Sartaba

Sartaba (סִרטָבָא), the name of a mountain on which the Jews anciently lighted the beacon fire (the one next to the Mount of Olives) to herald the new moon (Reland, Paloest. p. 346). In one passage it is erroneously written Sartan, סרטן (Schwarz, Palest. p. 162). It is undoubtedly the present Kurn Surtabah (Horn of Sartaba), on the edge of the Ghor, or Jordan valley, not far north of Jericho (Robinson, Bibl. Res. 3, 242, new ed.). The summit still retains traces of the platform erected for building the beacon fires, which Lieut. Conder of the English Engineers has mistaken for the remains of the memorial altar of Jos 22:10 (Quar. Report of "Pal. Explor. Fund," Oct. 1874, p. 241 sq.).