So i get that Salem means peace in some Semitic languages, Shalom from herbrew, and As-salamu alaykum from arabic, are two things i hear a lot.
The Witch Trials happened in a place called Salem, Abraham Lincoln spent much of his early years in another place called Salem. It seems to be one of the worlds most common place names.
I also get that its some biblical township, but what was it?? why is it so significant?? What is its accepted history if any? is it entirely Biblical?
haha, i just want the lowdown on Salem i guess
There are two particular bible verses that refer to a place called Salem-
Psalm 76:2 (http://biblehub.com/psalms/76-2.htm) and Gensis 14:18 (http://biblehub.com/genesis/14-18.htm)
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_%28Bible%29) also makes the argument that Genesis 33:18 refers to a place which may be Salem, but for whatever reason is read as "Shalem" of the Canaan region "Shechem" which involves a city Jacob would visit.
Modern day Salim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salim,_Nablus yeah yeah, it is Wikipedia but I just want to give context) does correspond with the location described in Genesis 33, which also happens to be near the place where John the Baptist did his ministries.
Though it is possible someone naming their city Salem named it after another Salem, it is most likely that most or all Salems draw their namesake from the biblical passages. In the case of my native Salem, Oregon, the potential sources are from the last five letters of the city Jerusalem, the anglicized version of the word "Shalome", or Salem, Massachusetts.