Hizma

Hizma (Arabic: حزما‎; Hebrew: חיזמה) is a Palestinian town in the Jerusalem Governorate, seven kilometer from Jerusalem's Old City. The town, located in Area B, borders the Israeli settlements Neve Yaakov, Pisgat Ze'ev located in East Jerusalem and the settlements Geva Binyamin and Almon. A small eastern neighbourhood of Hizma is called Hizmah. Since 1967, Hizma is occupied by Israel. The village is cut off from Jerusalem by the Separation Wall in the west, which was built in 2005 on confiscated Palestinian land. As of 2007, Hizma had a population of about 5650 residents. Hizma is cut off from the West Bank by a chain of Israeli settlements in the east.

History

Albright and others identified Hizma with the biblical town of Azmaveth of the tribe of Benjamin. However, Gibson more recently questioned this identification, citing the lack of archaeological remains from the necessary time period. Towards the end of the Second Temple period, there was an industry here making fine stoneware from the local limestone. Products included vases and bowls turned on a lathe, and mugs carved by hand. Examples of stoneware that may have originated here have been found in many places in the Jerusalem region, mostly dating from the first and second centuries CE.