Ramah was rebuilt and reoccupied by the de scendants of its old inhabitants after the Captivity (Ezra ii. 26 ; Neh. xi. 33). According to Josephus it was forty stadia distant from Jerusalem (Antiq. viii. 12. 3) ; and Eusebius and Jerome place it in the sixth mile north of the Holy City (Onomast., s.v. Rama; but in his commentary on Hosea v. 8, Jerome says in septimo lapide) ; and the latter states that in his day it was a small village (ad Sophoniam, i. 15).
Modern travellers are right in identifying Ramah of Benjamin with the village of er-Ram (Brocardus, vii. ; Robinson, B.R., i. 576) ; though Maundrell and a few others have located it at Neby Samwil. Er-Ram is five miles north of Jerusalem, and four south of Bethel. The site of Gibeah of Saul lies two miles southward, and Geba about the same dis tance eastward. Ram is a small miserable village ; but in the walls and foundations of the houses are many large hewn stones, and in the lanes and fields broken columns and other remains of the ancient capital. The situation is commanding, on the top of a conical hill, half a mile east of the great northern road, and overlooking the broad summit of the ridge ; the eastern view is inter cepted by bleak ridges and hill-tops. The whole country round Ramah has an aspect of stern and even painful desolation ; but this is almost forgot ten in the great events which the surrounding heights and ruins recal to memory.
2. Ramah of Asher ('Paid ; Hornza), a town mentioned only in Josh. xix. 29, in the description of the boundaries of Asher. It would appear to have been situated near the sea-coast, and not far from Tyre, towards the north or north-east. Eusebius and Jerome mention this place, but in such a way as shows they knew nothing of it farther than what is stated by Joshua. In the Vulgate Jerome calls it Horma, making the Hebrew article 71 a part of the word. This, however, is plainly an error (Onomast., s. v. Rama ; and note by Bonfrer.) Robinson visited a village called Rameh, situated on the western declivity of the mountain-range, about seventeen miles south-east of Tyre. It 'stands upon an isolated hill in the midst of a basin with green fields, surrounded by higher hills.' In the rocks are numerous ancient sarcophagi, and the village itself has some remains of antiquity. He says, 'There is no room for question, but that this village represents the ancient Raman of Asher' (Bib. Res., iii. 64). Its position, however, withstanding the assertion of so high an authority, does not at all correspond with the notice in Scrip ture ; and the name Ramah was too common to indicate identity with any degree of certainty.
Another Rameh has been discovered on a little tell, two miles south-east of modern Tyre, and about one mile north-east of Ras-el-AM, the site of ancient Tyre (Van de Velde, Map and Memoir, P. In position this village answers in all respects to the Ramah of Asher. The writer did not visit it, and has not been able to find any de scription of its site or remains.
3. Ramah of Naphtali ('Apoc0 ; Alex. 'Paid ; Arama), one of the strong cities of the tribe, men tioned only in Josh. xix. 36, and situated appa rently to the south of Hazor, between that city and the Sea of Galilee. Reland seems inclined to identify it with the Ramah of Asher ; but they are evidently distinct cities, as indicated both by ancient geographers and the sacred writer.(Reland, Pal., p. 963). Eusebius and Jerome record the name, though they appear to have known nothing of the place (Onomast., s. v. Rama). About six miles west by south of Safed, on the leading road to Akka, is a large modern village called Rameh. It stands on the declivity of the mountain, sur rounded by olive groves, and overlooking a fertile plain. It contains no visible traces of antiquity ; but the name and the situation render it highly probable that it occupies the site of Ramah of Naphthali. It was visited by Schultz in 1847 (Ritter, Pal. and Syr., iii. p. 772), and by Robin son in 1852 (Bib. Res., iii. p. 79).
4- Ramah, the birth-place and home of the prophet Samuel, and the city elsewhere called RAMATHAIM-ZOPHIM, which see (i Sam. i. 19 ; ii. II, etc.) 5. Ramah, a City of Gilead (2 Kings viii. 29 ; 2 Chron. xxii. 6), identical with RAMOTH-GILEAL, which see.
It has been supposed that the Ramah of Neh. xi. 33 is distinct from Ramah of Benjamin (Mr. Grove, in Smith's Diet. of Bible, ii. p. soon) ; if so this would make a sixth Scripture town of the same name. The only reason for the supposition is that its position in the list of towns seems to re move it farther west than Ramah of Benjamin. Mr. Grove is inclined to identify it with Ranzleh in the plain of Philistia This supposition is of little weight, for the grouping of the names would lead us to place Ramah as near to Nob and Anathoth as to Lod and Ono. If the sites of Ananiah, Hazor, and Gittaim were satisfactorily identified we might be able to pronounce more definitely re garding Ramah.—J. L. P.