Associates for Biblical Research/David Livingston

Hikers emerge from a narrow pass leading down to the Wadi Suweinit. The pass, almost a mile below Khirbet Nisya, may be the Shebarim (literally, “breaks”) referred to in Joshua 7:5. According to the Biblical account, Joshua sent 3,000 men to attack Ai. Routed, Joshua’s force “fled before the men of Ai, and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six men … and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and slew them at the descent” (Joshua 7:4–5). A second attack on Ai proved more successful.