BETH-ANATH:

A Canaanite city in the territory of Naphtali, the name of which contains, as one of its elements, the name of a god, Anath. Though the Israelites did not succeed in conquering this city, the Canaanitish inhabitants became tributary to them (Josh. xix. 38; Judges i. 33). The city is mentioned several times in Egyptian inscriptions (W. Max Müller, "Asien und Europa," pp. 195, 220). The exact location can not be definitely ascertained. It is generally supposed to be on the site of the present village 'Ainitha, in a fertile valley southeast of Tibnin in Galilee; but it is doubtful whether an impregnable fortress could have stood there. Since Rameses II. speaks of a mountain Beth-anath, W. Max Müller holds that the city itself lay in the valley.

J. Jr. F. Bu.
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