Mozah
Mozah (Heb. Motsah', מֹצָה, i.q. Moza, an issuing of water, but with the art.; Sept. Μωσά v.r. Α᾿μωσά, Α᾿μώκη),. a city of the tribe of Benjamin, mentioned between Chephirah and Rekem (Jos 18:26). A place of this name is mentioned by the rabbins (Mishna, Sukkah, 4:5) as situated ''below Jerusalem," at a spot whither the worshippers went down for the willow branches used at the feast of Tabernacles (Reland, Palest. page 903). To this the Gemara adds, "the place was a Colonia (קולניא), that is, exempt from the king's tribute" (Buxtorf, Lex. Tah. col. 2043), which other Talmudists reconcile with the original name by observing that Motsah signifies an outlet or liberation, e.g. from tribute. Bartenora, who lived at Jerusalem, and now lies in the "valley of Jehoshaphat" there, says (in Surenhusius's Mishna, 2:274) that Motsah was but a short distance from the city, and in his time retained its name of Colonia. Hence 'Schwarz infers (Palest. pages 127, 128) that the site is that of the modern Kulonieh, a village about three miles west of Jerusalem (Robinson, Res. 2:146), containing ancient walls (Scholz, Reise, page 161). "Interpreting the name according to its Hebrew derivation, it may signify 'the spring-head' — the place at which the water of a spring gushes out (Stanley, S. and P. App. § 52). The interpretations of the rabbins, just quoted, are not inconsistent with the name being really derived from its having been the seat of a Roman colonia. The only difficulty in the way of the identification is that Kulonieh can hardly be spoken of as 'below Jerusalem' — an expression which is most naturally interpreted of the ravine beneath the city, where the Bir Eyub is, and the royal gardens formerly were. Still there are vestiges of much vegetation about Kulonieh, and when the country was more generally cultivated and wooded, and the climate less arid than at present, the dry river-bed which the traveller now crosses may have flowed with water, and have formed a not unfavorable spot for the growth of willows. SEE CULON.
