ZaretanorZarethan (Hebrew: צָרְתָן), also known as Zeredathah, is a city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as near the location where the Hebrews crossed the Jordan (Joshua 3:16). In the books of Joshua (3:16, KJV "Zaretan") and 1 Kings (4:12 KJV "Zartanah", 7:46 "Zarthan"), it is called Zarethan, but in 2 Chronicles it is called Zeredathah (4:17, KJV).
Zaredathah stood in the Jordan Valley.[1] Nelson Glueck looked for it on the east bank of the river, proposing Tell es-Sa'idiyeh [de], but some more recent authors place it on the west bank, one theory identifying it with Tell el-Mazar, also spelled Mezar, in Wadi Far'a.[2] Tell el-Mezar is at the site called in Arabic Qerawa, known from antiquity by the name Korea(i) (κορεα[ι]) or Koreous (Kορεους) and located at the foot of Mount Sartabe.[3]
According to Hebrew Bible, the bronze castings for the Solomon's Temple were made in the clay grounds between Sukkot and Zaretan.
The old identification of the site of the miracle of the Israelites' crossing of the Jordan with the waters stopping their flow at the "city of Adam beside Zaretan" was, according to the Easton's Bible Dictionary (1893 and 1897), presumed to be near Succoth, where the Jabbok flows into the Jordan, about 30 miles upstream from the Israelite camp.[1] There the priests stepped into the water, which then "stood and rose upon an heap", thus creating a 30-mile stretch of dry riverbed for the tribes to use for crossing over to the Promised Land (Joshua 3:16, 17; compare Psalms 104:3).[1]
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Zaretan". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.
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Sites of the Israelite settlement
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Sites involved in the 13th–11th century BCE archaeological phenomenon of the Israelite Settlement | |
| New settlements at previously unoccupied sites in late 13th/early 12th centuries |
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| New settlements at long deserted sites in 12th/11th centuries |
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| Destroyed in late 13th/early 12th centuries |
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| Not destroyed in late 13th/early 12th centuries |
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32°05′45″N 35°27′41″E / 32.0958°N 35.4614°E / 32.0958; 35.4614
