2. Another town, certainly in Judah, mentioned between Jiphtah and Nezib (Josh, xv, 43); apparent- ly in the region immediately south and east of Eleu- theropolis (comp. Keil, Comment, in loc), probably not very far from this last; possibly the present licit A lam, a ruined village on a low mound (Robinson. /,'< st arch* s, ii, 403). Eusebius and Jerome also speak of an A ma (Aava, Onomast. s. v.), but without any particulars.
Ash'penaz (Heb. Ashpenaz', T_33rN, perh. from Persic and Sanscrit arnas, horse, and nasa, nose, i. q. "horse-nose;" Sept. 'Aatpavic), the master of the eu- nuchs, or, rather, one of the principal chamberlains of Nebuchadnezzar (B.C. 604), who was commanded to
ASHRIEL
463
ASHTORETII
select certain Jewish captives to be instructed in the literature and science of the Chaldeans (Dan. i, 3). In this number he included Daniel and his three com- panions, whose Hebrew names he changed to Chaldee (Dan. i, 7). Their refusal to partake of the provisions sjnt from the monarch's table filled Ashpenaz with apprehension, for at that time, as in our days, the Asi- atic despots frequently punished with death the least infraction of their will. He had, however, the gene- rosity not to use constraint toward them. In acceding to the request of Daniel, Ashpenaz had every thing to apprehend ; and the grateful prophet specially records that God had disposed Ashpenaz to treat him with kindness (ver. 8-16). See Daniel.
Ash'riel (1 Chron. vii, 14). See Asriel. Ash'taroth (Heb. Ashtaroth', Pli"lPiUJ?, plur. of Ashtoreth, Josh, ix, 10; xii, 4; xiii, 12, 31; Sept. 'Aa- rapioS; but Auth. Vers. "Astaroth," in Deut. i, 4; Sept. in 1 Chron. vi, 71, v. r. 'Am/puSr and 'PafiwB), a city on the east of Jordan, in Bashan, in the king- dom of Og, doubtless so called from being a seat of the worship of the goddess of the same name. See Ash- toreth. It is generally mentioned as a description or definition of Og, who "dwelt in Astaroth in Edrei" (Deut. i, 4), "at Ashtaroth and at Edrei" (Josh, xii, 4; xiii, 12), or "who was at Ashtaroth" (ix, 10). It fell into possession of the half tribe of Manasseh (Josh, xiii, 31), and was given with its suburbs or surround- ing pasture-lands (IS^El) to the Gershonites (1 Chron. vi, 71 [56]), the other Levitical city in this tribe being Golan. In the list in Josh, xxi, 27, the name is given as Beeshterah ("house of Ashtoreth;" Belaud, p. 621). Nothing more is heard of Ashtaroth, except that Uzziah, an Ashterathite, is named in 1 Chron. xi, 44. It is not named in any of the lists, such as those in Chronicles, or of Jeremiah, in which so many of the trans-Jordanic places are enumerated ; and hence it has usually been considered the same with the place else- where called Ashteroth-Karnaim (q. v.). Eusebius and Jerome, however (Onomast. s. v. Astaroth, 'Aara- pu>S), mention it as situated 6 Boman miles from Adraa or Adar (Edrei), which again was 25 from Bostra ; and the former adds that it lay on higher ground (aviDTtpw) than Ashteroth-karnaim, which they farther distin- guish by stating (in the next art.) that there were two villages (iciufiai, castelki) lying 9 miles apart, between Adara and Abila. One of these was probably that called Ashtaroth simply, and the other may have been Ashteroth-karnaim. The only trace of the name j'et recovered in the region indicated is TeU-Ashterdh or Asherah (Bitter, Erdk. xv, 819; Porter, ii, 212); and as this is situated on a hill, it would seem to correspond to the Ashtaroth in question. — ^mith, s. v.
Ash'terathite (Heb. AshteratW, irnpidS1 ; Sept. 'AartpwSi), an epithet of Uzziah, one of David's braves (1 Chron. xi, 44), prob. as being an Ashtarothite, or citizen of Ashtaroth (q. v.) in Bashan.
