Bethharan, Betharan or Beth Haran (for he, בית הרן), also Betharam or Beth-Aram (for Hebrew ; no linguistic relation to ''

Aram Aram may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Aram'' (film), 2002 French action drama * Aram, a fictional character in Japanese manga series '' MeruPuri'' * Aram Quartet, an Italian music group * ''Aram'' (Kural book), the first of the three ...

''), was a

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Jordan River. In the Book of Joshua, a city called "Betharam" is listed as one of the cities allotted by Moses to Gad (), previously belonging to

Sihon Sihon was an Amorite king mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, who refused to let the Israelites pass through his country. Biblical accounts The Book of Numbers recounts that as the Israelites making their Exodus journey came to the country east of th ...

the

Amorite The Amorites (; sux, 𒈥𒌅, MAR.TU; Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝 or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 ; he, אֱמוֹרִי, 'Ĕmōrī; grc, Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking people from the Levant who also occupied la ...

. According to the

Book of Numbers The book of Numbers (from Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi''; he, בְּמִדְבַּר, ''Bəmīḏbar'', "In the desert f) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and c ...

, "Betharan" was rebuilt by the tribe of Gad ().

Classical-period city

Later, it is called , ( grc, Βηθαραμφθᾶ - ). In the 1st century AD it was fortified by Herod Antipas, the

tetrarch Tetrarch, Tetrarchs, or Tetrarchy may refer to: * Tetrarchy, the four co-emperors of the Roman Empire instituted by the Emperor Diocletian * Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs - a sculpture of the four co-emperors of the Roman Empire * Herodian Tetrarc ...

of Galilee and

Perea Perea or Peraea (Greek: Περαία, " the country beyond") was the portion of the kingdom of Herod the Great occupying the eastern side of the Jordan River valley, from about one third the way down the Jordan River segment connecting the Sea ...

, who named it

Livias Livias was a city in Transjordan in Classical Antiquity. In the writings of Josephus (English translation), the name is presented as Julias. Numerous authors have presented a chain of evidence connecting ''Beth-Haram'' from the Book of Joshua ( ...

in honor of Livia, the wife of the Roman emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

. As she was later called Julia, the 1st-century Jewish historian

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 ...

speaks of the city as Julias. Having been burnt at the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, it was restored by the

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

and became a bishopric.

Identification

The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 stated that the site used to be "identified by some with

Tell er-Rameh Tell er-Rameh or Tall el-Rama is a small mound in Jordan rising in the plain east of the River Jordan, about twelve miles from Jericho. It presently has a Muslim cemetery on the acropolis that prevents it from being excavated. It has been tradit ...

, six miles east of the Jordan, by others with

Beit Harran A Beit (also spelled bait, ar, بيت , literally "a house") is a metrical unit of Arabic, Iranian, Urdu and Sindhi poetry. It corresponds to a line, though sometimes improperly renderered as " couplet" since each ''beit'' is divided int ...

" (the latter seems to be a mistranscription of the 1913 article).. The team recently excavating

Tell el-Hammam Tell el-Hammam (also Tall al-Hammam) is an archaeological site in Jordan, in the eastern part of the lower Jordan Valley close to the mouth of the Jordan River. The site has substantial remains from the Chalcolithic, Early, Intermediate and M ...

identifies both biblical Bethharan and classical

with their own excavation site.

References

{{Authority control Hebrew Bible cities Torah cities Former populated places in Jordan Livias