Dathema or Diathema was the name of a

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

in Gilead to which the local

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s fled when hard pressed by

Timothy of Ammon Timothy ( ''Timótheos'') was a military commander of the Seleucid Empire, active during the mid 2nd century BCE and probabaly a governor in the land of Ammon and Gilead. He fought during the Maccabee campaigns of 163 BC against the local Jews, and ...

during the

Maccabee campaigns of 163 BC During the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire, there were a series of campaigns in 163 BC in regions outlying Judea - Ammon, Gilead, Galilee, Idumea, and Judea's coastal plain, a wider region usually referred to as either Palestine ...

in the

Maccabean Revolt The Maccabean Revolt () was a Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. The main phase of the revolt lasted from 167 to 160 BCE and ended with the Seleucids in control of ...

. There they shut themselves in, prepared for a

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

, and sent to

Judas Maccabeus Judas Maccabaeus or Maccabeus ( ), also known as Judah Maccabee (), was a Jewish priest (''kohen'') and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167–160 BCE). The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah ("Ded ...

(Judah Maccabee) for aid. Dathema was one of many places in a similar plight, and seems, from the description of it, to have been strongly enough fortified to necessitate "an innumerable people bearing ladders and other engines of war" to take it. Judas attacked in three divisions, drove off Timotheus, killed eight thousand of the enemy, and saved the city. The

Peshitta The Peshitta ( ''or'' ') is the standard Syriac edition of the Bible for Syriac Christian churches and traditions that follow the liturgies of the Syriac Rites. The Peshitta is originally and traditionally written in the Classical Syriac d ...

reads "Rametha," from which George Adam Smith infers that it was perhaps Ramath Gilead. Conder suggests the modern Dameh on the southern border of the

Lejah The Lajat (/ALA-LC: ''al-Lajāʾ''), also spelled ''Lejat'', ''Lajah'', ''el-Leja'' or ''Laja'', is the largest lava field in southern Syria, spanning some 900 square kilometers. Located about southeast of Damascus, the Lajat borders the Haura ...

district. It can not, however, be positively identified.

References

* {{coord missing, Jordan Ammon Battles of the Maccabean Revolt Hasmonean Kingdom Gilead Fortifications in Jordan