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 traditionally identified as the location of Livias.[1] The team recently excavating at Tell el-Hammam however, is proposing that Tell er-Rameh was the commercial and residential centre of Livias, while the administrative centre was located at Tall el-Hammam.[2]

Tell er-Rameh
Tell er-Rameh
Tell er-Rameh is located in Jordan
Tell er-Rameh
Shown within Jordan
Alternative nameTell/Tall el/er-Ramah/Rameh/Rama
LocationJordan
RegionAmman Governorate
Coordinates31°49′32″N 35°38′40″E
History
CulturesRoman Age, Byzantine, Umayyad

Etymology

According to Vailhé and Abel the modern name er-Rameh may have derived from the ancient names of Βηθαραμθα (Betharamtha), which is what Josephus indicates was the name for Livias[3] Dvorjetski believes that the modern name er-Rameh is derived from Wadi er-Rameh.[4]

Identification

Regarding the name evolution from biblical Beth-haram through the Roman-period Livias/Julias to Arabic Tell er-Rameh, Nelson Glueck states that:

"the equation of Beth-haram, Beth-ramtha, Beit er-Ram, Beit Ramah, Tell er-Rameh with Livias (Julias), . . . is undoubtedly correct. It does not prove, however, that Tell er-Rameh is to be identified with the actual site of ancient Biblical Beth-haram. . . An examination of the pottery of Tell er-Rameh proves that this identification cannot possibly be correct."[2][5]

Graves & Stripling propose that, while Tell er-Rameh was the commercial and residential centre of Livias, the administrative centre was situated at nearby Tall el-Hammam.[2] Tell er-Rameh had no natural water source, and some have argued that it received its water from the hot springs at Tall el-Hammam.[6] Dvorjetski identified Tell er-Rameh with Livias based on the presence of "pottery or mosaic stone cubes from the Byzantine and early Islamic eras."[7]

See also

References
    • Jastrow, M. and Buhl, F. "Beth–Aram" The Jewish Encyclopedia (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1901) 119.
    • S. Vailhé, "Livias." in M. Anello (tran), The Catholic Encyclopedia. (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910), 9:315.
    • W. F. Albright, The Jordan valley in the Bronze Age. (Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 1924), 6:49.
    • Nelson Glueck, "Some ancient towns in the plains of Moab." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 91 (1943), 11.
    • H. Donner and H. Cüppers, Die Restauration und Konservierung der Mosaikkarte von Madeba. Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 83 (1967), 22.
    • C. F. Keil, and F. Delitzsch, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I & II Samuel Trans. J. Martin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), 143.
    • Prag, Kay. "A walk in the Wadi Hesban." Palestine Exploration Quarterly (1991), 60-61.
    • Herbert Donner, The Mosaic Map of Madaba. An Introductory Guide, Palaestina Antiqua 7 (Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1992), 39.
    • Dvorjetski, Esti (2007). Leisure, Pleasure, and Healing: Spa Culture and Medicine in Ancient Eastern Mediterranean. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism. Vol. 116. Leiden: Brill. p. 202. ISBN 978-9004156814. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  2. Graves, David E.; Stripling, Scott (2011). "Re-Examination of the Location for the Ancient City of Livias". Levant. 43 (2): 178–200. doi:10.1179/175638011X13112549593122. S2CID 162399714.
  3. Josephus A.J. 18.27; 14.1.4: "Betharamphtha...called it Julias", "Hyrcanus promised [Aretas] those twelve cities..., Medaba, Naballo, Libias..."
  4. Dvorjetski (2007), p. 208.
  5. Glueck, Nelson (1951). Explorations in Eastern Palestine. Vol. IV. Part 1. New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research. p. 391.
  6. Abel, Félix-Marie (1938). Géographie de la Palestine. I–II. Paris: Gabalda. p. 1:459.
  7. Dvorjetski (2007), p. 202.
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