- Bethoron
Bethoron (also transliterated Beth-Horon) was the name for two adjacent towns, Bethoron Elyon ("Upper Bethoron"), and Bethoron Tahton ("Lower Bethoron"), named for the Egypto-
Canaanite deity "Horon" mentioned inUgarit ic literature and other texts.cite web|title=Bethoron (Bayt Ur)|author=Eugenio Alliata|publisher=Studium Biblicum Franciscanum|date=2000-12-19|accessdate=2007-09-12|url=http://198.62.75.1/www1/ofm/mad/discussion/062discuss.html] cite journal|title=The Egypt-Canaanite God Haurôn|author=William Albright|journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|volume=No. 84|date=December 1941|pages=7–12|url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-097X(194112)84%3C7%3ATEDH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1] cite journal|title=The Canaanite God Horon|author=John Gray|journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies|volume=Vol. 8, No. 1|date=January 1949|pages=27–34|accessdate=2007-09-12|url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-2968(194901)8%3A1%3C27%3ATCGH%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1 ] Strategically located on theGibeon -Aijalon road, the towns guarded the important "ascent of Beth-Horon." Both towns are mentioned in theOld Testament : Upper Bethoron in "Joshua" sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Joshua|chapter=16|verse=5|nobook= and Lower Bethoron in sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Joshua|chapter=16|verse=3|nobook=. According to "1 Chronicles" sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=1 Chronicles|chapter=7|verse=24|nobook=, Lower Bethoron was built by Sheerah, the daughter ofBeriah , son ofEphraim .Eusebius ' "Onomasticon" also mentions the 'twin villages' andSt. Jerome describes them as 'little hamlets' which it seems they have always been.The two
Palestinian Muslim villages of "Beit Ur al-Foqa"Alternate English transliterations use "Bayt" for "Beit", "Ur" for "Ur", "el" for "al" and "Fauqa", "Fawka" for, "Foqa", and in any combination thereof.] ( _ar. بيت عور الفوقة, "Upper house of straw") and "Beit Ur al-Tahta "Alternate English transliterations for "al-Tahta" include "et-Tahta", "el-Tahta", and "at-Tahta".] ( _ar. بيت عور التحتى, "Lower house of straw") preserve part of the original Canaanite name for the towns, and have been identified as the sites of Upper and Lower Bethoron. Archaeological finds indicate that the Lower town was established before the Upper one;potsherd s from the LateBronze Age onward were discovered at Lower Beit Ur, whereas those in Upper Beit Ur date only from theIron Age onward.An
Israeli settlement namedBeit Horon ( _he. בית חורון) was founded in1977 on a site adjacent to the two towns.History
From
Egypt ian sources (Muller, "As. und Europa", etc.) it appears that Bethoron was one of the places conquered byShishak of Egypt fromRehoboam .Biblical
The borderline between Benjamin and Ephraim passed alongside the two Bethorons ("Joshua" 16:5; 21:22) who belonged to the latter tribe and therefore, later on, to the Northern Kingdom.
Solomon "built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, fortified cities, with walls, gates, and bars" ("2 Chronicles" 8:5; "1 Kings" 9:17). One or both of the towns was a city ofLevite s (Josh. 21:22; I Chron. 6:53).Again, many centuries later, Bacchides repaired Beth-horon, "with high walls, with gates and with bars and in them he set a
garrison , that they might work malice upon ("vex") Israel" ("1 Macc." 9:50,51), and at another time the Jews fortified it againstHolofernes ("Judith" 4:4,5).Pass of the Bethorons
When ("Joshua" 10:10)
Joshua discomfited the kings of theAmorite s "he slew them with a great slaughter atGibeon , and chased them by the way of the 'Ascent of Beth-horon.'" When thePhilistines opposed KingSaul atMichmash they sent a company of their men to hold "the way of Beth-horon."This pass ascends from the plain of
Ajalon (now Yalo) and climbs in about 3/4 hr. to Beit Ur al Tahta (1,210 ft.); it then ascends along the ridge, with valleys lying to north and south, and reaches Beit Ur al-Foqa (2,022 ft.), and pursuing the same ridge arrives in another 4 1/2 miles at the plateau to the north of al-Jib (Gibeon). At intervals along this historic route, traces of the ancient Roman paving are visible. The great highroad into the heart of the land from the earliest times, along this route cameCanaan ites, Israelites, Philistines, Egyptians,Syria ns, Romans,Saracen s andCrusade rs. Since the days of Joshua ("Joshua" 10:10) it has frequently been the scene of a rout. Here theSyria n general Seron was defeated byJudas Maccabeus ("1 Macc." 3:13-24) at theBattle of Beth Horon , and six years later Nicanor, retreating fromJerusalem , was defeated and slain and the nearbyAdasa . ("1 Macc." 7:39;Josephus , "Ant." XII, x, 5). Along this pass in66 AD the Roman generalCestius Gallus was driven in headlong flight before the Jews.A 1915 reference to the road by the
Palestine Exploration Fund (III, 86, Sh XVII) noted that the changed direction of the highroad to Jerusalem had left the route "forsaken" and "almost forgotten". The modern Highway 443 follows part of the ancient road.References
Books
*Masterman, E. W. G. (1915). [http://studylight.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T1415 BETH-HORON] . "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". Eds. Orr, James, M.A., D.D. Retrieved
December 9 ,2005 .External links
*Report by Yuval Peleg for the
Israeli Antiquities Authority on [http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.asp?id=63&mag_id=108 the discovery of a burial cave in Beit 'Ur al-Tahta]
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