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ARAD

(Heb. ʿărāḏ)

(PLACE)

A city in the Negeb desert region. In the account of the entry of the Israelites into the region, the “King of Arad” is mentioned as fighting against Israel (Num. 21:1-3). After an initial defeat the Israelites were victorious and “destroyed them and their cities”; the place was named Hormah, or “destruction” (cf. Num. 33:40). In Josh. 12:14 Arad appears in a list of kings defeated by Joshua. Judg. 1:16 reports that Kenites joined Judahites in settling near Arad.

The list of cities conquered by Shishak of Egypt (960 b.c.e.) includes “the citadels of Arad the Great and Arad of the house of YRHM” — either the house of Yeroham or Jerahmiel. Archaeological evidence does not clarify the identifications of these Arads.

Tel {Arad (162075), 30 km. (19 mi.) E of Beersheba and 32 km. (20 mi.) S of Hebron, has retained the ancient name. It is a large site with a smaller but pronounced citadel mound. The lower city was excavated between 1964 and 1982 by Ruth Amiran. Unfortified settlements are attested from the Chalcolithic period to 2950 (EB I). The city walls fortifying the site date to EB II, and enclose an area of 10 ha. (25 a.). Public and private buildings including a palace and temples have been identified, as has a well-built water reservoir. The city suffered a major destruction ca. 2800, but occupation continued until ca. 2650. The demise of Canaanite Arad is probably to be attributed to declining rainfall in the area, and perhaps as well to political unrest throughout the Near East.

Excavation of the citadel by Yohanan Aharoni shows a gap of ca. 1500 years from the abandonment of the EB city to the building of a settlement in the citadel area ca. 1200. Six successive Iron III strata followed in the shape of a rectangular fortress. A temple or cult center with a holy of holies has been identified here. Aharoni suggests that stratum XI was destroyed by Shishak. Also on the citadel was an unfortified Persian settlement, followed by Hellenistic and Roman forts. The site is notable for having produced more ostraca — mostly Hebrew but some Aramaic — than any other archaeological site in the ancient biblical world.

Bibliography. M. Aharoni, R. Amiran, and O. Ilan, “Arad,” NEAEHL 1: 75-87; Y. Aharoni, Arad Inscriptions (Jerusalem, 1981); R. Amiran, Early Arad (Jerusalem, 1978).

Bruce C. Cresson

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ARAD

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)