Ashteroth Karnaim

Ashteroth Karnaim (Biblical Hebrew: עַשְׁתְּרֹת קַרְנַיִם, romanized: ʿAštəroṯ Qarnayim, lit. 'Two-Horned Astarte') was a city east of the Jordan River in Bashan in the northern part of the Transjordan

The capture of the city of Astartu, thought to be Ashteroth, in the land east of the Jordan River of king Og of Bashan, by the Neo-Assyrian emperor Tiglath-Pileser III about 730–727 BCE, as depicted on a palace relief now kept on display in the British Museum.^[1]

There were originally two neighbouring cities, Ashtaroth, and northeast of it Karnaim, the latter annexing the name of the former after Ashtaroth's decline and becoming known as Ashteroth Karnaim.^[2]

Ashteroth Karnaim was mentioned under this name in the Battle of Siddim in the Book of Genesis and in Joshua 12:4, where it is rendered simply as "Ashtaroth". Karnaim is also mentioned by the prophet Amos in Amos 6:13, where those in Israel are boasting to have taken it.

Karnaim/Ashteroth Karnaim is considered to be the same as the Karnein of the Hellenistic period mentioned in 2 Maccabees 12:21, rendered in the King James Version as Carnion,^[2] and possibly as "Carnaim" in 1 Maccabees.^{[citation needed]}

Eusebius (c. 260/265–340) writes of Karneia/Karnaia, a large village inArabia Petraea, where a house of Job was identified by tradition.^[2][3]

Ashteroth in the Assyrian relief

Tell Ashtara is mentioned in the Assyrian relief in 730/727 BCE, which is in the British Museum.^[4] The relief depicts the Assyrians removing the people from Ashteroth in 730–727 BC. The relief was excavated at Nimrud by Austen Henry Layard in 1851. The name Ashteroth is inscribed in cuneiform on the top of the relief. The king in the lower register is Tiglath-Pileser III. This event is known as the Assyrian captivity. It is mentioned in 2 Kings 15:29: "In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maachah, Janohah, Kedesh, Hazor-Gilead, Galilee, the entire region of Naphtali; and he deported the inhabitants to Assyria."

The floppy turbans and pointed shoes and the style of the cloaks are typical for the Northern Kingdom in this period; the same clothes are shown on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III.^[5] The Black Obelisk is dated to about 825 BCE. It was also excavated at Nimrud by Austen Henry Layard in 1848. It shows Jehu, King of Northern Israel, or his representative offering tribute to Shalmaneser III on the second register down.

Etymology

The name translates literally to "Astarte of the Two Horns". Astarte was a goddess of civilisation and fertility in Canaanite religion.

Identification

The identification of the two sites is not straightforward, but there is some degree of consensus.^[6]

Ashtaroth

• Tell Ashtara, north of the Yarmouk, is a site considered to be identical with Ashtaroth,^[6] a city mentioned in several ancient Egypt sources: the Execration texts, Amarna letters (mid-14th century BCE) and the campaign list of Ramesses III (r. 1186 to 1155 BCE).^[2] The city appears in Amarna letters EA 256 and EA 197 as Aš-tar-te/ti.^[7] In the Hebrew Bible it is mentioned as the capital of Og, King of Bashan (Joshua 9:10 etc.) and as part of the territory of Manasseh (Joshua 13:31).^[2]

Karnaim/Ashteroth Karnaim

All sites identified by different scholars at different times as Karnaim/Ashteroth Karnaim lay in modern Syria in the area of Daraa.

• Al-Shaykh Saad is widely seen as the site of Ashteroth Karnaim^[2][6]

Other possible sites proposed in the past are:

• Al Churak, a site proposed by 14th-century topographer and traveller Ishtori Haparchi, aka Astori Pharchi, being eight miles northeast of the ancient ruins known as 'Draä'^[8]
• Muzayrib, an ancient fortress town^[8]

See also

• Asherah