Bethharan, Betharan or Beth Haran (for he, בית הרן), also Betharam or Beth-Aram (for Hebrew ; no linguistic relation to ''
Aram''), was a
Hebrew Bible city, in the valley-plain east of the
Jordan River
The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...
. In the
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua ( he, סֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ ', Tiberian: ''Sēp̄er Yŏhōšūaʿ'') is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Isra ...
, a city called "Betharam" is listed as one of the cities allotted by
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
to
Gad (), previously belonging to
Sihon the
Amorite. According to the
Book of Numbers, "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
Herod Antipas ( el, Ἡρῴδης Ἀντίπας, ''Hērǭdēs Antipas''; born before 20 BC – died after 39 AD), was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter") and is referred to as both "H ...
, the
tetrarch of
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 ...
and
Perea, who named it
Livias in honor of
Livia
Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – 28 September AD 29) was a Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Roman emperor, Emperor Augustus Caesar. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption in ancient Rome, adoption into the J ...
, the wife of the Roman emperor
Augustus. As she was later called Julia, the 1st-century Jewish historian
Josephus speaks of the city as Julias. Having been burnt at the
fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, it was restored by the
Christians and became a bishopric.
Identification
The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 stated that the site used to be "identified by some with
Tell er-Rameh, six miles east of the Jordan, by others with
Beit Harran" (the latter seems to be a mistranscription of the 1913 article)..
The team recently excavating
Tell el-Hammam identifies both biblical Bethharan and classical
Livias with their own excavation site.
References
{{Authority control
Hebrew Bible cities
Torah cities
Former populated places in Jordan
Livias