C. R. Cu.Ni)i:;i{.
BETH-EZEL (''SS? ~'?), Mic P'.— Perhaps ' place near,' .see AVm: mentioned with Zaanan and Shaphir. It .seems to have been a place in the Philistine plain, but the site is unknown. Accord- ing to some it is= Azel of Zee 14^
C. K. CONDKlt.
BETH-GADER (i^J p'3), 1 Ch -J", mentioned with lletliUlii III and Kiriath-jearim. It maybe' the same as (ieder, Jos 12".
BETH-GAMUL ('^I'^J r^'?), Jer 48"-3.— A place in Moab, noticed with Dibon, Kiriathaim, and Beth-meon. It is now the ruin Umm el-./emdl, towards the east of the plateau, south of Medeba — a site where a Xabaliean inscription was found by Warren, which may date about the 2nd cent. A.n.
C. H. Co.M)i:i:.
BETH-GILGAL (Neh 12™, AV ' house of (iiigal '), perhaps identical with Gilgal to the east of Jericho. See Gll.CAl,.
BETH-HACCHEREM (=^-: ^'3 'place of the vineyard'), Neh ;'.", .ler «'. It appears to have had a connnanding position for a beacon or ensign. Tradition fixed on Ilerodium south of Bethlehem, probably because it was a conspicuous site near Tekoa, with which it is noticed. A po.ssible site is 'Ain Kilrim west of Jerusalem, where there are vineyards. On the hill to the east are the remarkable stone cairns which stand above the valley of Uephaim. See 6' 117' vol. iii. sheet xvii. C I{. CiiNOKi:.
'i/Ti-'*-f s'r-rt'httrr'.* .*^on f
280
BETH-HAEA.M
BETH-JESHIMOTH
BETH-HARAM (ci.ri n-3, AV Beth-aram) was Bituated 'in the valley-plain of the Jordan '(Jos 13^). In Nu SS* Bethharan. Its site has been recovered at Tell R&meh at the mouth of the IVddy Heshb&n, 6 miles east from the familiar bathing- place of pilgrims in the Jordan. According to Tristram it retains its old name, and is still known as Beit-Harran (Land of Monb, p. 348). Eusebius de- scribes it as Betharamphtha. Jos. calls it Amathus (Ant. x\ai. X. 6). It was rebuilt and fortified by Herod Antipas when he became tetrarch, and in honour of the Roman empress was called Livias or Libias. Merrill (East of the Jordan, p. 383) gives good reasons for believing that it was in the palace here that Herod celebrated his birthday by the feast recorded (Mt 14»-", Mk &'-^), and that the Baptist's head was broaght hither from Machferus, some 20 miles south. A. Henderson.
BETH-HARAN (nu n-s), Nn 32".— See Bkth-
HARAM.
BETH-HOOLAH (n^jo b'3 'place of the part- ridge'), Jos 15' 18". In the Jericho plain. Now the large spring called 'Ain Hajlah, ' partridge spring,' south-east of Jericho. Close by is the monastery called ^asr Hajlah, occupied by Greek monks, but which in 1874 was still a fine mediaeval ruin, with frescoes of the 12th cent., since destroyed. See SWP vol. iii. sheet xviii. C. R. Condke.
BETH-HORON (I'n'irrn's 'place of caves'?).— In 1 Ch 7" RV we read that Sheerah, daughter of Ephraim, built 'Beth-horon, the nether and the upper, and Uzzen-Sheerah.' Her name possibly survives in Seit-Sira = Uzzen-Sheerah, and certainly the other two places ascribed to her still exist, with their old appellations but little changed. Their survival and their historical importance are due to their position.
From the valley of Aijalon three gorges break through the steep wall of the western front of the centra range of Palestine. The northernmost of these is the pass to El-Jib (Gibeon), up which, always the easiest approach from the west to the Jewish capital, a well-trodden path leads, in about fifty minntos, to Beit-Hr et-Tahta or Lower Beth-horon. It stands on a ridge, about 1240 ft. above the sea, with the remains of a castle near. Crossing a small wady, and mounting a long and steep ascent, rocky and rough, but with the rock in plaaes cut into steps, the traveller after an hour's climb reaches Beit-iir el-F6ka or Upper Beth-horon, which stands 1730 ft. above the sea, on a mountain epur with a deep valley both to north and south. ■The village is small, but exhibits traces of ancient walls and foundations, and to the east of it is a reservoir, apparently oi great antiquity.
So situated, the «.s could not fail to be con- nected with the march and retreat of armies. ' Throughout history we see hosts swarming up this avenue or swept down it in flight.' More than one memorable battle takes its name from B. (see below). Thrice the two towns were fortified —by Solomon (1 K 9", 2 Ch 8»), by the Sj;rian general Bacchides (1 Mac 9", Jos. Ant. xill. i. 3), and by the Jews against Holofemes (Jth 4'-*). It was by B. that Cestius Gallus advanced in the first onset of the Roman armies on Jerusalem, and down its gorge he was driven in rout by the in- surgent Jews (Jos. Wars, II. xLi. 1, 8). And B. saw the first Crusaders march to Jerusalem ; and saw Richard, in the third Crusade, in vain try to force a passage by the same route.
A further importance attached to the two towns as frontier posts. Both Upper and Nether Beth- horon were either on, or close to, the boundary between Benjamin and Ephraim, being reckoned
the possession of the latter tribe (Jos 16' IS**-" 21^2, 1 Ch &'^). After the rupture of the king- dom they naturally fell to Israel. The absence of mention of them in Ezra and Nehemiah may indi- cate that they did not form part of the Return settlement, though they must have been close on its frontier. If the designation of Sanballat ('th» Horonite') connects him with B. (and not rather with Horonaim), this would be conclusive of its dependence on Samaria. But under the Maccabees, about B.C. 161, we find B. described as 'a village of Judii-a' (Jos. Ant. xil. vii. 1), though it was not tUl sixteen years later that the district in which it lay was formally transferred by the Syrian monarch.