Beth-anoth

Beth-anoth ("house of the goddess Anath") was a Judean hill country town listed in Joshua 15:59 in the catalog of the six cities of the southern hill country district: "Maarath, and Beth-anoth, and Eltekon; six cities with their villages." The name preserves the memory of the Canaanite war-goddess Anath, indicating the site's pre-Israelite religious history. The town is generally identified with Beit Anun about 6 km northeast of Hebron, where ancient ruins and a substantial tell preserve the long settlement history of the southern Judean highlands.