ASTAROTH. - A city between the Lake of Gennesaret and the Aran, ancient residence of Og, king of Bashan (Ios. 9, 10; 12, 4). After the conquest of Canaan it was assigned to the tribe of Manasseh (13, 31), then declared a Levitical city (I Par. 6, 71). The Rephaim were defeated by Chedorlaomer at A. Qarnajim (Gen. 14, 5); in I Mach. 5, 26 and 43, only Qarnajim is mentioned.
This threefold designation gave rise to controversies. Today Qarnajim is thought to be present-day Sajh Sa'ad, the “Carnea” of Eusebius’s Onomasticon, where tradition points out the house of Job. A. and A. Qarnajim, on the other hand, are identified with Tell 'Aštara, a mound of ruins about 20 m. high, surrounded by remnants of walls, situated 4 km. south of Qarnajim. It seems certain that this is the Aštartu conquered by Tiglath-pileser III in 743–33 B.C., an episode depicted in the bas-relief of Nimrud Kalach, preserved in the British Museum. In the Egyptian “execration texts” of Brussels (19th century B.C.), A. is mentioned together with Bosra.