Editing Sela (Edom)

{{other uses|Sela (disambiguation)}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Sela (as-Sala') in Jordan
| other_name         = 
| native_name        = السلع
| nickname           = 
| settlement_type    = 
| image_skyline      = Sela.JPG
| imagesize          = 250px
| image_caption      = Sela
| image_seal         = 
| image_flag         = 
| pushpin_map        = Jordan
| pushpin_label_position = 
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = [[Jordan]]
| subdivision_type1  = Province
| subdivision_name1  = [[Tafilah Governorate]]
| subdivision_type2  = Department
| subdivision_name2  = [[Bozrah|Busaira]] Department
| established_title  = Founded <!-- Settled -->
| established_date   = 
| timezone           = [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]] +2
| timezone_DST       = +3
| coordinates        = {{coord|30|46|17|N|35|34|59|E|region:JO|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_m        = 
| elevation_ft       = 
| elevation_footnotes = 
}}
'''Sela''' ({{langx|he|סֶּלַע}}, ''Selaʿ'', "[[Rock (geology)|rock]]"; {{langx|ar|السلع}}, ''es-Sela‛''; {{langx|el|πέτρα}}, 'Petra'; {{langx|la|petra}})<ref name=Net/> is a geographical name encountered several times in the [[Hebrew Bible]], and applicable to a variety of locations.<ref name=Hub/>

One site by this name is placed by the [[2 Kings|Second Book of Kings]] in [[Edom]].<ref name=Hub>{{cite web |title= Sela |work= Bible Hub |url= https://biblehub.com/topical/s/sela.htm |access-date= 3 December 2019}}</ref> It has been widely identified with the archaeological site of es-Sela' or as-Sila' in [[Jordan]]'s [[Tafilah Governorate]].

==Hebrew Bible==
===Book of Judges===
In the [[Book of Judges]] there is a mention of a place called Sela, "the rock", on the southern border of the lands still inhabited by the [[Amorites]] after the partial conquest of [[Canaan]] by the [[Israelites]] ({{bibleverse|Judges|1:36}}).

===Second Book of Kings===
2 Kings sets "Sela" in the great valley extending from the [[Dead Sea]] to the [[Red Sea]] ({{bibleverse|2 Kings|14:7}}). It was near [[Mount Hor]], close by the [[Zin Desert|desert of Zin]].<ref name=Net/>

In the story of King [[Amaziah of Judah]], a place called Sela is mentioned. Amaziah is described as throwing 10,000 Edomites to their death from the heights of Sela ({{bibleverse|2 Chronicles|25:12}}; {{bibleverse|2 Kings|14:7}}).<ref name=Corbett/> When Amaziah took Sela he called it '''[[Joktheel]]''' (also spelled '''Jokteel''' ([[Jewish Publication Society of America Version|JPS]]) and '''Jectehel''' ([[Douay–Rheims Bible|DRB]])) (q.v.) ({{langx|he|יָקְתְאֵל}}, Yoq<u>t</u>ĕ-’Ēl, "the blessedness of God" or "subdued by God";<ref name=Net>Meanings from ''Net Bible Study Dictionary'', [https://netbible.org/#!search/Joktheel Joktheel]</ref> {{langx|la|Jectehel}}) or Kathoel ({{langx|el|Καθοηλ}}) in the [[Septuagint]].

===Isaiah and Obadiah===
Places called Sela are mentioned by the prophets [[Isaiah]] and [[Obadiah]] ([[Isaiah 15|15:1]], [[Isaiah 16|16:1]]; {{bibleverse|Obadiah|1:3}}) as to cry in joy in glory of the Lord.

==Archaeological site==
Sela in Edom is widely identified with the ruins of Sela, east of [[Tafilah|Tafileh]] (identified as biblical [[Tophel]]) and near [[Bozrah]], both Edomite cities in the mountains of Edom, in modern-day [[Jordan]].

As of 2012 Sela, or as-Sila‛ or es-Sela in Arabic, had not yet been excavated, but surveys of the plateau have produced surface finds from the [[Ancient Near East#Periodization|Early Bronze Age]] through to the [[Nabataean]] period, but mainly from the time of the Edomites of the Hebrew Bible: the early to mid-first millennium BCE.<ref name=Corbett/> This is the period when Sela was most extensively inhabited.<ref name=Corbett>{{cite web |first= Glenn J. |last= Corbett |title= The Edomite Stronghold of Sela: Is this where 10,000 Edomites were thrown to their deaths? |date= December 2012 |publisher= Biblical Archaeology Society |work= Bible History Daily |url= https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/the-edomite-stronghold-of-sela/ |access-date= }}</ref>

Archaeologists have found on a rock face at es-Sila' the so-called "[[Nabonidus]] Inscription", named after the last king of the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] (ruled c. 556–539 BCE).<ref name=RivaASOR>{{cite journal |last= Da Riva |first= Rocío |title= New Discoveries at Sela, the Mountain Stronghold of Edom |work= The Ancient Near East Today |publisher=[[American Society of Overseas Research]] (ASOR) |volume= VII |number= 3 |date= March 2019 |url= https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2019/03/New-Discoveries-at-Sela/ |access-date= 1 May 2021}}</ref><ref name=Riva>{{cite journal |last= Da Riva |first= Rocío |title= The Nabonidus Inscription in Sela (Jordan): Epigraphic Study and Historical Meaning |pages= 176–195 |journal= Zeitschrift für Assyriologie |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |location= Berlin |volume= 110 |number= 2 |year= 2020 |doi= 10.1515/za-2020-0018 |url= https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/za-2020-0018/html |access-date= 1 May 2021}}</ref>

==Confusion with Petra==
Sela appears in later history and in the [[Vulgate]] under the name of 'Petra', the Greek translation of the Semitic word 'Sela', meaning 'rock'.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Forder|first=A.|date=November 1901|title=Sela or Petra, "The Strong City." The Ruined Capital of Edom|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/472910|journal=The Biblical World|language=en|volume=18|issue=5|pages=328–337|doi=10.1086/472910|issn=0190-3578}}</ref> This led to Sela being confused with the [[Nabataean]] city of Rekem,<ref>{{Cite book |url= http://www.loebclassics.com/view/josephus-jewish_antiquities/1930/pb_LCL490.79.xml?mainRsKey=zBRKmE&result=1&rskey=O69i4Z |doi= 10.4159/DLCL.josephus-jewish_antiquities.1930 |title= Jewish Antiquities |year= 1930 |author= Josephus |via=[[Loeb Classical Library]] }}</ref> known to the [[Hellenistic]] world as [[Petra]].

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|Sela}}
* [http://nabataea.net/sela.html Sela] in the Nabataean period and photos of the site; at Nabataea.net
*[https://acor.digitalrelab.com/index.php?s=filter=place_name:Sela'%20(Jordan) Photos of Sela'] at the [[American Center of Research]]

==References==
*{{EBD|title=Sela|url=https://archive.org/stream/illustratedbible00east#page/611/mode/1up|noicon=yes|pages=611-612}}

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Edom]]
[[Category:Former populated places in West Asia]]
[[Category:Tafilah Governorate]]