Beth-Anath was mentioned in the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
as "one of the fenced cities that fell to the lot of
Naphtali
According to the Book of Genesis, Naphtali (; ) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Bilhah (Jacob's sixth son). He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Naphtali.
Some biblical commentators have suggested that the name ''Naphtali'' ma ...
(), and from which the
Canaanites
{{Cat main, Canaan
See also:
* :Ancient Israel and Judah
Ancient Levant
Hebrew Bible nations
Ancient Lebanon
0050
Ancient Syria
Wikipedia categories named after regions
0050
Phoenicia
Amarna Age civilizations ...
were not driven out ()."
[ W.L.A., in Kitto, 1862, p]
344
/ref>
Early history
Among the place names found in a list of Ramses II
Ramesses II ( egy, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is often regarded as t ...
, ''Beth-anath'' remains the only name that clearly refers to the Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
according to Judge
1:33
Beth-Anath has been translated to mean ''"temple of Anat
Anat (, ), Anatu, classically Anath (; uga, 𐎓𐎐𐎚 ''ʿnt''; he, עֲנָת ''ʿĂnāṯ''; ; el, Αναθ, translit=Anath; Egyptian: '' ꜥntjt'') was a goddess associated with warfare and hunting, best known from the Ugaritic texts. ...
"'', a Canaanite goddess linked to a Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ian predecessor called Ninhursag
, deity_of=Mother goddess, goddess of fertility, mountains, and rulers
, image= Mesopotamian - Cylinder Seal - Walters 42564 - Impression.jpg
, caption=Akkadian cylinder seal impression depicting a vegetation goddess, possibly Ninhursag, sitting ...
.[Naʼaman, 2005, p]
248
ff
Beth-Anath continued to be settled by the native Canaanites
{{Cat main, Canaan
See also:
* :Ancient Israel and Judah
Ancient Levant
Hebrew Bible nations
Ancient Lebanon
0050
Ancient Syria
Wikipedia categories named after regions
0050
Phoenicia
Amarna Age civilizations ...
, even after Israel's conquest of the land during the early Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
. The Zenon Papyri (mid 3rd-century BCE) mentions a certain estate belonging to Apollonius in Βαιτανατα (''Beth-anath''), a way-stop along the route traveled by the Zenon party as it passed through ancient Palestine. In the 2nd-century CE, Beth-Anath was considered a borderline village, inhabited by both Jews and Gentiles.
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...
, in his ''Onomasticon
Onomasticon may refer to:
*Onomasticon (Eusebius)
*Onomasticon of Amenope
*Onomasticon of Joan Coromines
*Onomasticon of Julius Pollux
*Onomasticon of Johann Glandorp
*''Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum
Onomasticon may refer to:
*Onomasticon (Eusebius ...
'', placed it from Dora (Tanturah), however this falls outside the territory of Naphtali.
Identification
Several places have been identified with Beth-Anath.
Aynata
Aynata in Lebanon was suggested by van de Velde in 1854, by W.M. Thomson William McClure Thomson (31 December 1806, in Springdale, Ohio – 8 April 1894, in Denver, Colorado) was an American Protestant missionary working in Ottoman Syria. After spending 25 years in the area he published a best-selling description of wha ...
in 1859,[Thomson, 1859, p]
315
/ref> and later Victor Guérin
Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Mino ...
to be the ancient site of Beth-Anath. The same view was held by historical geographer Georg Kampffmeyer (1892).
Bi'ina
Bi'ina in the Beit HaKerem Valley
Beit HaKerem Valley ( he, בקעת בית כרם), also known as al-Shaghur ( ar, الشاغور, al-Shāghūr), is a valley in the Galilee region in northern Israel.
The valley is the dividing feature between the Upper Galilee featuring relati ...
which divides Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee ( he, הגליל העליון, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; ar, الجليل الأعلى, ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period. It originally referred to a mountai ...
from the Lower Galilee The Lower Galilee (; ar, الجليل الأسفل, translit=Al Jalil Al Asfal) is a region within the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The Lower Galilee is bordered by the Jezreel Valley to the south; the Upper Galilee to t ...
was suggested by Ze'ev Safrai
Ze'ev Safrai ( he, זאב ספראי; born 1948, Jerusalem) is an Israeli Professor in the Department for Israel Studies in Bar Ilan University, as well as an author, lecturer and researcher of Israel in the Second Temple era . His main project is ...
as being the biblical Beth-Anath, a view that had been established long before him, by a host of archaeologists and historical geographers: W.F. Albright
William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891– September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars." ...
