Bamoth
Bamoth is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Transjordan in modern-day Israel. Known today as Khirbet el Quweiqiyeh. It appears across 2 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Bamoth, meaning 'high places,' appears as a station on the Israelites' wilderness journey through Transjordan, recorded in Numbers 21:19-20. Following their victory over the Amorite king Sihon and their encampment at the valley of the Arnon, Israel traveled from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to the height of Pisgah overlooking the wasteland. The region was already known for its elevated cultic sites, as indicated by the very name. It is likely the same location as Bamoth-baal, where Balak king of Moab brought the prophet Balaam to curse Israel. The panoramic views from these heights over the plains of Moab made them ideal sites for Balaam's repeated attempts to pronounce judgment on the advancing Israelite host. Instead, God turned every attempted curse into a blessing, with Balaam famously declaring from these heights: 'How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel' (Numbers 24:5). Bamoth thus witnessed one of the most dramatic divine interventions in the wilderness narrative, the protection of Israel through the unexpected reversal of prophetic speech.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Bamoth is tentatively identified with Khirbet el-Quweiqiyeh in the highlands east of the Jordan River, in modern Jordan. The Transjordanian plateau in this region is characterized by high ground with commanding views toward the west, consistent with the biblical descriptions of seeing the Israelite encampments from elevated positions. Archaeological surveys of the Moabite plateau have documented Bronze Age and Iron Age occupation across numerous sites, though no systematic excavation targeting biblical Bamoth has been reported. The Mesha Stele, discovered at Dhiban in 1868, provides important contemporary evidence for the political geography of Moab and the Transjordanian region in the Iron Age, corroborating the general outlines of the biblical narrative concerning Israel's movements in this area.
Verse Appearances (2)
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]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]