Maarath
Maarath [1]
For this site Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake proposes (Quar. Statement of the "Pal. Explor. Fund," April 1874, page 76) the Mons Mardes where St. Euthymius found ruins (Acta Sanctorum, 2:306), now Khirbet Mird, near Mar Saba, on a round, isolated hill, containing the remains of an aqueduct, wells, and cisterns (Memoirs to the Ordnance Survey, 3:212); but Lieut. Conder suggests (Quar. Statement, January 1875, page 13) an ancient site near Beit Ainum, where a valley has the corresponding Arabic name, Wady el-Moghair. This latter ruin is laid down on the Ordnance Map, two miles north-east of Hebron, without any name attached. Later, however, Lieut. Conder suggests (Tent Work, 2:338) Beit Ummar, six miles north of Hebron, probably the Betumair of Eusebius (Onomast. s.v. Baalthamar). It is "a small but conspicuous village, standing on the watershed, and visible from some distance on the north. An ancient road passes through it. Halfa mile north-east is a good spring, Ain Kufin. The mosque has a small tower to it. The surrounding neighborhood is covered with brushwood" (Memoirs to Ordnance Survey, 3:303).
