ASTAROTH. — A city between the Sea of Galilee and Mount Hermon, ancient residence of Og, king of Bashan (Jos 9:10; 12:4). After the conquest of Canaan it was assigned to the tribe of Manasseh (13:31), then declared a Levitical city (1 Chr 6:71). The Rephaim were defeated by Chedorlaomer at A. Qarnaim (Gen 14:5); in 1 Macc 5:26 and 43, only Qarnaim is mentioned.
This triple designation gave rise to controversy. Today it is believed that Qarnaim is modern Saḥn Saʿad, the “Carnea” of Eusebius’s Onomasticon, where tradition places Job’s house. A. and A. Qarnaim are instead identified with Tell ʿAshtarah, a mound about 20 m high, surrounded by remains of walls, located 4 km south of Qarnaim. It seems certain that this is the Ashtaroth conquered by Tiglath-pileser III in 734–33 BC, an episode depicted in the Nimrud Kalach bas-relief preserved in the British Museum. In the “execration texts” of Brussels, Egyptian (19th century BC), A. is named alongside Bozrah.