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Yavne () is a city in the Central District of Israel. In 2022, it had a population of 56,232.
Modern Yavne was established in 1949. It is located near the ruins of the ancient town of Yibna (known also as Jamnia and Jabneh), later the village of Yibna, and today the archeological site of Tel Yavne. Ancient Yavne holds a special place in Jewish history because of the ancient town's contribution to Judaism's recovery and reconstitution under Tannaim ben Zakkai and Gamaliel II following the destruction of the Second Temple. This period, sometimes known as the "Yavne period", became a crucial mark in the development of Rabbinic Judaism. (2025). 9789004349865, Brill. ISBN 9789004349865 The city has a history of Winemaking throughout much of antiquity, as indicated by both archeological findings and ancient sources.
From excavations of the ancient tell (mound created by accumulation of archaeological remains) known as Tel Yavne (Hebrew), which developed on a natural kurkar hill, the area shows to have been inhabited continuously from either the Bronze or Iron Age until the British Mandate. During some periods, especially the Byzantine period, the settlement expanded to cover part of the plain and hills surrounding the tell.Raz Kletter, Irit Ziffer, Wolfgang Zwickel. "Yavneh I: The Excavation of the 'Temple Hill' Repository Pit and the Cult Stands." Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, Series Archaeologica (OBOSA), Book 30. Academic Press Fribourg, Switzerland () and Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen (). 2010. Pages 2-13 [2] Yavne is mentioned in the Bible and other ancient texts.
In Roman times, the city was known as Iamnia or Jamnia. It was bequeathed by King Herod upon his death to his sister Salome I. Upon her death it passed to Caesar Augustus, who ran it as a private imperial estate, a status retained for at least a century. After Salome's death, Iamnia came into the property of Livia, the future Roman empress, and then to her son Tiberius.
In the 40s AD, a dispute emerged in Jamnia when Gentiles constructed a mud-brick altar to the Emperor, provoking the local Jewish population. The Jews destroyed the altar, which they saw as desecration. This led the Gentiles to complain to Capito, the imperial revenue collector in Judaea, who reported the matter to Emperor Caligula. In retaliation, Caligula ordered a statue of himself as Jupiter to be placed in the Holy of Holies at the Temple of Jerusalem.
Iamnia played a role in several events during the First Jewish–Roman War. In 66 AD, the Roman tribune Neapolitanus met with King Agrippa II in Iamnia, to inform him of his mission to investigate the situation in Jerusalem, following Gessius Florus' seizure of Temple funds and clashes between Jews and Roman troops. Later, in spring 68 AD, after the Roman army under Vespasian quelled the insurrection in Galilee, the army marched upon Iamnia and Azotus, taking both towns and stationing garrisons within them.Josephus, The Jewish War 4.3.2 (4.130)
Following the failure of the revolt and the destruction of the Second Temple, Judaism underwent significant reform in Yavne. According to rabbinic tradition, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai and his disciples were permitted to settle in Iamnia during the outbreak of the war, after ben Zakkai, realizing that Jerusalem was about to fall, departed the city and sought the permission of Vespasian, commander of the Roman forces, to settle in Yavne and teach his disciples. Upon the fall of Jerusalem, his school functioned as a Sanhedrin.Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 56b It was also theorized for some time to have been the site of a supposed Council of Jamnia that established the rabbinic Jewish biblical canon (although current scholarship largely rejects the theory that such a council in fact occurred).
According to the Jerusalem Talmud ( Berakhot 1:4), when the rabbis argued over some fine point of Jewish law, a Divine voice (Hebrew: bat ḳol) was heard in Yavne, ruling in favor of the School of Hillel. To counter a perceived threat to rabbinical authority, the Talmud states that Shmuel ha-Katan of Yavne enacted the "Birkat haMinim" in the Amidah, i.e., the benediction against apostates and heretics (Hebrew: minim).; cf. Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 28b
During the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, residents of Zarnuqa sought refuge in Yibna, but left after the villagers accused them of being traitors.
On 27 May, following the fall of Al-Qubayba and Zarnuqa, most of the population of Yibna fled to Isdud, but armed males were refused entry. On 5 June, when Israeli troops arrived, they found the village almost deserted apart from a few old people who were ordered to leave.
