ANATHOTH (Heb. 'Anathōth). - Levitical city of the tribe of Benjamin (Ios. 21, 18; I Par. 6, 45 [Heb. 60]). It was the birthplace of two companions of David, Abiezer (II Sam. 23, 27; I Par. 11, 28; 27, 12) and Jehu (I Par. 12, 3), and of the prophet Geremia (Jer. 1, 1), who nevertheless had much to suffer from his fellow citizens (Jer. 11, 18-23). The high priest Abiathar was confined there by Salomone (I Reg. 2, 26). About 4 km northeast of Jerusalem (Flavio Giuseppe, Ant. Ind., X, 7,3; Eusebio - s. Girolamo, Onomast., 26, 27; s. Girolamo, In Jeremiam, 1, 1; PL 24, 682), it was situated on Rās el-Harrūbeh, about ½ km from the present-day 'Anātā (about 400 inhabitants, Muslims), from which there is a wide view over the desert of Judah, the Jordan valley, and the Dead Sea. 'Anātā contains the ruins of an ancient fortress and of a Byzantine church, explored in recent excavations (1935-36).
Anathoth (Hebrew 'Anathōth)
BIBL.: E. P. Bloir, Soundings at 'Anatē (Roman Anathoth), in Bulletin of the Amer. School of Oriental Research, 62 (1936, II), pp. 18-21; A. Bergman and W. F. Albright, Sounding at the supposed Site of the O. T. Anathoth, ibid., pp. 22-26; id., Anathoth?, ibid., 64 (1936, IV), p. 22 ff.; A. Bergman and A. Tournay, The Identification of Anathoth, in Bull. of Jewish Palestine Explor. Soc., 4 (1936), pp. 13-19. Gaetano M. Perrella
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“ANATHOTH (EBR. 'ANATHŌTH).” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I (1948), p. 710. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/anathoth-ebr-anathoth.