Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.
RAMOTH in GALAAD. - A Levitical and refuge city in the tribe of Gad (Deut. 4, 13; Ios. 20, 8; 21, 38; I Par. 6, 66), capital of the Solomonic district north and south of the Jarmùk (I Reg. 4, 13), and the cause of bitter संघर्ष between Israelites and Arameans, who long disputed possession of this strategic site (ibid. 22, 3-24; II Reg. 8, 28; 9, 1-14).
The site indicated by Eusebius near Iaboc, 15 miles west of Filadelfia ('Ammân), probably se-Salt or Hírbet Gile'ad, does not accord with the biblical data, which presuppose a locality farther north, in the 'Aglûn. The identification with the village of er-Rempah, 10 km south of Der'â, on the present frontier between the Hâshimite Kingdom of Jordan and Syria, abandoned for lack of archaeological evidence in favour of the imposing tell of Hosn 'Aglûn, 16 km
south-west of er-Remtah, has again been proposed with solid archaeological and topographical evidence. The ancient site of R. would not be the village of er-Remtah, but Tell Ramit, 7 km farther south. It rises in the midst of a broad plain suitable for chariot warfare, at the intersection of the roads between 'Ammân and Damascus; its Arabic name preserves the memory of the ancient biblical name, and it has archaeological finds dating from the Iron Age.
BIBL.: A. Fernandez, Problemas de topographia palestinese. Barcellona 1936, p. 97; F.-M. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine, II, Parigi 1938, p. 430. The identification with Tell Ramit was proposed by N. Glueck, Ramot-Gilvad, in Bulletin of American Schools of oriental research, 92 (1942), p. 10, and in Annual of American Schools of oriental research, XXIV, Nuova Haven 1951, pp. 96-99. Donato Baldi
Cite this article
“RAMOTH IN GALAAD.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. X (1953), p. 310. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/ramoth-in-galaad.
