Watan-The city of “Tel Aviv” was founded in 1909 as a neighborhood north of Jaffa. It later expanded at the expense of the original city and the Palestinian villages whose inhabitants were displaced, eventually becoming the capital of Israel after 1948. A new report by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz dismantles a common urban myth about the city, which traditional interpretations of the Old Testament had assumed to be a real city where the prophet Ezekiel resided.
However, recent research—based on Babylonian records and newly discovered archaeological inscriptions—casts doubt on this assumption. It suggests that “Tel Aviv” was not a geographic location but rather a metaphorical expression referring to the “ruin of cities.” These studies also reveal that Ezekiel likely lived in an urban setting within the capital of Babylon or in one of its administrative centers, rather than in rural villages on the empire’s outskirts, as previously believed.
In this report, Haaretz explores how modern archaeological discoveries, analysis of cuneiform texts, and comparisons between biblical and Babylonian sources have contributed to a new understanding of the life and residence of Prophet Ezekiel during his exile in Babylon.
The Origins of “Tel Aviv”
Israeli academic Yuval Levavi, a researcher in the Department of Archaeology and the Ancient Near East at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, notes that the ancient term “Tel Aviv” re-entered the Hebrew language for the first time in 1902, when the Polish Jewish writer Nahum Sokolow used it as the title for his translation of Theodor Herzl’s utopian novel Altneuland (“Old-New Land”). A few years later, “Tel Aviv” became the name of a new neighborhood, previously known as “Ahuzat Bayit,” which was established outside the walls of Jaffa. Over time, it grew into Israel’s second-largest city and its economic hub.
Biblical Interpretations and the Babylonian Exile
Many people overlook the biblical origin of the name “Tel Aviv.” It appears in Ezekiel 3:15, which states:
“I came to the exiles at Tel Aviv, who were living by the Kebar River.”
Here, the term “exiles” refers to the Babylonian Captivity, during which Ezekiel was taken to Babylon along with King Jehoiachin, as well as all craftsmen and metalworkers, in 597 BCE (as described in 2 Kings 24), 11 years before the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem and the more well-known Babylonian Exile of 586 BCE.
Scholars debate the composition and editing process of the Book of Ezekiel, but it is widely believed that the core text indeed refers to a literate Jewish priest who was active in Babylon during the 6th century BCE. While it is assumed that Ezekiel lived in “Tel Aviv,” this place was not in Palestine but rather a small, humble settlement east of Babylon, near the Kebar River, the largest tributary of the Euphrates.
The City That Never Was
The exact location of Ezekiel’s residence was not a major concern for early biblical scholars and interpreters. Over time, history turned into legend, and legend into myth, causing “Tel Aviv” (Tel-Abib) to fade into obscurity for over 2,500 years.
However, an unexpected development changed this: the emergence of Assyriology, the study of ancient Mesopotamian civilizations. Around the same time, Nahum Sokolow translated Herzl’s novel into Hebrew, choosing “Tel Aviv” as the title—where “Tel” means “mound” or “ruins,” and “Aviv” means “spring” and renewal. This led Assyriologists to reinvestigate the biblical name Tel Aviv and place it within the historical Babylonian context in which Ezekiel lived.
By the late 19th century, scholars identified the “Kebar River” mentioned in Ezekiel’s book as “Nar Kabari” in Babylonian texts. This was not a natural river but rather an artificial canal that transported water from central Babylonian cities toward the southeast. The Akkadian name “Nar Kabari” means “The Great Canal,” which closely resembles the meaning of “Kabir” in Arabic and Hebrew (“great” or “large”).
The Babylonian Exile and Jewish Settlements
Babylonian records indicate that dozens of Jewish families from the first and second generations of exiles lived near this canal, working on state-owned agricultural lands that they leased for survival. One nearby village was even called “Yahud” (Yahud), named after the exiles’ homeland in the Kingdom of Judah.
From the “Al-Yahudu Tablets”—a collection of Babylonian texts documenting Jewish life in Babylon, now housed in the Museum of the Land of the Bible in Jerusalem—we can understand the economic hardships exiles faced, including difficult farming conditions, Babylonian bureaucracy, and adaptation to their new surroundings.
The True Meaning of “Tel Aviv”
Assyriologists traced the true origin of the term “Tel Aviv.” While “Aviv” in Hebrew means “spring” (symbolizing renewal and prosperity), modern research has revealed that Ezekiel was not referring to a positive concept at all. Instead, he modified the Akkadian word “Abubu” (Abūbu), which means “flood” or “destruction.”
The word “Tel” (meaning “archaeological mound” or “heap of ruins” in Hebrew and Akkadian) means that “Tel Aviv” actually translates to “Mound of Ruins” or “Heap of Destruction.”
In fact, Assyrian inscriptions show that many Assyrian kings boasted about destroying their enemies’ cities and turning them into “Til Abūbu” (Til Abube)—meaning “mounds of desolation.”
Was There Ever a “Tel Aviv” in Babylon?
Recent studies suggest that “Tel Aviv” was never a city in the conventional sense but rather a small settlement near the “Great Canal” (Nar Kabari). Its approximate location was identified through a Babylonian document discovered in Ur, which is a debt contract from 510 BCE (the 11th year of Persian King Darius I’s reign). This document states that the debt was issued in a place called “Tel Aviv.”
By comparing these texts with biblical and Babylonian records, scholars pinpointed this village’s location in the agricultural lands on Babylon’s outskirts and reconstructed daily life there using the Al-Yahudu Tablets.
“Tel Aviv” as a Metaphor for Destruction
The phrase “Tel Aviv” in the biblical text is now understood as a linguistic metaphor derived from the Akkadian “Til Abube” rather than an actual settlement.
Thus, Ezekiel—like many exiles from Judah—lived in the Babylonian countryside in a region known as Tel Aviv near the Great Canal. However, since no direct mention of Ezekiel has been found in Babylonian records, researchers rely on the experiences of his Jewish contemporaries to reconstruct his life.
Conclusion: A New Understanding of Exile
The prophetic texts of Ezekiel are filled with Babylonian cultural references, reflecting his deep familiarity with his environment. Therefore, “Tel Aviv” was not a geographical location but a metaphor for the exiles’ devastation in Babylon.
Even though some Jews were resettled in agricultural villages, Ezekiel was part of the educated elite exiled with King Jehoiachin—suggesting he lived in an urban, administrative environment in Babylon rather than a rural settlement.
Thus, Tel Aviv was never a real city, neither in Babylon nor in Israel’s ancient past—it was a symbol of destruction and exile.
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