Tell er-Rameh

31°49′32″N 35°38′40″E / 31.82556°N 35.64444°E / 31.82556; 35.64444HistoryCulturesRoman Age, Byzantine, Umayyad

Tell er-Rameh or Tall el-Rama is a small mound in Jordan rising in the plain east of the River Jordan, about twelve miles from Jericho. It presently has a Muslim cemetery on the acropolis that prevents it from being excavated. It has been traditionally identified as the location of Livias.^[1] The team recently excavating at Tell el-Hammam however, is proposing that Tell er-Rameh was the commercial and residential centre of Livias, while the administrative centre was located at Tall el-Hammam.^[2]

Etymology

According to Vailhé [fr] and Abel the modern name er-Rameh may have derived from the ancient names of Βηθαραμφθά (Betharamphtha),^{[citation needed]} which is what Josephus indicates was the name for Livias^[3]^{[dubious – discuss]} Dvorjetski believes that the modern name er-Rameh is derived from Wadi er-Rameh.^[4]^{[failed verification]}

Identification

Regarding the name evolution from biblical Beth-haram through the Roman-period Livias/Julias to Arabic Tell er-Rameh, Nelson Glueck states that:

"the equation of Beth-haram, Beth-ramtha, Beit er-Ram, Beit Ramah, Tell er-Rameh with Livias (Julias), . . . is undoubtedly correct. It does not prove, however, that Tell er-Rameh is to be identified with the actual site of ancient Biblical Beth-haram. . . An examination of the pottery of Tell er-Rameh proves that this identification cannot possibly be correct."^[2]^[5]

Graves & Stripling propose that, while Tell er-Rameh was the commercial and residential centre of Livias, the administrative centre was situated at nearby Tall el-Hammam.^[2] Tell er-Rameh had no natural water source, and some have argued that it received its water from the hot springs at Tall el-Hammam.^[6]^{[dubious – discuss]} Dvorjetski identified Tell er-Rameh with Livias based on the presence of "pottery or mosaic stone cubes from the Byzantine and early Islamic eras."^[7]

References

^ Dvorjetski, Esti (2007). Leisure, Pleasure, and Healing: Spa Culture and Medicine in Ancient Eastern Mediterranean. Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism. Vol. 116. Leiden: Brill. p. 202. ISBN 978-9004156814. Retrieved 31 January 2022.

^ ^a ^b ^c Graves, David E.; Stripling, Scott (2011). "Re-Examination of the Location for the Ancient City of Livias". Levant. 43 (2): 178–200. doi:10.1179/175638011X13112549593122. S2CID 162399714.

^ Josephus A.J. 18.27; 14.1.4: "Betharamphtha...called it Julias", "Hyrcanus promised [Aretas] those twelve cities..., Medaba, Naballo, Libias..."

^ Dvorjetski (2007), p. 208.

^ Glueck, Nelson (1951). Explorations in Eastern Palestine. Vol. IV. Part 1. New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research. p. 391.

^ Abel, Félix-Marie (1938). Géographie de la Palestine. I–II. Paris: Gabalda. p. 1:459.

^ Dvorjetski (2007), p. 202.