Places in the Bible Today:

Havilah 2

Data

Translated NameHavilah
Typeregion
Geo Data KML (for Google Earth)
GeoJSON (for GIS applications)

4 Possible Identifications

  1. in Arabia 1 (ancient): 55% confidence

    1. desert in the Arabian Peninsulain the Arabian Peninsula

  2. another name for Arabia 1 (ancient): 15% confidence

    1. desert in the Arabian PeninsulaArabian Peninsula

  3. another name for Havilah 1 (ancient): less than 10% confidence. It may be:

    1. Ishtar gate from Babylonin Babylonia

    2. cityscape of Sanaaabout 200 km around Sanaa

    3. desert in the Arabian PeninsulaArabian Peninsula

    4. ruins at Zeilaabout 200 km around Zeila

  4. about 100 km around Ha’il (modern): less than 10% confidence

    1. cityscape of Ha’ilabout 100 km around Ha’il

Verses (1)

Gen 25:18

Linked Data Identifiers

SourceIdentifier
Logos FactbookHavilah (in Arabia)
OpenBible.info (2007)Havilah 2
OpenBible.infoac5e5c4 (Havilah 2)
TIPNRHavilah@Gen.25.18
WikipediaHavilah (partial)

Sources

  1. Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (1992): Havilah (place)
  2. Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land (1990): Havilah
  3. Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary (2013): Havilah
  4. Baly, Atlas of the Biblical World (1971): Havilah
  5. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000): Havilah (place)
  6. Expositor’s Bible Commentary (1984): 1Sam 15:4-9
  7. Hamilton, Genesis (1995): 25:12-18
  8. HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (2011): Havilah
  9. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (2003)
  10. Lexham Bible Dictionary (2016): Havilah
  11. Matthews, Genesis (1996, 2005): 25:18
  12. New Bible Dictionary (1996): Havilah
  13. New Interpreter’s Bible Dictionary (2009)
  14. New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (1988)
  15. Wenham, Genesis (1987, 1994): 25:18
  16. Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia (1975): Havilah
  17. Zondervan Atlas of the Bible (2010)
  18. Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible (2010)

Confidence Trends over Time

This chart indicates how confidence in the identifications is changing over time. Each dot (connected by a dotted line) reflects the confidence of an identification over the preceding ten years (e.g., the 2009 dot reflects scholarship from 2000 to 2009), and the corresponding solid line reflects a best-fit line for the identification. Confidences that cluster near or below 0% indicate low confidence. Because of the small dataset, it's best to use this chart for general trends; if one identification is trending much higher than the others (in this case, in Arabia 1), then you can probably have higher confidence in the identification. This chart only reflects the sources I consulted (listed above), not an exhaustive review of the literature.

Places with Similar Names

Thumbnail Image Credits

Peter Dowley, Radomir Vrbovsky, Ferdinand Reus, Walter Callens, Khalid Alhallabi

About

This page attempts to identify all the possible locations where this biblical place could be. The confidence levels add up to less than 100%, indicating that the modern location is uncertain. It's best to think about the confidences in relative rather than absolute terms. Often they reflect different schools of thought, each confident in their identifications.

The isobands you see on the map (gray areas with dark borders) attempt to give you confidence where a region is. Because many ancient regions aren't precisely defined, I consulted atlases to determine where the biblical region is located and used that data to build the isobands. The smaller isobands reflect more confidence that the given isoband is in the region, while the larger isobands reflect less confidence. Isobands are a kind of contour line that here indicate confidence levels.