Bethoron (Hebrew: בֵית־חוֹרֹ֔ן, lit. 'house of Horon'; Ancient Greek: Ὡρωνείν), also Beth-Horon, were two neighboring towns in ancient Israel, situated on the Gibeon–Aijalon road. They served as strategic points along the road, guarding the "ascent of Bethoron". While the Hebrew Bible sometimes distinguishes between the two towns—Upper and Lower Bethoron—it often refers to both simply as Bethoron.[1] The towns are mentioned in the Bible and in other ancient sources: Upper Bethoron appears in Joshua 16:5, Lower Bethoron in Joshua 16:3, both in 1 Chronicles 7:24,[2] and the ascent in I Maccabees 3:16.
The ancient towns of Upper Bethoron and Lower Bethoron are identified respectively with the present-day Palestinian Arab villages of Beit Ur al-Fauqa and Beit Ur al-Tahta, which preserve the ancient names.[3][1] Archaeological evidence suggests that Lower Bethoron was established first, as the earliest potsherds discovered there date back to the Late Bronze Age, while those from the upper town originate from the Iron Age onward.[4]
^ abLemche, Niels Peter (2004). Historical dictionary of ancient Israel. Historical dictionaries of ancient civilizations and historical eras. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-8108-4848-1.
^Cite error: The named reference Bethoron was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Gray was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Eugenio Alliata (2000-12-19). "Bethoron (Bayt Ur)". Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. Archived from the original on 2008-08-29. Retrieved 2007-09-12.
Bethoron (Hebrew: בֵית־חוֹרֹ֔ן, lit. 'house of Horon'; Ancient Greek: Ὡρωνείν), also Beth-Horon, were two neighboring towns in ancient Israel, situated...
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Beth-horon sherd, on the basis of a possible reference to the biblical site of Bethoron. The Beth-horon sherd is now at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The two...
Highway 55 duplicates the eastern part of this route.[citation needed] "The Bethoron Ascent" (Hebrew: מַעֲלֵה בֵּית חוֹרוֹן Ma'ale Beit Horon) (Josh 10:10)...
of al-Bireh in the West Bank. Another is Khirbet ed-Darieh near Lower Bethoron. A town west of the Jordan, possibly the same as above, mentioned in Joshua...
description if the weight of thirty Shekels of Ophir gold being sent to Bethoron. The second mentioned one thousand one hundred units of oil being sent...
included only the men. It further noted that the village was north of Bethoron, that is, north of Beit Ur al-Fauqa and Beit Ur al-Tahta. In 1882, the...
biblical narrative, Sheera is also said to be the builder of Lower and Upper Bethoron, today identified with the nearby towns of Beit 'Ur al-Tahta and Beit 'Ur...
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