RAMOTH-GILEAD and RAMOTH IN GILEAD (1IhL rIbl and rttri ; "'I also 7,• T written please, ;I'm:), in 2 Chrom xxii. 5 ; and simply rit)::, in 2 Kings viii. 29 and 2 Chron. xxii.
6 ; 'Pa/44a 6, TaNatio; 'Papa& raXad3 ; 'Peaaa ; Tetqh69, etc. ; Ramoth-Galaad), one of the chief cities of the tribe of Gad, on the east side of the Jordan. It was allotted to the Levites, and ap pointed a city of refuge (Deut. iv. 43 ; Josh. xx. 8). The latter fact would seem to indicate that it occu pied a central position in the tribe. and also pro.
bably in the country assigned to the Israelites east of the Jordan. If so it could scarcely have stood, as some have supposed, on the extreme north eastern border of Gad. Ramoth played for a time an important part in Israelitish history, and was the scene of many a hard struggle. It was appa rently a strong fortress, and considered the key of the country. Hence when taken by the Syrians the kings of Israel and Judah regarded it as a na tional loss, affecting both kingdoms ; and they combined to drive out the common enemy (i Kings xxii. 4, seq.) The united attack was unsuc cessful, and the king of Israel was mortally wounded in the battle (xxii. 34-37), At a later period, apparently in the reign of Toram (2 Kings ix. 14, 15 ; with Joseph. Antiq. ix. 6. i), Ramoth was taken from the Syrians, and held notwithstanding all the efforts of Hazael to regain it. Joram having been wounded in the struggle left his army under the command of Jehu, and returned to Jezreel to be healed (2 Kings viii. 29). During his absence Jehu was anointed by order of Elisha (ix. 1, 2), and commissioned to execute vengeance on the wicked house of Ahab (ver. 7-ro). Leaving Ramoth, Jehu drove direct to Jezreel. The king, expecting news from the seat of war, had watchmen set on the towers who saw his chariot approaching (x6, 17). The rest of the story is well known.
After this incident Ramoth-Gilead appears no more in Jewish history.
The exact position of Ramoth is nowhere defined in Scripture. The name (Ramoth, heights') would seem to indicate that it occupied a 03111• manding position on the summit of the range of Gilead. In 1 Kings iv. 13 we read that when the districts of Solomon's purveyors were arranged, the son of Geber was stationed in Ramoth, and had charge of all the cities of Jair the son of Manasseh, both in Gilead and Bashan ; and these cities ex tended over the whole north-eastern section of Palestine beyond Jordan. Various opinions have been entertained regarding the site of this ancient city. Some would identify it with 'crash, the old
Roman Gerasa, whose ruins are the most magni ficent and extensive east of the Jordan (see Ben jamin of Tudela, by Asher), but this is too far north, and Jerash besides lies in a valley. Ewald would locate it at the village of Reinuen among the mountains, five miles west of Jerash (Gesch., iii. p. 500 ; Winer, A. s. v. Ramoth). For this there is no evidence whatever.
The most probable opinion regarding the site of Ramoth is that which places it at the village of es-Salt. This is indicated—(a), by its position on the summit of a steep hill ; (b), by its old eccle siastical name Salters which appears to point to its original 'sacerdotal' and holy' char. aster, Ramoth having been both a Levitical city and a 'city of refuge' (see Reland, p. 213) ; (c), by the fact that about two miles to the north west of es-Salt is the highest peak of the moun tain-range still the name yebel 9i1,111, Mount Gilead ;' and (a), by the statement of Eusebius that Ramoth-Gilead lay in the fifteenth mile from Philadelphia towards the west, and this is the exact distance of es-Salt from Rabbath Amin on (Onanzast., s.v. Rammoth).
It may therefore be concluded that es-Salt occu pies the place of the celebrated Ramoth-Gilead. The situation is strong and picturesque. The hill on which it stands is separated by deep ravines from the loftier mountains that encompass it ; and its lower slopes are covered with terraced vineyards, while the neighbouring hill-sides and valleys abound with olive groves. On the summit stands the castle, a rectangular building with towers at the corners, and defended by a deep moat hewn in the rock. The foundations appear to be Roman, if not earlier, but the upper walls are Saracenic. In the town itself, which contains some three thousand inhabitants, there are few remains of antiquity. In the cliffs and ravines beneath it are great numbers of tombs and grottoes (Handbook for S. and P., p. 308). Es-Salt is famed for its vine yards ; and its raisins are esteemed the best in Palestine. They are carried in large quantities to Jerusalem (Burckhardt, Syria, p. 349 ; Irby and Mangles, Travels, p. 321 ; Ritter, Pal. and ,Syr., pp. 1121-38 ; Abulfeda, Tab. Syr., p. 92 ; Buck ingham, Travels, p. 20).
Winer and others identify Ramoth-Gilead, Ramath-Mizpah, and Mizpah of Gilead. On this, see the articles MIZPAH, No. 5 ; and RAMAH. J. L. P.