Assyrian relief of an attack on the high place of Kalhu (Nimrud).
Dr. Alice C. Linsley
The Hebrew ruler-priest caste served at the high places of the ancient world. Many of these were under the authority of regional kings who had fortresses at high elevation for defensive purposes. The high place complex usually included a palace, treasury, temple or shrine, housing for servants, officials and priests, and a garrison. That is why some scholars note that even though bamah is translated as “high place” or “hill shrine,” many were located in populated areas.
The word bamah can also refer to a horned altar made of stone. The priests who served the ruler of the high places offered sacrificed on those altars. Because these high places were places of burnt offerings, they are often described as places of kar. The term kar is associated with charcoal and soot. The Turkish kara means "black." In Magyar, korom refers to soot, as does the Korean word kurim.
Many high places were rock shelters, signified by the term kar or car. Some have been identified in the Carpathian range. The range is called Karpaty in Czech, Polish, and Slovak, and Карпати in Ukrainian and Bulgarian, Carpați in Romanian, Karpaten in German, Kárpátok in Hungarian, Karpati in Serbian, and in Albanian, karpë means "rock."
The wife of Esau the Younger was called Oholibamah which means high tent or high place tabernacle. She was Horite Hebrew (Gen. 36).
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