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

, 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

' ''

'' 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''.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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