Ramathaim-Zophim (), also called Ramah () and Ramatha in the

Douay–Rheims Bible The Douay–Rheims Bible (, ), also known as the Douay–Rheims Version, Rheims–Douai Bible or Douai Bible, and abbreviated as D–R, DRB, and DRV, is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English made by member ...

translation (Ramathaimsophim in the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

), is a city from the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

. The name of the town means "the heights of the views."

Identification

Ramah, the home of

Elkanah Elkanah ( ''’Ĕlqānā'' "El (deity), El has purchased") was, according to the Books of Samuel, First Book of Samuel, the husband of Hannah (biblical figure), Hannah, and the father of her children including her first, Samuel. Elkanah practiced ...

, Samuel's father (), the birthplace of

Samuel Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...

and the seat of his authority (), the town is frequently mentioned in the history of that prophet and of

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

(). Here Samuel died and was buried (). The historian

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

distinguishes between Ramathaim, "a city of the tribe of Ephraim," and Ramah, the burial place of Samuel the prophet, but he does not explicitly say that these were two different places. Ramathaim-Zophim has been tentatively identified with one of two sites. One of them is the modern

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

village of Nabi Samwil, the other the former village, now town, of er-Ram.

Er-Ram as Ramah

Ramah, according to

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

' '' Onomasticon'', was located 6 milestones north of Jerusalem (Ailia), opposite

Bethel Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Bet ...

. Accordingly, Ramah is now thought by many historical geographers to be Er Ram, about 8 km north of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. The Survey of Western Palestine identifies er-Ram with Ramah of Benjamin from .

Nabi Samwil as Ramah

Nabi Samwil stands about 5 miles north-west of

, and is held by an originally Christian tradition dating back to the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

period to be the resting place of the prophet Samuel). The site comprises what is now the Israeli Nebi Samuel

National Park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

, with its most prominent feature being a two-storey Crusader fortress, now used as a mosque and a Jewish Orthodox

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

Benjamin of Tudela Benjamin of Tudela (), also known as Benjamin ben Jonah, was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the twelfth century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years. With his ...

visited Nabi Samwil when he travelled the land in 1173, noting that the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

had found the bones of Samuel in a Jewish cemetery in

Ramla Ramla (), also known as Ramle (, ), is a city in the Central District of Israel. Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with significant numbers of both Jews and Arabs. The city was founded in the early 8th century CE by the Umayyad caliph S ...

on the coastal plain and reburied them here, on the hill overlooking the Holy City. C. R. Conder, of the

Palestine Exploration Fund The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem by Royal Engineers of the War Department. The Fund is the oldest known organization i ...

, discredits this tradition.

Ramallah as Ramathaim-Zophim

C. R. Conder of the

raised the hypothesis that, because of its high elevation and how that it affords a good prospect of the surrounding region, Ramathaim-Zophim may have been

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

Nabi Samwil as Mizpah

The traditional tomb site of Samuel the prophet, which became known as Neby Samwil ("the prophet Samuel"), may have been Mizpah in Benjamin, where Samuel was appointed leader of the Israelites (). Such was the view of Edward Robinson who visited the site in 1838, and who vehemently objected to identifying Neby Samwil with the Ramah of Samuel. Conder and Kitchener of the

described the site in their days as being "a small hamlet of mud hovels." Judas Machabeus, preparing for war with the Syrians, gathered his men at Mizpah, over against Jerusalem: for in Mizpah was a place of prayer heretofore in Israel.I Mach., iii, 46, cited in

Arimathea

Some, e.g.

Petrus Comestor Peter Comestor (, "Peter the Eater"; ; died 22 October 1178) was a 12th-century Kingdom of France, French Theology, theological writer and university teacher. Life Peter Comestor was born in Troyes. Although the surname (Latin language, Lati ...

(ca. 1100–1179) in his '' Historia Scholastica'', Cap. CLXXX: De sepultura Domini, have identified Ramathaim-Zophim as

Arimathea Arimathea or Arimathaea () or Harimathaea or Harimathea (, ''Harimathaía'') was a purported city of Judea. It was the reported home of Joseph of Arimathea, who appears in all four canonical Gospel accounts of the Passion of Jesus for having dona ...

of the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

References

External links

Nebi Samuel Park
Israel Nature and Parks Authority {{Authority control Hebrew Bible cities Samuel