Ramoth

views updated

RAMOTH

RAMOTH (Heb. רָאמוֹת), Levitical city in the territory of Issachar (i Chron. 6:58), called Jarmuth in one of the lists apportioning territory to the Levites (Josh. 21:29). In the city list of Issachar, the town is called Remeth (Josh. 19:21). It seems to have been the center of the mountainous district of Yarmutu, which was inhabited by Ḫabiru even before the Israelite conquest; Seti i, in one of his stelae found at Beth-Shean, describes his victory over them in approximately 1300 b.c.e. The suggested identification is with Kokhav ha-Yarden (Ar. Kawkab al-Hawā, the Crusader "Belvoir"), a dominating height (895 ft., 275 m.) overlooking the Jordan Valley; it is possibly identical with the fortress of *Agrippina. The topographical position of the site justifies the name Ramoth ("the Heights").

bibliography:

Abel, Geog, 2 (1938), 435; Aharoni, Land, index.

[Michael Avi-Yonah]