12Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”
13But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. 14So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
15Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”
“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”
16So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. 17Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth. a
18After Jacob came from Paddan Aram, b he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. 19For a hundred pieces of silver, c he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. 20There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel. d
Genesis 33:12-20
George Ernest wright’s 1956 excavations of Tell Balatah at Shechem (modern Nablus) uncovered a courtyard temple complex appearing to be dated to MB IIA pre-dating the Midgol fortress temple unearthed by Ernst Sellin’s 1926-1927 digs constructed in MB IIB and in use until LB I, when it would be destroyed by violent conflagration. The MB IIA courtyard temple at Shechem is to be identified as the site of the Oak of Moreh where Jacob set up an altar to Elohim and Abraham has rested [Genesis 12:6]. Centuries later it was the gathering place for the Israelite Covenant ceremony where Joshua erected the sacred massebah. [Joshua 24:25-26]