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I. Name The nine toponyms Baal-gad, Baal-hamon, Baal-hazor, Baal-hermon, Baal-judah, Baal-meon, Baal-perazim, Baal-shalisha, and Baal-tamar include various descriptive combinations which are compounded with the divine name or appellative Baal. They are all located in the Canaanite hill country, save for Baal-meon which is located on the plain east of the Dead Sea. There is a difference in the distribution of toponyms which are named by masculine (Baal-X) and feminine (Baalah, Bealoth, Baalath-X) forms. The former are attached to the highlands whe…

I. Name A location north of Gibeah (Tell el-Fûl) where the Israelite troops stood firm against the pursuing Benjaminites after distancing them from their home town ( Judg. 20.33). Eusebius states that in his day there still existed a Beth-tamar near Gibeah, but does not specify its location. Since the second Israelite force which encamped west of Geba (modern Jebaʿ) conquered Gibeah through a surprise attack, it is clear that Baal-tamar must be sought north of the Geba road which starts near Ramah (modern er-Ram). Its exact location remains unknown. II. Identity The ‘date palm’ ( tāmār) …

I. Name A location on the northern border of the allotments of the twelve tribes ( Judg. 3.3; 1 Chr. 5.23). It seems that Baal should be construed as the name of a god, i.e., ‘Baal of Hermon’. Hermon is identical with Jebel esh-Sheikh, the southern peak of the Anti-Lebanon ( Deut. 3.8; Deut. 4.48; Josh. 12.1, Josh. 5; Judg. 3.3; 1 Chr. 5.23). The place to which the toponym refers must be sought somewhere on its slopes. II. Identity In the list of people Yahweh left within the territory of Canaan appear “the Hivites who dwelt on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath” ( Judg. 3.3).…

I. Name A place in the land of Moab listed among the towns of Reuben ( Num. 32.34; Josh. 13.17; 1 Chr. 5.8; Mesha’s inscription). It is also known as Beth-baal-meon ( Josh. 13.17) and Beth-meon ( Jer. 48.23). It is generally identified with Khirbet Maʿin, about 8 km southwest of Madaba. However, no Iron Age remains were found in the course of excavations there. Baal-meon’s exact location has yet to be found. II. Identity Baal-meon was an Israelite town which was conquered by Mesha, king of Moab, in the third quarter of the ninth century bce. Mesha rebuilt the town and made a reservoir ther…

I. Name A location south of Jerusalem, on the way to Bethlehem, where David won his first victory over the Philistines ( 2 Sam. 5.18–20; 1 Chr. 14.9–11). In the story the naming of the place is assigned to David and explained thus: “Yahweh broke ( pāraṣ) through my enemies before me, like a bursting flood ( pereṣ māyim)” (v 20). Since the name Baal-perazim is directly combined with the divine help of Yahweh, it is clear that the element ‘Baal’ was understood by the author as a honorific title of Yahweh (compare Hos. 2.18). Whether the site had a cult place for Yahweh is not clear. I…

I. Name Baal-judah is an appellation of the town of Kiriath-jearim, the element ‘Judah’ distinguishes it from other localities called by the name Baal (compare byt lḥm yhwdh). It was identified at Deir el-ʿAzhar, a tell near modern Abu-ghosh, about 12 km west-northwest of Jerusalem. II. Identity The place appears only once, in a corrupted form, in the introduction to the story of the transfer of the Ark to Jerusalem ( 2 Sam. 6.2). MT has mbʿly yhwdh (“from the citizens of Judah”). However, not only does the sending of “all the people, who were with him, from the citizen…

I. Name A town from which a man came to Elisha bringing “bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain” ( 2 Kgs. 4.42; compare Lev. 2.11–12, Lev. 14–16). Elisha stayed then at Gilgal, near Jericho. According to Rabbi Meir, there was no other Palestinian place where fruits so easily come to fruition as in Baal-shalisha ( Tosefta Sanh. 2, 9; bSanh. 12a). Thus, Baal-shalisha must be sought either in the Jordan Valley or on the slopes overlooking Gilgal. II. Identity An important clue for the location of Baal-shalisha is the land of Shalisha, one of the f…

I. Name A location on the northern border of the allotments of the twelve tribes ( Josh. 11.17; Josh. 12.7; Josh. 13.5). Perhaps Baal should be taken as the name of the god and gad as an appellative (‘Baal is fortune’) rather than the other way round (‘Lord Gad’). Gad is known both from place names (Migdal-gad) and personal names (Gaddi, Gaddiel, Gaddiyau) and is best understood as an appellative, i.e., ‘fortune’. Gad as a divine name is attested only in the post-exilic period ( Isa. 65.11) and since that time appears as a theophoric element in names ( TWAT 1 [1973] 920–921). II. Identity Baal-gad …

I. Name A location near the town of Ophrah/ʿEphraim (possibly modern eṭ-Ṭaibiyeh) where Absalom kept his sheepshearers and where he assassinated his half-brother Amnon ( 2 Sam. 13.23). It seems that Baal should be construed as the name of god, i.e., ‘Baal of Hazor’. It is generally identified with Jebel el-ʿAṣûr, the highest mountain of Mount Ephraim (1016 m. above sea level), 7 km. north-east of Bethel. The site is not attested elsewhere in the OT and has nothing to do with the Hazor mentioned in Neh. 11.33. Abel (1924) suggested to read 1 Macc. 9.15 as heōs Azōrou óros (in place of heōs…

I. Name A location of a plantation of Solomon which he granted to keepers and made highly profitable ( Cant. 8.11). Its name may be homonymous with the place Balamon mentioned in Jdt. 8.3, but they are two different sites. The latter is probably located in the vicinity of Dothan (possibly Ibleam, today Kh. Belʿameh). The name Baal-hamon is not attested elsewhere in the OT and its position remains unknown. II. Identity Literally, Baal-hamon means either ‘Baal of a multitude’ or ‘possessor of wealth’. The first interpretation may ostensibly be compared with the well known divine title “Lord o…

This entry summarizes the contributions of Egyptian women to Arabic literature in the twentieth century, emphasizing the ways in which their consciousness-raising and activism in support of women's rights served and continues to serve as the primary catalyst for much of their literary production. Pioneers From the late nineteenth century through to the early twentieth century, Egypt was the center for literary and intellectual activity in the Arab world. Many Arab writers with exposure to the literary periodicals and salons of the West, part…