Arad
ARAD(Ἀράδ), a city of the Canaanites in the S. of Palestine, in the neighbourhood of the wilderness of Kadesh. When the Israelites were in the mountains of Seir, at the time of Aaron's death, the king of Arad attacked them, and took some of them prisoners. ( Numb. 21.1, 33.40; Judges, i 16.) The city was consequently devoted to destruction by the Israelites; but the accomplishment of their vow ( Numb. 21.3) is only recorded by anticipation, for it was executed under Joshua ( Josh. 12.14). Eusebius and Jerome place Arad 20 M. P. from Hebron and 4 from Malatha. Dr. Robinson identifies it, on the ground of the general agreement in position and the identity of name, with an eminence on the road from Petra to Hebron, called Tell ‘Arad. ( Researches, vol. 3. p. 12.)
[P.S]A fortress on the S border of Judea, 30 km E of Beersheba, occupied from Biblical times to the Early Arab and Mameluke period. The site has been extensively excavated. Ten occupation levels have been unearthed, of which the earlier five represent a series of Israelite Iron Age royal fortresses. The earliest remains of the Classical period are sherds of the 5th-4th c. B.C. (Stratum V, the Persian period), which included Attic imported wares. In the Hellenistic period (Stratum IV, 3d-2d c. B.C.) a tower 18 m square was built in the center of the mound. This was replaced in the Early Roman period (Stratum III, 1st c. A.D.) by a fortress (25 x 20 m) which consisted of a central courtyard surrounded by rooms on two of three sides. This fortress probably formed part of the Flavian limes Palaestinae.
BIBLIOGRAPHYY. Aharoni & R. Amiran, “Excavations at Tel Arad,” Israel Exploration Journal 14 (1964) 131-47; M. Avi-Yonah, The Holy Land from the Persian Period to the Arab Conquests (536 B.C. to A.D. 640). A Historical Geography (1966).
A. NEGEV