The poetry of Micah’s oracle of doom (Mic 1:8-16) combines two undeniable motifs, the motif of the lament and that of geography. The latter motif is not well understood due to the obscurity of the place names found in vv. 10a-12b. A careful study of the oracle’s geographical con-text, however, will lead to a more precise understanding of the topography of vv. 10-12b and serve as the basis for the identification of one of the more enigmatic place names, Beth-le-aphrah (v. 10b), with the archaeological site of Tell el-‘Areini
