Place Old Testament
Mortar
Also known as Mortar =ESV; Maktesh =KJV; market district =NIV
The Mortar was a district or valley in or near Jerusalem, mentioned in Zephaniah's prophecy. Mentioned once in Scripture, at Zephaniah 1:11.
Why it matters. A district or valley in or near Jerusalem
- Primary passages
- Location
- 31.777, 35.235 (approximate, within about 2 km)
Coordinates from STEPBible TIPNR (palopenmaps.org link). Approximate; not independently verified.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Mortar
The Mortar (Hebrew: maktesh) was a district or valley in or near Jerusalem, mentioned in Zephaniah's prophecy (Zeph. 1:11). The exact location is uncertain, but it may have been an area where merchants and traders conducted their business. Zephaniah prophesied that the people of the Mortar would cry out because of the destruction that would come upon them due to their sins.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.
Zephaniah (1 verse)