MARESA. - A city of Judah (Josh. 15:44), fortified by Rehoboam (II Chron. 11:8). In the Greek period it was inhabited by Edomites and known under the name of Marisa or Marissa. John Hyrcanus subjugated it in 110, but in 63 B.C. Pompey again made it a free city. It was destroyed by the Parthians in 40 B.C.
Eusebius (Onomast., 130, 10) places it 2 miles from Eleutheropolis (= Bejt Gibrin), and Bliss identified it with Tell Sandahannah. There Bliss and Macalister conducted excavations in 1900, finding, among other things, Ptolemaic coins and two inscriptions concerning Arsinoe and Berenice, wife and mother of Ptolemy IV (222–205). Noteworthy at Tell Sandahannah is a painted tomb (third century B.C.) which, besides bearing several names indicative of their Greek, Idumaean, Phoenician, and Macedonian origin, contains a hunting scene and drawings of various animals. Since 1948 the site has formed part of the State of Israel.