TIRZAH tûr’ zə (תִּרְצָֽה, pleasantness, a delight). 1. A royal Canaanite city in the northern part of Mount Ephraim, at the head of the descent of the Wadi Far’ah, which plunges E into the Jordan Valley to the ford at Adam. This was the best route connecting Trans-Jordan with Mount Ephraim, and connected westward to the road via Samaria, Dothan and Beth-Laggan to the Jezreel Plain. This longitudinal road helps to explain the rise of important cities like Tirzah, Shechem and Samaria at major highway junctions. Noted for the beauty of its environs (Song of Solomon 6:4), the valley where it is situated is carved out of softer Cennomanian limestones with a good soil cover, in contrast to the rocky Eocene out-crops above the valley. A Canaanite city, it was claimed within Manasseh’s territory (Josh 17:2, 3) and captured by Joshua (Josh 12:24). It is possible that the siege of Thebez, with its mighty tower, at which Abimelech met his death, is a corrupt spelling of Tirzah (Judg 9:51). Jeroboam I maintained a residence at Tirzah (1 Kings 14:17) and it became the capital of the northern kingdom from the days of Baasha (1 Kings 16:8, 9), Elah and Zimri (16:8, 9, 15). Trapped there by Omri, Zimri destroyed his residence during a dynastic struggle with Omri (16:17, 18). Six years later, Omri transferred the capital to Samaria, a more central and convenient center that dominated the western approaches to the Samaritan hill country. This resembled David’s action in choosing Jerusalem as his capital, since Samaria had no older tribal associations, such as Tirzah had. Tirzah then sank into a provincial but still significant town. Toward the end of Israel’s life, a citizen of Tirzah, Menahem, seized power and usurped the throne from Shallum (2 Kings 15:14, 16).

The large mound at Tell el-Far’a, some seven m. NE of Nablus, has been excavated by the Dominican fathers Père de Vaux and Stève. Their excavations have revealed a continuous settlement from Chalcolithic times, before 3000 b.c., to the end of the Israel kingdom. It flourished as a city in the 9th cent. b.c., but a burnt level was found terminating the first stratum of the Iron Age occupation that may indicate the civil disorders at the time Omri came to power. There is also evidence of the subsequent reduction of Tirzah from an important fortress to a virtually open town about the time Samaria was created on a new site. All this seems strongly confirmatory that Tell el-Fâr’ah is the site of Tirzah.

2. The youngest of five daughters of Zelophehad (Num 26:33; 27:1; 36:11; Josh 17:3).

Bibliography R. de Vaux, articles on excavations at Tell el-Far’a in RB (1947-1955), esp. vol. LXII (1955), 587-589.