Cabul (Hebrew: כבול), classical spelling: Chabolo; Chabulon, is a location in the Lower Galilee mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, now the Kabul local council in Israel, 9 or 10 miles (16 km) east of Acco.
Cabul is first mentioned as one of the landmarks on the boundary of Asher, in Joshua 19:27. Josephus refers to it as "the village of Chabolo situated in the confines of Ptolemais",[3] and was the western border of Lower Galilee before joining the Phoenician coast.[4] It was assigned to the Tribe of Asher.[5] The name "Kabul" may have been derived from the Aramaic word mekubbal, which means "clad", as in the inhabitants were "clad" in gold and silver.[6]
King Solomon handed over a district in the north-west of Galilee near Tyre, containing twenty cities, to Hiram I, the king of Tyre, in repayment for his help in building Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.[7] Hiram was not pleased with the gift, however, and called them "the land of Cabul", the name signifying "good for nothing". The writer of 1 Kings 9 says they were called by this name "to this day".[7] Josephus interprets "Cabul" as meaning "what does not please" (in Phoenician)[8] but doubt has been cast on this interpretation of the term.[citation needed] The Pulpit Commentary suggests they were unacceptable because "really they were mere villages".[9]
Archaeological excavations at Khirbet Rosh Zayit, located 2km northeast of modern Kabul, Israel, have revealed an Israelite settlement from the 12th century BCE, and built upon it a Phoenician fortification from the 10th century BCE. The excavator suggests that this is evidence of Solomon's transfer of the area to Tyrian control.[10]
Josephus describes Cabul as being "the place that divides the country of Ptolemais from our nation" (War II 18:503).[11] The architecture of Cabul, unlike other cities of the Galilee, was similar to that of Tyre, Sidon, and Beirut. In the First Jewish–Roman War, Cabul was attacked by Cestius Gallus in 66 CE.[12] Upon the approach of the Roman army, the inhabitants of Cabul (Greek: Χαβουλών, translated in some English texts as Zabulon)[13] had fled the city, while the soldiery were given leave to plunder and burn the city.[14] For a time it served as Josephus' headquarters in Galilee in 67 CE.[15]
Judah and Hillel, sons of R. Gamaliel III, were received as guests in Cabul with great honor and paid a visit to a local bath.[16] It was the home of a Rabbi Zakkai,[17] and was famous for its abundance of wine and oil; it also had a synagogue and public baths. After the fall of Jerusalem, priests of the Shecaniah (Shekhanyah) family settled there.
In the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, it was the seat of a seigniory known as Cabor.[12]
In 2010, an archaeological survey of Cabul was conducted by Omar Zidan on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).[18]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Cabul". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.