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== History ==
The old city of Shechem dates back an estimated four thousand years. According to the [[Hebrew Bible]], at Shechem, [[Abram]] "built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him . . . and had given that land to his descendants" (Gen 12:6-7). This was the first recorded place where Abram stopped when he and Sarah and Lot and their entourage entered the land. On this occasion, God confirmed to Abram the promise He had first made to him in Ur of the Chaldees, that He would give him this land. It is possible that Abram climbed nearby Mount Ebal to view his inheritance, much of which could be seen from that peak.
The Bible states that Abraham traveled through Shechem on his way to [[Canaan]] and offered his first sacrifice to God. After the conquest of Canaan, [[Joshua]] assembled the [[Israelites]] here and encouraged them to follow the Mosaic Laws. During the period of the [[Judges]], [[Abimelech]] was crowned king. An influential commercial center, the city prospered from trade in locally produced grapes, olives, wheat, and livestock from the Middle [[Bronze Age]] into the Late [[Hellenic]] Period (ca. 1900–100 B.C.E.). Archaeological excavations have revealed that the city was destroyed and rebuilt 22 times, until its final destruction in the second century
Nablus was founded in the year [[72]] by the emperor [[Titus]] as a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] city, [[Flavia Neapolis]] ("New city of the imperator Flavius") west of the site of the Biblical city of [[Shechem]]. After the [[Arab]] conquest in [[636]], the city was renamed Nablus. [[Crusades|Crusaders]] later renamed the site Naples. (The name of the Italian city [[Naples]] also derives from "Neapolis".) With its fortified [[citadel]], the city was a major center of the Latin [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], until the older city of Nablus was obliterated in [[1202]] and rebuilt once again as an Arab] city upon its ruins.
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