Tell er-Rameh
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]
See also
- Plains of Moab
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.
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