Ramoth Gilead
רָמֹת גִּלְעָד
Where was biblical Ramoth Gilead? At Ar-Ramtha, in northern Jordan near the Syrian border, about 50 km southeast of Tiberias. I mark it probable.
King Ahab rode out in disguise to win back Ramoth Gilead from Aram. An archer drew his bow without aiming, the arrow found the gap in Ahab's armor, and the king bled to death propped up in his chariot.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Ar-Ramtha, in northern Jordan near the Syrian border
- How sure
- Probable The best case we have, with real alternatives.
- Other names
- Ramoth-gilead, Ramoth in Gilead, Ramath-mizpeh, Tell er-Rumeith, Khirbet ar-Rumaythah
- Location
- 32.5474° N, 36.0058° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
Moses set it aside as a city of refuge for Gad. Solomon's governor ruled from it over the villages of Jair and the region of Argob in Bashan. In the days of Ahab and his sons it was Israel's frontier fortress against Aram, and King Joram was wounded fighting for it. Then, in the army camp at Ramoth Gilead, a young prophet sent by Elisha poured oil on Jehu's head and made him king.
All of that points north. A governor who ran Bashan's villages, on a border Israel shared with Aram, belongs at the edge of the Bashan plain, on the road to Damascus.
The name never left. The town was Ramatha in Roman times, and it is ar-Ramtha today, right on that road. The low hill at the center of the modern town has produced Iron Age pottery. That is a sign of a long-lived town under the houses.
Many atlases put Ramoth Gilead at Tell er-Rumeith, a few miles south. Excavators dug it and found a small Iron Age fort that stood for about a century. That suits a fort guarding the road junction better than a city of refuge, so a newer view places the town itself at ar-Ramtha. Others have proposed Tell el-Husn.
Eusebius put Ramoth 15 miles west of Philadelphia, today's Amman, near es-Salt. That is too far south for a city that governed Bashan. No inscription has settled the question, which is why I mark it probable.
Visiting today
Ar-Ramtha is a busy town in northern Jordan, with the old hill under its houses. Tell er-Rumeith is a small mound with little to see.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
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Get the print + free ebookNearby places
- Edrei 13 km northeast
- Ashtaroth 29 km north
- Karnaim 32 km north
- Jabesh Gilead 35 km southwest
- The Sea of Galilee (Kinneret) 45 km northwest
- Abel Meholah 47 km southwest