Ai
Town, eastern Canaan, ancient Palestine. In the Bible (Joshua 78), it was destroyed by the Israelites under Joshua. Biblical references agree in locating Ai just east of Bethel (modern Baytn) in the West Bank, at the Early Bronze Age site now called Al-Tall. Excavations at Ai in 193335 uncovered a temple of the 3rd millennium . The biblical events at Ai are assigned to the period 14001200 , when evidence indicates it was not in fact occupied; early tradition may have identified the Canaanite town under Bethel with the nearby ruins of Al-Tall.
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("the ruin'')
1. A Canaanite city east of Bethel. Abraham pitched his tent in the area shortly after arriving in Canaan, and revisited the place after his sojourn in Egypt (Gen 12:8; 13:3). During the Israelite conquest of Canaan after the fall of Jericho, Joshua, told by his spies that Ai was sparsely inhabited, despatched a small force to attack it. The Israelites suffered an overwhelming defeat and were plunged into despair. Joshua appealed to God and was told that this setback was a punishment for Achan's sin (Josh 7:1-12). As soon as Achan was brought to justice (see ACHAN), Joshua attacked Ai a second time; the city was captured, burnt, and reduced to "a heap forever, a desolation to this day'' (Josh 8:1-29).
Among the exiles returning from Babylon with Zerubbabel were men of Ai and Bethel (Ezra 2:1-2, 28; Neh 7:32).
Ai is identified by most scholars with et-Tell, 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of the site of Bethel, to the north of Jerusalem. Excavations have uncovered remains of houses, public buildings and fortifications from the Early Bronze Age. The city remained in ruins until the 12th century B.C. The small unfortified Iron Age village at the site may represent the biblical Ai defeated by Joshua following a clash with its inhabitants in the wadi to the north of the site.
2. A city mentioned with Heshbon in Jeremiah's prophecy against the Ammonites. The location is unknown (Jer 49:3).
Concordance
AI 1:
Gen 12:8; 13:3, Josh 7:2-5; 8:1-3, 9-12,14, 16-18, 20-21, 23-26, 28-29; 9:3; 10:1-2, 12:9. Ezra 2:28. Neh 7:32
AI 2:
Jer 49:3
Top
Ai (ā'ī), in the Bible. 1 Canaanite royal city, E of Bethel. Abraham pitched his tent there when he arrived in Canaan. It is probably the modern et-Tell, near Bethel (West Bank). Excavations have revealed a strongly fortified city situated there. Ai was in ruins at the time of Joshua's conquest. The account in chapter 7 of the Book of Joshua possibly refers instead to Bethel b>1, whose people may have used the nearby ruins of Ai as a bastion against the invading Israelites. It also appears as Hai, Aiath, and Aija. 2 City of the Ammorites, near Heshbon.
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