Of otiier, less probable identifications, the follow- ing may be mentioned : —
(1) Ramleh. Tlie traveller of to-day, as he journeys through the Maritime Plain from Joppa to Jerusalem, is assured by his dragoman, when he reaches Ramleh (12 m. S.E. of Joppa, 2 m. S.W. of Lydda), that this is the Arimathsea of tha Gospels. As Robinson {BRP ii. 234-41) shows at length, there is no ground for this identification. Ramleh is no ancient city ; it was buUt by Suleiman, after he had destroyed Lydda, in the 8th cent. A.D. ; and it is first mentioned (aco. to Robinson, p. 234) in 870 (under the form Ramitla) by the monk Bernard. The name Ramleh signifies sand; and lias no etymological connexion what- ever with Ramah, high. Ramleh is also in the Maritime Plain, not, like Ramathaim, in the ' hill-country' of Ephraim.
(2) Neby Samwil, the commanding and con- spicuous eminence (2935 ft. ) above Gibeon, i\ m. N.W. of Jerusalem. Procopius (c. 560) men- tions a monastery of ' Si . Samuel ' in Palestine (though without indicating its site); and in the Crusaders' time a church of ' St. Samuel ' was built (A.D. 1157) at Neby Samwil, which, with Moslem additions (including a minaret), remains, though partlj' in a ruined state, to the present day ; close by, and once probably in the nave of the church, is the cenotaph of the prophet, now a Moslem wely (cf. Robinson, BRP i. 450 f. ; SP 2\i i.; Jent.\Vork,2o^i. ; PEP Mem. iii. 12 f., 149- 152, with views). The Ramah of Samuel was identi- fied, at least provisionally, with Neby Samwil by Mr. (afterwards Sir G.) Grove (in Smith's Dli). The liradition connecting the place with Samuel is, however, very late ; and Neby Samwil is mu<:li more probably Mizpeh (Rob. i. 460 ; HGUL 120 ; Buhl, 167 f.).
(3) Other identiUcations that have been proposed are SOba, 30 an elevated conitral hill, 5 m. W. of Jerusiilem (Itiil)inson, it 7-10) ; the Frankenbcrg, or Jebel Fureidis, the ancient Her- odium, 4 m. S.E, of Bethlehem (Oes. Th6«. 1276*) ; er-lt:un, said
• Lydda, as Robinson, BliP ii. 240, obsen'ea, though 11 milel from Joppa, is said in Ac 93s to be ' near ' to it
t Elsewhere, however (146, 25 1. ; 2S3, 11 f.), Eua and Jcrom* identify Arimatha^a with a "PifA^te or Remfthis, also i* ipitd ^torrikittf, — supposed to be the village :i ?tantieb, 6 m. M. of Lydda.
KAMATHAIM
RANGE
199
to be a little N. of Beth-lehem, and E. of the so-called ' Rachel'a tomb,' but not known to Rob. (ii. 8 n.) or marked on the J'Kh^ map(Bonar, Land of HroinUe, 114); Rainel el-Ivbatil, I m. N. oi lIel)ron (van de Velde, Syr. and Pal, ii. 5U); and the two hei-lils (• Riunatliuim ') of 'Ah'a (2900 ft.) and Birch (2!l80 ft.), < m. W.S.W. of Beth-lehem — the latter \ m. S. of the fonner, out without a name on the PEF mop (Schick, PKFSi, 1898, p. IBf., with map). But it is incredible that any of tlicse places can have been reu'arded as being in KphraUii (1 S 1') ; and, except the fir^t, they are all connected with the identification of ' Kachel's sepulchre ' in 1 S 10- with the place now shown as ■ Rachel's tomb,' 1 m. N. of Beth-lehem, which (see p. 19*") •ccuis impossible. S. Ii. BltlVER.
RAMATHAIM, RAMATHAIM - ZOPHIM. — See
I!.\M.MI, No. 6.
RAMATHITE (t=-!C ; B A ^k Ta^X, A 4 'Vaiiaea'to^). — Sliimei the Itanmtliite w.ns over the viiiej'ards of king David, 1 Ch 27='. Wliich of the Kamahs enuiiiurated in art. Kamah ia in view liere, must remain uncertain.
RAMATH-LEHI.-See Leri.
RAMATH-MIZPEH (.ij??? mi, ; B 'A/)a/?(i9 rari T7)» }i\aaari(pa, A 'Pa^iujS . . . "Haarpi). — Mentioned in Jos 13-'* only as one of the limits of the tribe of Gad to the north, Heshbon being the limit to the south. It may be identical with .Mizjiah (and Mizjjeh) of Gilead (see MiZPAH, No. 1).
C. Warren.
RAMESES.— See Raamses.
RAMIAH(n:DT 'Jah is hish'; 'Po/xid). — One of the sons of Paro.sh who had married a foreign wife, Ezr 10«», called in 1 Es 92« Hiermas.
RAMOTH.— 1. In F.zr I0=» A V and RVm read ' and
K:iiimtli' (i.e. nto-ii ; B xai 'Mrifiwy, A Kal'?rjiiii0) for Jkiikmotii (i.e. r-oi;) of IIV. In 1 Es 9'° the name is Hieremoth. Jeremoth or Kamoth was one of the sons of Bani who had married a foreign wife.
2. ("'."«■;, BA om.) A Gershonite Levitical city in Issachar, 1 Ch e"*!"', apparently = Hi:.meth of Jos 19=' and Jarmuth of Jos 21^ (see artt. on these names). 3. For 'Kamoth of the south' (:;} man) see Kamaii, No. S. 4. For 'Kamoth in Gilead' (Dt 4'", Jos 20* 21»«, 1 Cli 6'"i'»)) see Kamoth-Gilead. J. A. Selbie.
RAMOTH-GILEAD.— A prominent city east of the .Ionian belonging to the tribe of Gad, and first brouglit to our notice in the assignment of the Cities of Refuge, Dt 4«, Jos 20". It was also a Levltical city, Jos 21^. In four passiiges, the three just mentioned and 1 Ch 0* [Heb.«'>], all referring to this assignment, tlie form 'Kamoth in (iilead' {Tj):3 nto-i [in Dt 4''^ Jos 20', 1 Ch G,^ niCN-;!) is used, but elsewhere it is simply Kamotligilead ('Sj n-D"!). Another early notice of this place belongs to the time of Solomon, and makes it the hea<li|uarters of one of the commi.s.sariat officers of that king, 1 K 4>». See, also, Kamaii, No. 3.