Ava

Ava (also Ivah, meaning iniquity) was a city in Assyria from which colonists were brought by the Assyrians to repopulate Samaria after the deportation of the northern Israelites (2 Kings 17:24). Its inhabitants, the Avites, introduced the worship of their gods Nibhaz and Tartak into Samaria (2 Kings 17:31). The city is possibly identical with the Ava (Ivvah) mentioned alongside Hamath and Sepharvaim in the Assyrian boast to Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:34; Isaiah 37:13), though this identification is not certain.