Ash'teroth-Kar'naim (Heb. Ashteroth' Kama- yim, 0^"lj5 r.nffr", Ashtaroth of the two horns, from the horned image of Ashtoreth, Gen. xiv, 5; Sept. 'AarapioS [wii] Kapvaiv), a place of very great antiquity, the abode of the Bephaim at the time of the incursion of Chedorlaomer (Gen. xiv, 5), while the cities of the plain were still standing in their oasis. Its name of Ashtaroth appears to be derived from the worship of the moon under that name [see Astarte] ; there is little need to look further than the crescent of that luminary and its symbolical image for an ex- planation of the addition Karnaim, "horned" (San- choniathon, in Euseb. Prop. Ev. i, 10; ed. Orelli, p. 35). In 2 Mace, xii, 21, 26, mention is made of the temple of Atergatis (Ashtoreth) in Camion (Kapviov), which is described as a strongly fortified town of dif- ficult access, but which was taken by Judas Macca- bseus, who slew 25,000 of the people therein. The I
same place is doubtless that called C amain (Kapv air") in 1 Mace, v, 43 (comp. Kapva'tv, Josephus, Ant. xii, 8, 4). These notices, however, give us no indication of its locality beyond its being in "the land of Galaad ;" the inference of Bitter {Erdk. xv, 822) that the Car- nion of the Apocrypha was in a narrow valley, is not sustained by the passages themselves. It is usually assumed to be the same place as the preceding Ash- taroth, but the few facts that can be ascertained are all against such an identification. (1.) The affix " Karnaim," which certainly indicates some distinc- tion, and which in the time of the Maccabees, as quoted above, appears to have superseded the other name. (2.) The fact that Eusebius and Jerome in the Ono- masticon, though not very clear on the point, j-et cer- tainly make a distinction between Ashtaroth and A.-Carnaim, describing the latter (s. v. Kapvaii/t, Carnaim) as a "large village" (icai/i?) /.uytart) ri)Q 'Apa/ji'oc, vicus grandis in angulo Batana;®). (3.) Some weight is due to the rendering of the Samaritan version, and of the Arabic version of Saadiah, which give Ashtaroth as in the text, but A. -Karnaim by en- tirely different names ; the former rendering it Aphinith, which does not appear to have been yet recognised ; but the latter, es-Sanamein, apparently meaning the still important place which continues to bear precisely the same name, on the Haj route, about c.'.b miles south of Damascus, and to the N.W. of the Lejah (Burckh. p. 55 ; Bitter, Erdk. xv, 812), but which seems to be identical with another place [see Aere], and is too far from Edrei. See Ashtaroth. Astaroth-Karnaim is now usually identified with Mezareib, the situation of which corresponds accurately enough with the dis- tances given by Eusebius (Leake, Preface to Burck- hardt's Travels, p. xii). Here is the first castle on the great pilgrim road from Damascus to Mecca. It was built about 340 years ago by the Sultan Selim, and is a square structure, about 100 feet on each side, with square towers at the angles and iu the centre of each face, the walls being 40 feet high. The interior is an open yard, with ranges of warehouses against the cas- tle wall to contain stores of provisions for the pilgrims. There are no dwellings beyond the castle, and within it only a few mud huts upon the flat roofs of the ware- houses, occupied by the peasants who cultivate the neighboring grounds. Close to this building on the north and east side are a great number of springs, whose waters at a short distance collect into a lake or pond about a mile and a half in circumference. In the midst of this lake is an island, and at an elevated spot at the extremity of a promontory advancing into the lake stands a sort of chapel, around which are many remains of ancient buildings. There are no oth- er ruins. (Burckhardt, Travels, p. 241 sq. ; Bucking- ham's Arab Tribes, p. 162 ; Chesney, Euphrat. Exped. i, 511 ; Capt. Newbold, in the Lond. Geog. Jour, xvi, 333; comp. Schwarz, Palest, p. 223, 236.) See also Ashtoreth; Chalamish.