, (1921/1922
19–20
; Neubauer (186
235
ff.); Abel
Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepher ...
(1928, pp. 409–415; 1938: 266); Alt
Alt or ALT may refer to:
Abbreviations for words
* Alt account, an alternative online identity also known as a sock puppet account
* Alternate character, in online gaming
* Alternate route, type of highway designation
* Alternating group, mathema ...
(''PJB'' 22, 1926, pp. 55–ff.; 24, 1928, p. 87); Saarisalo ("Boundary", p. 189); Rafael Frankel, ''et al.'' (2001:136); Aviam (2004:53); Reeg (1989:72–73). The site dates back to the Iron Age. Initially, Albright thought that Beth-Anath might be ''Tell Belat'', but later changed his mind for the site at Bi'ina (''Dayr al Ba'ana''), based on the name given for the village in the Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...
(''Orlah
The prohibition on ''orlah'' fruit (lit. "uncircumcised" fruit) is a command found in the Bible not to eat fruit produced by a tree during the first three years after planting.
In rabbinical writings, the ''orlah'' prohibition (Hebrew: איס ...
'' 3:7), and which more closely resembles the site's present name.
Albright conjectured that the ancient site of Beth-Anath was probably situated at the mound of ''Jelamet el-Bi'ina'', less than a mile southeast of the present site of Bi'ina, a place surrounded by fertile fields. The word ''jelameh'', meaning "hill" or "mound," is sometimes employed instead of '' tell''. Israeli archaeologist Yoram Tsafrir
Yoram Tsafrir ( he, יורם צפריר; 30 January 1938 – 23 November 2015) was an Israeli archaeologist. His research has included the Byzantine influence on ancient synagogues, demography of Palestine in the Byzantine period, mosaics at Ho ...
remained undecided where to place Beth-anath, saying that it could have either been where is now Bi'ina, or where is now Bu'eine.[ Tsafrir, ''et al.'' (1994), p. 80]
Bu'eine Nujeidat
Tsafrir et al. suggested that Beth-Anath could be at Bu'eine Nujeidat, or Bi'ina.[
]
Hinah
Historical geographer Samuel Klein (1934:18–34 ) placed Beth-Anath in Hinah
Hinah (Arabic: حينة) is a Syrian village in the Qatana District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate
Rif Dimashq Governorate ( ar, محافظة ريف دمشق, ', literally, the "Governorate of the Countryside of Damascus", Damascus Suburb) is ...
, a town on the southeast side of Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the ...
. His view is supported by Grintz (1964:67), who cites Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
(''Antiquities'' 5.1.22) as corroborating Klein's view, insofar that Naphtali's territory is said to have extended as far as 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 the east.
Safad el-Battikh
Aharoni (1957:70-74) held the view that Beth-Anath was to be identified with '' Safed el-Battikh'', in the Bint Jbeil District
The Bint Jbeil District is a district in the Nabatiyeh Governorate of Lebanon. The capital of the district is Bint Jbeil.
Villages
The following 36 municipalities are all located in the Bint Jbeil District:
* Aynata
* Aayta Ech Chaab
* Aayta Ej ...
. Aharoni cites Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...
' ''Onomasticon
Onomasticon may refer to:
*Onomasticon (Eusebius)
*Onomasticon of Amenope
*Onomasticon of Joan Coromines
*Onomasticon of Julius Pollux
*Onomasticon of Johann Glandorp
*''Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum
Onomasticon may refer to:
*Onomasticon (Eusebius ...
'' and his mention of ''Batanaia'' being distant 15 miles from Caesarea, a place thought by Aharoni to refer to Cesarea Philippi (1957:73). According to him, this would put ''Batanaia'' (=Beth-Anath) in the vicinity of ''Safed el-Battikh''.
See also
* List of minor biblical places#Beth-anath
References
Bibliography
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External links
Jewish Encyclopedia (1906)
Beth-Anath
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beth-Anath
Ancient villages in Israel
Former populated places in Israel
Canaanite cities
Biblical geography
Hebrew Bible cities
Former populated places in Lebanon
Anat