science

Ketef Hinnom

Ketef Hinnom is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ketef Hinnom rather than just read about it. In short: Ketef Hinnom (Hebrew: כתף הינום, romanized: ketef hinom, lit. 'Shoulder of Hinnom') is an archaeological site discovered in the 1970s southwest of the Old City of Jerusalem. Archaeological excavations held at the site uncovered a series of Iron Age period Judahite burial chambers, dating to the 7th and 6th centuries BCE.

Key takeaways

Ketef Hinnom belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ketef Hinnom to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ketef Hinnom from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Ketef Hinnom (Hebrew: כתף הינום, romanized: ketef hinom, lit. 'Shoulder of Hinnom') is an archaeological site discovered in the 1970s southwest of the Old City of Jerusalem. Archaeological excavations held at the site uncovered a series of Iron Age period Judahite burial chambers, dating to the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. It is famous for the Ketef Hinnom scrolls, which are the oldest surviving texts from the Hebrew Bible currently known, dated to 600 BC. Ketef Hinnom is adjacent to St. Andrew's Church, now on the grounds of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center. It is located where the Valley of Rephaim and the Valley of Hinnom meet, on the old road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.

History

The site consists of a series of rock-hewn burial chambers based on natural caverns. The discovery was first reported in 1975 by Gabriel Barkay:

St. Andrew's Church, Jerusalem: In August-September 1975 a salvage excavation was carried out on the hill near St. Andrew's Church in Jerusalem, between the road leading up to the church and the road descending to the Valley of Hinnom. This is an important strategic point on the ancient watershed road through the Judean hills, where two natural roads meet, one from the Valley of Hinnom in the west and one from the Valley of Rephaim in the east... A large block of stone 2.80 m. [9.2 feet] long, belonging to a threshold originally some 5 m. [16.5 feet] wide, was visible on the surface. Excavation revealed that the threshold stone is in situ, and that it is part of a monumental architectural complex.

Scrolls

In 1979, two tiny silver scrolls, inscribed with portions of the well-known Priestly Blessing from the Book of Numbers and apparently once used as amulets, were found in one of the burial chambers. The delicate process of unrolling the scrolls while developing a method that would prevent them from disintegrating took three years. They contain what may be the oldest surviving texts from the Hebrew Bible, dating from the First Temple period around the late 7th to early 6th century BCE prior to the Babylonian Exile, and are now preserved at the Israel Museum.

References

External links

"The Riches of Ketef Hinnom" Archived 2012-02-17 at the Wayback Machine – Biblical Archaeology Review online article. The Ketef Hinnom tombs – photos provided by Holy Land Photos. "St. Andrew's Scottish Church" Archived 2010-10-12 at the Wayback Machine – photos and details of KH's location relative to the church.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ketef Hinnom

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ketef Hinnom claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ketef Hinnom before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ketef Hinnom ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ketef Hinnom

In research: Ketef Hinnom appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ketef Hinnom in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ketef Hinnom is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Ancient sites in Jerusalem, Archaeological sites in Jerusalem, Establishments in the Kingdom of Judah, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ketef Hinnom outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ketef Hinnom in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ketef Hinnom means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ketef Hinnom out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ketef Hinnom in simple terms?

Why does Ketef Hinnom matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ketef Hinnom?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ketef Hinnom.