ASHTAROTH

(Ashʹta·roth).

A city in the region of Bashan, generally identified today with Tell ʽAshtarah about 32 km (20 mi) E of the Sea of Galilee. The low hill there is surrounded by a well-watered plain. Its name may indicate that it was a center of worship of the goddess Ashtoreth.

Biblical references to it are principally with regard to giant King Og of Bashan, who is spoken of as reigning “in Ashtaroth, in Edrei.” (De 1:4; Jos 9:10; 12:4; 13:12) The conquered territory of Og’s kingdom was originally assigned to the Machirites of the tribe of Manasseh, but Ashtaroth later passed to the Gershonites as a Levite city. (Jos 13:29-31; 1Ch 6:71) At Joshua 21:27, which corresponds with the account at 1 Chronicles 6:71, the city is called Beeshterah.

The city is referred to in Assyrian inscriptions and in the Amarna Tablets.