ANATHOTH (Hebrew 'Anathōth). - A Levitical city of the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. 21:18; 1 Chron. 6:45 [Heb. 60]). It was the birthplace of two companions of David, Abiezer (2 Sam. 23:27; 1 Chron. 11:28; 27:12) and Jehu (1 Chron. 12:3), and of the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 1:1), who, however, had much to suffer from his fellow townsmen (Jer. 11:18-23). The high priest Abiathar was confined there by Solomon (1 Kings 2:26). About 4 km. northeast of Jerusalem (Flavius Josephus, Ant. Jud., X, 7, 3; Eusebius - St. Jerome, Onomast., 26, 27; St. Jerome, 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 a wide view opens out over the desert of Judah, the Jordan valley and the Dead Sea. 'Anātā has the ruins of an ancient fortress and of a Byzantine church, explored in recent excavations (1935-36).

Bibliography4 works

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

@incollection{ec1_anathoth_ebr_anathoth, author = {Perrella, Gaetano Maria}, title = {Anathoth (Ebr. 'AnathŌTh)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {I}, pages = {1160--1161}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1948}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/anathoth-ebr-anathoth} }

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