ziz Summary and Overview

projecting; a flower, a cleft or pass, probably that near En-gedi, which leads up from the Dead Sea (2 Chr. 20:16) in the direction of Tekoa; now Tell Hasasah.

(the projection), The cliff of, the pass by which the horde of Moabites, Ammonites and Mehunim made their way up from the shores of the Dead Sea to the wilderness of Judah near Tekoa. #2Ch 20:16| only; comp. 2Chr 20:20 It was the pass of Ain Jidy --the very same route which is taken by the Arabs in their marauding expeditions at the present day.

ZIZ , THE CLIFF OF. 2 Chr 20:16. The paraphrase of this passage is "the going up of Ha-Ziz," and Grove suggests the name may survive in Husasah. The Pal. Memoirs note a Wady Husasah, 8 miles north of Ain Jidy (En-gedi). The similarity of the name is striking, but the site seems too far from En-gedi. Others have identified Ziz with the pass and cliff near En-gedi, a route how taken by Arab marauding-parties. This pass was the ascent through which invaders from the south and east, after doubling the south end of the Dead Sea, entered the hill-country of Judaea. Ziz was the key of the pass.

The cliff of Ziz. The ascent (ma'aleh ), or pass, by which the hosts of Moab, Ammon, and the Mehunim, according to the announcement of the prophet Jahaziel, proceeded from the Dead Sea to the wilderness of Judah near Tekoa (2 Chronicles 20:16; 2 Chronicles 20:20); "they come up by the ascent of ha-Ziz, and ye shall find them at the head of the wady"; now the pass of Ain Jidy, the route of Arab marauders to the present day. The name appears in Husasah, the tableland above Ain Jidy, between it and Tekua, and may be related to Hazezon Tamar, the ancient name of Engedi (Ain Jidy). Condor (Israel Exploration Quarterly Statement, Jan. 1875) identifies Ziz with Khirbet' Aziz. Wady Khubara, the main valley S. of Engedi, runs W. toward this ruin to which the ascent, would be by this watercourse.