Shunem
Σωμάν
Shunem (LXX. Σωμάν: Eth.Σωμανιτής, Eth. Σωμανῖτις) a village of Palestine celebrated as the birthplace of Abishag (1 Kings, 1.3), and for the miracle of Elisha. (2 Kings, iv.) It was situated in Issachar (Josh. 19.18; LXX. Σουνάμ), near Gilboa, to the north; for when Saul and the Israelites were encamped in Gilboa, the Philistines pitched in Shunem, so that he had to pass through their lines to come to Endor. (1 Sam. 28.4.) Eusebius mentions a village named Sanim, in the borders of Sebaste, in the district of Acrabattene, which cannot be identical with this. But the Subem (Σουβήμ) of the same author, which he places v. M. P. south of Mount Tabor, corresponds very well with the site of the modern village of Sôlam, which still marks the site of ancient Shunem. It is a miserable village, situated above the plain of Esdraelon, on the road between Jenîn and Nazareth, about 1 1/2 hour north of Zer‘ín, ancient Jezreel, on the steep slope of the western spur of Little Hermon (Ed-Dŭhy).
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.