Ashteroth-karnaim
Ashteroth-karnaim is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Bashan in modern-day Jordan. Known today as Tell Ashtara. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Ashteroth-karnaim appears in Genesis 14:5 as one of the cities attacked by the coalition of four eastern kings under Chedorlaomer during their campaign against the rebellious kings of the plain, which prompted Abraham's famous intervention to rescue his nephew Lot. The text records that Chedorlaomer and his allies "defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim", connecting the city directly with the ancient giant peoples (Rephaim) who inhabited the Transjordanian highlands before the historical period of the patriarchs. The name itself is compound: Ashteroth echoes the Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth, while karnaim means "two horns," possibly describing a topographical feature of the site or the two-horned iconography associated with the deity. The city is thus both a geographical landmark and a marker of the pre-Israelite religious landscape of Bashan. In Amos 6:13, the prophet uses Karnaim (possibly an abbreviated reference to this site) in a taunt against Israel's misplaced confidence in military conquests. Ashteroth-karnaim stands at the intersection of primordial history, Canaanite religion, and the patriarchal narrative.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Ashteroth-karnaim is identified with Tell Ashtara in the Hauran of modern Syria, the same site associated with the biblical Ashtaroth, reflecting the scholarly view that the two names refer to the same city at different periods. The double name Ashteroth-karnaim may designate a distinct phase or sector of the ancient settlement. Surveys of Tell Ashtara have confirmed Bronze Age occupation layers consistent with the patriarchal period setting of Genesis 14. The broader Hauran region has yielded Bronze Age remains from multiple sites confirming the dense pre-Israelite settlement of Bashan. Egyptian topographical lists from the New Kingdom period mention Ashtartu as a significant Syro-Palestinian city, corroborating its prominence. Full excavation of Tell Ashtara remains a desideratum for Near Eastern archaeology.
Verse Appearances (1)
Gen
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]