Ramathaim-Zophim also called Ramah and Ramatha in the Douay-Rheims, is a town that has been identified with the modern Neby Samwil ("the prophet Samuel"), about 4 or 5 miles north-west of Jerusalem. But there is no certainty as to its precise locality.

The home of Elkanah

Elkanah

Elkanah is a Hebrew name meaning "God has purchased" and may refer to several persons in the Bible called Elkanah:* Elkanah , father of Samuel.* A Levite, ancestor of a certain Berechiah....

, Samuel’s father (1 Samuel 1:19 ; 2:11 ), the birthplace of Samuel and the seat of his authority (1 Sam. 2:11; 7:17), the town is frequently mentioned in the history of that prophet and of David

David

David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...

 (15:34; 16:13; 19:18-23). Here Samuel died and was buried (25:1).

Benjamin of Tudela visited the site when he traveled the land in 1173, noting that the Crusaders had found the bones of Samuel in a Jewish cemetery in Ramla

Ramla

Ramla , is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region...

 on the coastal plain and reburied here, overlooking the Holy City.

The traditional tomb site, which became known as Neby Samwil (“the prophet Samuel”), may have been Mizpah in Benjamin

Mizpah in Benjamin

Mizpah was a city of Benjamin.Tell en-Nasbeh is one of two sites often identified with Biblical Mizpah of Benjamin, and is located about 8 miles north of Jerusalem. The other suggested location is Neby Samwil, which is some 4 miles north-west of Jerusalem, and situated on the loftiest hill in the...

, where Samuel was appointed leader of the Israelites (1 Sam. 7:5-6).

However, if Mizpah in Benjamin

Mizpah in Benjamin

Mizpah was a city of Benjamin.Tell en-Nasbeh is one of two sites often identified with Biblical Mizpah of Benjamin, and is located about 8 miles north of Jerusalem. The other suggested location is Neby Samwil, which is some 4 miles north-west of Jerusalem, and situated on the loftiest hill in the...

  was Tell en-Nasbeh

Tell en-Nasbeh

Tell en-Nasbeh, likely the biblical city of Mizpah in Benjamin, is a 3.2 hectare tell located on a low plateau northwest of Jerusalem...

 on the Nablus

Nablus

Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...

 road, Ishmael who had assassinated Gedaliah

Gedaliah

According to the Hebrew Bible, Gedaliah was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon as governor of Yehud province, which was formed after the defeat of the Kingdom of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem, in a part of the territory that previously formed the kingdom. He was supported by a...

 would not have fled to Ammon

Ammon

Ammon , also referred to as the Ammonites and children of Ammon, was an ancient nation located east of the Jordan River, Gilead, and the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan. The chief city of the country was Rabbah or Rabbath Ammon, site of the modern city of Amman, Jordan's capital...

 via Gibeon

Gibeon

Gibeon was a Canaanite city north of Jerusalem that was conquered by Joshua. and describes the Gibeonites as not being Israelites, but as Amorites.The remains of Gibeon are located on the south edge of the Palestinian village of Jib....

  which is located to the West near Neby Samwil which overlooks Jerusalem. Furthermore, Judas Machabeus, preparing for war with the Syrians, gathered his men "to Maspha, over against Jerusalem: for in Maspha was a place of prayer heretofore in Israel".

Some e.g. Petrus Comestor

Petrus Comestor

-Biography:Born in Troyes, he was first attached to the Church of Notre-Dame in that city and habitually signed himself as "Presbyter Trecensis". Before 1148 he became dean of the chapter and received a benefice in 1148. About 1160 he formed one of the Chapter of Notre-Dame at Paris, and about the...

 (ca. 1100-1179) in his Historia Scholastica

Historia scholastica

The Historia Scholastica is a twelfth-century Biblical paraphrase written in Medieval Latin by Petrus Comestor. Sometimes called the "Medieval Popular Bible", it draws on the Bible and other sources, including the works of classical scholars and the Fathers of the Church, to present a universal...

, Cap. CLXXX: De sepultura Domini, have identified Ramathaim Zofim as Arimathea

Arimathea

Arimathea , according to the Gospel of Luke , was "a city of Judea". It was reportedly the home town of Joseph of Arimathea, who appears in all four Gospel accounts of the Passion for having donated his new tomb outside Jerusalem to receive the body of Jesus...

 of the New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

.