Beeshterah

Beeshterah was a Levitical city of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan east of the Jordan, allotted to the Gershonite Levites: "And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Beeshterah with her suburbs; two cities" (Joshua 21:27). The parallel list in 1 Chronicles 6:71 names "Ashtaroth" — confirming that Beeshterah is an alternate or shortened form of Ashtaroth, the great Bashan capital that had once been the seat of King Og. The site is identified with Tell Ashtara south of Damascus on the Bashan plateau.