the kings, people here worshipped at a temple with its own altar. Centuries later, Jews came down to Motza every Sukkot to cut willows for the altar of the Temple in Jerusalem.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Tel Motza, by Route 1 at Jerusalem's western entrance
- How sure
- Very likely Strong evidence, with no serious rival.
- Other names
- Moza, Ha-Mozah, Colonia, Qalunya, Kolonia, Tel Motza
- Location
- 31.7932° N, 35.1683° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
The Tanach mentions Mozah only once, in the list of Benjamin's towns beside Mizpah and Chephirah. That places it in the hills just west of Jerusalem.
The Jewish sources pin it down. The Mishnah knows "a place below Jerusalem called Motza," where the tall willows were cut and stood around the altar. The Talmud adds that Motza was a Roman colonia, a colony. That Latin word survived as Qalunya, the name of the Arab village here. A Mishnah, a Talmud and a village name all point to the same spot.
Then the ground spoke. Excavators found a ninth-century BCE town and a monumental temple with an altar and clay figurines of men and horses, just a few kilometers from the Temple Mount. Dozens of jar handles from the Babylonian period carry the stamp "Motza," a sign that the town was a royal estate.
One twist. Because of that temple, some archaeologists now argue that Tel Motza is really Kiryat Yearim, where the Ark rested. The map keeps the two apart, with Motza here and Kiryat Yearim on the hill at Abu Ghosh.
Visiting today
The excavated area lies beside Route 1 near the old Motza khan. The temple site is not a developed park, and access is limited.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Motza on the interactive map →
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- Nephtoah 3 km east
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- Nob 6 km east
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