Aroer ( he, עֲרוֹעֵר, עֲרֹעֵר) is a biblical town on the north bank of the

River Arnon Wadi Mujib ( ar, وادي الموجب, ''Wadi el-Mujib''), also known as Arnon Stream (Hebrew: נַחַל ארנון), is a river in Jordan. The river empties into the Dead Sea circa below sea level. Today, Wadi Mujib is fed by seven tributa ...

to the east of the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...

, in present-day Jordan. The town was an ancient

Moab Moab ''Mōáb''; Assyrian: 𒈬𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Mu'abâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Ma'bâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒀊 ''Ma'ab''; Egyptian: 𓈗𓇋𓃀𓅱𓈉 ''Mū'ībū'', name=, group= () is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territo ...

ite settlement, and is mentioned in the Bible. Aroer is identified with the modern village of ' Ara'ir in Jordan.

Aroer on the Arnon

Location

Henry Baker Tristram suggested that "Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon" () is the place of modern 'Ara'ir on the north bank of the Wadi Mujib ravine, the biblical Arnon stream, about from the mouth of the river. The city was still standing in the time of Eusebius. This place was usually described by its situation, in order to distinguish it from other localities of the same name.

Biblical mentions

It appears first as having been captured from

by the Amorite king Sihon. After the Israelite attack on the Amorites, it was assigned as part of the territory of the tribe of Reuben, whose southern frontier it marked. This is the city mentioned in , with the southern towns, as having been built by the Tribe of Gad before the Tribal allotments of Israel. When Hazael of Aram Damascus took the Transjordan territory from the

Kingdom of Israel The Kingdom of Israel may refer to any of the historical kingdoms of ancient Israel, including: Fully independent (c. 564 years) * Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy) (1047–931 BCE), the legendary kingdom established by the Israelites and uniti ...

, Aroer is given as its southern limit. It is clear, from , that the Moabites ultimately recovered it from Israel. In , an Adadah is mentioned. According to Cheyne and Black, arguing partially on the basis of a Septuagint reading of ''Arouel,'' this Adadah may in fact be the result of a scribal error, with the text originally reading ''Ararah'', meaning Aroer. According to a prophecy in the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

, "the cities of Aroer" will become forsaken; however, the Septuagint relates this verse to

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

in Syria, translating as "deserted for ever" (see Isaiah 17:2).Benson Commentary
on Isaiah 17, accessed 31 March 2018

Archaeology

In the

Mesha inscription The Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, is a stele dated around 840 BCE containing a significant Canaanite inscription in the name of King Mesha of Moab (a kingdom located in modern Jordan). Mesha tells how Chemosh, the god of Moab, ...

, line 26, it is mentioned as having been built by the Moabites.

References and sources

;References ;Sources
Aroer, Jewish Encyclopædia

External Links

Photos of Ara'ir
at the

American Center of Research The American Center of Research (ACOR) is a private, not-for-profit scholarly and educational organization. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, with a facility in Amman, Jordan, ACOR promotes knowledge of Jordan and the interconnected region, past and ...

{{coord, 31.4672, N, 35.5633, E, source:wikidata, display=title Moab Torah cities Archaeological sites in Jordan