In the 1930s, a plan was proposed to rebuild the ancient Talmudic academy founded by Yochanan Ben Zakkai. In 1941, an agreement was reached between the Jewish National Fund and the Mizrachi/Hapoel Mizrachi movements, allocating five hundred dunams in Yavne area for a yeshiva. In 1948, the building was used as a forward post by Yigal Alon, commander of the southern front, because of its commanding view of the coastal plain. Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh
The 1980 edition of a guidebook published in Jerusalem describes Yavne as home to Israel's first atomic reactor, an image of which appeared on a 0.50 Shekel stamp.Zev Vilnay (First edition 1955) Israel Guide. Daf-Chen Press Ltd, Jerusalem. Twenty-second edition - 1980. p.254
When Mayor Meir Sheetrit assumed office in 1974, the city became a low-density suburban satellite of Tel Aviv with new construction targeting middle-class families. Yavne achieved city status in 1986. By the mid-1990s, the population had risen to 25,600.
In 2012 a new green neighborhood "Neot Rabin" was inaugurated in the south of the city.
Omri Casspi, the first Israeli to play in the National Basketball Association, grew up in the city and played for some of its teams. Casspi is ready for primetime
In December 2019, a large number of pottery kilns and 1,200-year-old gold coins which may have been a Palestinian potter's "piggy bank" were unearthed in a by the Israeli Antiquities Authority. According to archaeologist Robert Kool, the coins date back to the early Abbasid period, about 9th century CE. One of the seven coins was minted by Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786–809 CE). "These are gold dinars issued by the Aghlabids that ruled in North Africa. Without a doubt this is a wonderful Hanukkah present for us," said Kool. In August 2020, Israeli archaeologists discovered 425 complete gold coins, most dating to the Abbasid period around 1,100 years ago. In April 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of a 1,600-year-old multicolored mosaic dated back to the Byzantine Empire in an industrial area. According to IAA archaeologist Elie Haddad, it was the first time that excavators revealed a colored mosaic floor in Yavne.
The ancient harbour of Yavne, Yavne-Yam (in Arabic Minet Rubin) was identified on the coast. Excavations have revealed fortification going back to the Bronze Age Hyksos. It was in use from the Middle Bronze Age until the 12th century CE, when it was abandoned. refers to the burning of the harbour and its fleet on the direction of Judas Maccabeus.
In 2022, a sling bullet was discovered with the Greek inscription "Victory of Heracles and Hauronas", the two gods were the patrons of the city during the Hellenistic period. 2,200-year-old Greek sling bullet discovered in Israel
Demography
According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), in 2021 the ethnic makeup of the city was 99 percent Israeli Jews and others, without significant Arab population. As of March 2021 the city numbered 53,595 persons, with a high percentage of young people: 37% of the population was in the 0–19 age group and 71% of the total population was younger than 44.
Economy
Major companies based in Yavne include Ormat Industries, Aeronautics Defense Systems, Avisar and Orbotech.
In 2019, Merck Group established an incubator in Yavne with a budget of about €20 million over three years that will invest in startups focusing on semiconductor and display crystal technologies. In 2022 Recipharm established a new facility in Yavne. MediWound manufactures NexoBrid in Yavne, a unique product for the treatment of severe burns. "Innovative treatment helps family severely burned when Hamas set their home on fire". Renee Ghert-Zand for The Times of Israel, 19 Jan 2024 (posted & retrieved). It allows saving affected tissue which would otherwise need to be removed, leading to less amputations of hands and feet. Many October 7, 2023 victims have benefitted from it, with the US also buying $20 million worth of NexoBrid for its strategic national stockpile.
Sports
Maccabi Yavne is the city's major football club. During the 1980s the club played in the top division and in 1985 won the Toto Cup. Today they are in Liga Leumit. The basketball team, Elitzur Yavne, have also played in the Liga Leumit (basketball) since 2007.
Archaeology
Tel Yavne was first excavated in 2005 in a dig headed by Dan Bahat, who unearthed the gate room of the Crusader castle of Ibelin, as well as a vault destroyed with gunpowder by the Mamluk Egypt and deeply embedded Crusader walls east of it, all at or around the top of the tell.Fischer and Taxel (2007), p.254
Notable people
Sister cities
Yavne is twinned with:
See also
External links
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