page_title: Tuqu'
section_title: Archaeology of Khirbet Teku'a
hierarchical_section_title: Tuqu' / Archaeology of Khirbet Teku'a
caption_attribution_description: Views from Herodion (Herodyon, Herodium) - Tekoa, behind Tekoa on the right is Khirbet al-Deir and in the center left is Tuqu'. מבט מהרודיון - תקוע
context_page_description: Tuquʿ is a Palestinian town in the Bethlehem Governorate, located 12 km southeast of Bethlehem in the West Bank. The town is built adjacent to the biblical site of Tekoa, now Khirbet Tuqu’, from which it takes its name. Today's town includes three other localities: Khirbet Ad Deir, Al Halkoom, and Khirbet Tuqu’. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Tuqu' had a population of 8,881 in 2007.
  The town is a part of the 'Arab al-Ta'amira village cluster, along with Za'atara, Beit Ta'mir, Hindaza, Khirbet al-Deir and al-Asakra. Tuqu has a municipal jurisdiction of over 191,262 dunams, but its built-up area consists of 590 dunams, as 98.5% of the village's land was classified as Area C, and 1.5% as Area B in the 1995 accordss. Situated in the immediate vicinity is the modern Israeli settlement of Tekoa, established in 1975 as a military outpost.
context_section_description: Tekoa, the town known from the Hebrew Bible and other classical ancient sources, has been identified with Khirbet Tekua ("ruins of Tekua"), c. 5 miles (8 km) south of Bethlehem, also spelled Khirbet al-Tuq'u. The site is located about two kilometers east of modern Tuqu'.
  Various ruins were seen at the site in the mid-19th century. These included the walls of houses, cisterns, broken columns and heaps of building stones, some of which had "bevelled edges" which supposedly indicated ancient Jewish origin.
caption: General view of the vicinity. The Israeli settlement of Tekoa is situated in the front, while Tuqu' is seen directly behind and the left of the settlement. To the right is the village of Khirbet al-Deir, part of the Tuqu' municipality.
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