Bible Location
Meaning: Ashtoreth · 6 cross references · Modern-day map available
Ashtaroth was a principal city of Bashan in the kingdom of Og, east of the Jordan. It is important because it appears in conquest traditions, tribal allotment, and Levitical inheritance within the rich lands of Bashan. First appears in Deut 1:4.1
AI summary: Ashtaroth belongs to the eastern kingdom landscape encountered before Israel crossed the Jordan proper. In Deuteronomy and Joshua it is part of the remembered power of Og of Bashan, so the city's name carries the memory of one of the great transjordanian victories. Later allotment texts place it within Manasseh's inheritance and priestly structures, showing the move from conquered royal center to settled Israelite town. The cross references present Ashtaroth as a Bashan city where conquest, incorporation, and eastern inheritance meet.1
A city of Bashan, in the kingdom of Og (Deut. 1:4; Josh. 12:4; 13:12; 9:10). It was in the half-tribe of Manasseh (Josh. 13:12), and as a Levitical city was given to the Gershonites (1 Chr. 6:71). Uzzia, one of David’s valiant men (1 Chr. 11:44), is named as of this city. It is identified with Tell Ashterah, in the Hauran, and is noticed on monuments B.C. 1700-1500. The name Beesh-terah (Josh. 21:27) is a contraction for Beth-eshterah, i.e., “the house of Ashtaroth.” 3
AI-assisted summary prepared for ai-BIBLE and stored as page content, based on dictionary material, place metadata, and linked Bible cross references.
Alistair de Blacquiere-Clarkson, “ai-BIBLE Bible Names JSON Factsheet Aggregating Material from Smith’s Bible Dictionary & Hitcocks’s New and Complete Analysis of the Bible.” ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
M.G.Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
Robert Rouse, “Theographic Bible Information,” Theographic-Bible-Metadata, 2020, https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata.