The Levitical Cities of Reuben and Moabite Toponymy
This article attempts to identify the locations of the four levitical cities of Reuben's inheritance with present-day ruins. After examining the biblical and extrabiblical text sources, the author suggests that Bezer be identified with Jalul, 5 km east of Madaba; that Jahaz be identified with K...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
The University of Chicago Press
1989
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| In: |
Bulletin of ASOR
Year: 1989, Volume: 276, Pages: 55-66 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | This article attempts to identify the locations of the four levitical cities of Reuben's inheritance with present-day ruins. After examining the biblical and extrabiblical text sources, the author suggests that Bezer be identified with Jalul, 5 km east of Madaba; that Jahaz be identified with Khirbet Medeiniyeh on the Wadi eth Themed; that Mephaath be identified with Um Raṣaṣ, 12 km east of Dhiban; and that Kedemoth be identified with Saliyah, southeast of Um Raṣaṣ. These proposals place Jahaz and Mephaath further east than usually is assumed and Bezer, Mephaath, and Kedemoth further south. While the findings do not necessarily bring new insights into the dating of the levitical cities as a sociopolitical institution or of the literary sources describing them, if the levitical cities were an actual political institution, the geographical conclusions imply that at some point Israelite control of Reubenite and Moabite territory reached further east and south than many scholars previously postulated. |
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| ISSN: | 2161-8062 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American Schools of Oriental Research, Bulletin of ASOR
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1356851 |