ASTAROTH. - A city between the Sea of Galilee and the Auran, the ancient residence of Og, king of Bashan (Josh. 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 Chron. 6:71). The Rephaim are defeated by Chedorlaomer at A. Qarnaim (Gen. 14:5); in 1 Macc. 5:26 and 43, only Qarnaim is mentioned.

This threefold designation was a cause of controversy. Today it is held that Qarnaim is present-day Sajh Sa'ad, the "Carnea" of Eusebius' Onomasticon, where tradition shows the house of Job. A. and A. Qarnaim, on the other hand, are identified with Tell 'Ashtara, a mound of ruins about 20 m. high, surrounded by remains of walls, located 4 km. south of Qarnaim. It seems certain that this is the Ashtartu 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 "proscription texts" of Brussels, Egyptian (19th century B.C.), A. is named together with Bozrah.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: J. van Kasteren, s. v. in DB, I, coll. 1174-80; K. Galling, Biblischer Reallexikon, s. v., Tübingen 1937.

Antonio Carrozzini

@incollection{ec2_astaroth, author = {Carrozzini, Antonio}, title = {Astaroth}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {215--216}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/astaroth} }

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