LANDS AND PLACES
Situated in the southern lowland about 15 miles (25 km) southwest of Jerusalem, Tel Jarmuth has traditionally been identified by most scholars as the location of biblical Jarmuth (Josh. 10; 12:11; 15:35; 21:29; Neh. 11:29). The site was among the largest cities of the region during the Early Bronze Age when its population reached around 3,000. It then dramatically declined and finally experienced a 1,000-year hiatus of occupation through the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. From the Iron Age forward, though, the site was almost continually populated.
Biblical Jarmuth was among the five Amorite city-states that formed an alliance against the Gibeonites after they shifted their allegiance to Israel (Josh. 10). Joshua killed Jarmuth’s last ruler, Piram, after the defeat of the five cities. Scripture later lists Jarmuth as one of the cities belonging to the Levites within the territory of the tribe of Issachar (Josh. 21:29). However, it is missing from the 1 Chronicles 6 list. That may result from the substitution of an alternate name for Jarmuth, or perhaps reflects its Levitical status being transferred to another city.
Miroschedji, “Tel Jarmuth,” The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, 661-665.