Ataroth ( ''‘Ǎṭārōṯ'') is the name of two or three Iron Age cities mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the

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

Etymology

Atarot(h) may mean "crowns" or "cattle pens" in Hebrew.

Mesha Stele

The Mesha Stele from about 840 BC was erected commemorating Mesha's victory over the "son" of Omri, but he fails to say which one. He states that he massacred all the Israelites at Ataroth as satisfaction for the blood lust of

Chemosh Chemosh ( Moabite: 𐤊𐤌𐤔 ''Kamāš''; he, כְּמוֹשׁ ''Kəmōš'' ; Eblaite: 𒅗𒈪𒅖 ''Kamiš'', Akkadian: 𒅗𒄠𒈲 ''Kâmuš'') was the god of the Moabites. He is most notably attested in the Mesha Stele and the Hebrew ...

and

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 ...

. He adds that he captured Nebo (Ataroth) and killed everybody, 7,000 men, boys, women, girls, and maidens, because he had dedicated it to the goddess Ashtar-Chemosh.

Hebrew Bible and identification

In the Hebrew Bible, the name Ataroth refers to one of two or perhaps three towns: # A town east of the Jordan in Gilead, mentioned in Numbers, & , in the territory of the Tribe of Gad. Ataroth lay within the tribal allotment of

Reuben Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugue ...

, but was built up by the Gadites during the period of Israelite conquest. This is very probably Khirbat Ataruz,
/ref> north of Wadi Heidan. The

(Moabite Stone) is likely referring to this town. # A town west of the Jordan, mentioned in Book of Joshua, Joshua, , which describes the southern border of the children of Joseph (the tribes of

Ephraim Ephraim (; he, ''ʾEp̄rayīm'', in pausa: ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath. Asenath was an Ancient Egyptian woman whom Pharaoh gave to Joseph as wife, and the daughte ...

and Manasseh). This southern border of Joseph would also be the southern border of Ephraim within Joseph, and also be the northern border of

Benjamin Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...

. This Ataroth may be the same as Ataroth-Addar, mentioned in Joshua, , in a description of the border of Benjamin. A possible location is

'Atara Atara ( ar, عطارة ''Atâra'') is a Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located 15 kilometers north of Ramallah in the central West Bank. A village of nearly 2,300 inhabitants, it is situated along a mountain ridge l ...

, south of al-Bireh in the West Bank. Another is Khirbet ed-Darieh. # A town west of the Jordan, possibly the same as above, mentioned in Joshua, {{bibleverse-nb, , Joshua, 16:7, HE, which gives the borders of Ephraim within Joseph.

Notes

Hebrew Bible cities Tribe of Reuben Omrides Gilead