Anathoth
עֲנָתוֹת · “Anatot” on the map
Where was biblical Anathoth? At 'Anata, about 4 km northeast of Jerusalem's Old City. I mark it very likely.
Jeremiah came from this priestly town. With the Babylonians at Jerusalem's walls, he bought his cousin Hanamel's field here and sealed the deed in a jar, as a sign that houses and fields would again be bought in this land.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- 'Anata, about 4 km northeast of Jerusalem's Old City
- How sure
- Very likely Strong evidence, with no serious rival.
- Other names
- Anata, 'Anata, Ras el-Kharrubeh, Anathoth of Benjamin
- Location
- 31.8112° N, 35.2596° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
Anatot was a town of priests. Joshua gave it to the descendants of Aaron. Solomon banished the priest Abiathar to his estate here. Jeremiah is introduced as "one of the priests in Anatot," and his own townsmen later plotted to kill him for his prophecies.
The Arab village of 'Anata keeps the name, and the 4th-century writer Epiphanius already pointed here. It lies about 4 km northeast of Jerusalem. That fits a priestly town close enough for Jeremiah to walk to the Temple. Isaiah also names Anatot among the villages just north of the city, on the invader's road.
The exact mound is debated. Tradition points to the hill of Ras el-Kharrubeh, at the edge of the village. But when soundings were made, it was the nearby ruin of Khirbet Deir es-Sidd that yielded an Iron Age village. Either way, Jeremiah's Anatot lay within a kilometer or so of modern 'Anata.
Visiting today
'Anata is a town beyond the security barrier, and nothing biblical is on display. The nearby Israeli community of Almon, once called Anatot, keeps the memory of the name.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Anatot on the interactive map →
The whole Land on your wall
A hand-drawn map of Biblical Israel, with more than 160 places from Dan to Kadesh Barnea, printed on archival matte paper.
Free with every print: a companion ebook on every place on the map, a $19.99 value.
From $49.99 · Free US shipping
Get the print + free ebookNearby places
- Nob 3 km west
- Gibeah of Saul 3 km northwest
- Jerusalem 5 km southwest
- Ramah (Ramathaim Zophim) 5 km northwest
- Nephtoah 6 km west
- Michmash 7 km north