RAMA (Hebrew *hā-Rāmāh* «the height»). — Name of several biblical localities situated on hills.
1. R. in the tribe of Benjamin (Josh. 18:25) on the road from Jerusalem to Bethel (Judg. 4:5), north of Gibeah (Judg. 19:13; 1 Sam. 25:6), an advanced post to the south of the Kingdom of Israel and fortified by King Baasha (1 Kgs. 15:17; 2 Chr. 15:1-6). After the fall of Jerusalem it became a gathering point for prisoners deported to Babylon (Jer. 41:1). Repopulated after the exile by Benjaminites (Ezra 2:26; Neh. 11:33), it was only a *patrus viculus* in the time of St. Jerome (PL 25, 1354). Eusebius’ indication (Onom., 144, 14), six miles north of Aelia, corresponds to the present-day village of er-Rām, 9 km north of the Jerusalem-Nablus road.
2. R. in Naphtali (Josh. 19:36) is the village of er-Rameh, 25 km along the road from Safed to Acre. In 1930, among the remains of Jewish dwellings, an inscription was discovered commemorating Rabbi Eliezer bar Te’adar, who had built an inn there.
3. R. in Asher (Josh. 19:28) was near Tyre; its identification is uncertain. Ramjah east of Ras en-Naqūrah and Khirbet er-Rāmah east of el-Bassah have been proposed.
4. R. as the home, residence, and burial place of the prophet Samuel (1 Sam. 1:1; *Rāmāhājim*; in other passages, 1:19; 2:11; 7:17; 8:4; 15:34; 16:13; 19:18; 22:23; 25:1, always *Rāmāh* and with the accusative of motion *Rāmāhāj*). The Septuagint renders it as ‘Aqīzībūzī’ (in 19:18; 20:1; ‘Pāzīz’), from which comes ‘Aqīzībūzī’ in the Gospels (see ARIMATHAEA). Of the many localities proposed for Samuel’s home, the most probable is that attested by Eusebius (Onom., 144, 28) and St. Jerome (Epist., 108: PL 22, 883), namely the village of Rentis, 15 km northeast of Lydda and 40 km from Jerusalem. This tradition accords with Saul’s itinerary in search of the asses and his meeting with the prophet in his house at R. The dual form *Rāmāhājim* alludes to the two hills on which the village extends.