Maktesh

Maktesh (meaning mortar) was a district in or near Jerusalem mentioned in Zephaniah 1:11 in the prophet's oracle of judgment: "Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar (Maktesh)! For all the traders are no more; all who weigh out silver are cut off." The name's meaning suggests a bowl-shaped hollow or depression in the terrain, and the verse identifies it as a commercial district where merchants and money-changers conducted business. Some commentators locate it in the Tyropoeon Valley within Jerusalem; others suggest the Kidron Valley or an area outside the city walls to the north.

The reference gives Zephaniah's oracle historical concreteness, naming a specific quarter of Jerusalem whose prosperity was about to be stripped away in the coming day of the LORD. The commercial character of the Maktesh — silver-weighing traders — makes the judgment particularly pointed: the wealth and business activity that marked the district would be silenced.