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JUDEA, ju-dî'a

  1. The Name and the Territory.
    1. History (§ 1).
      Boundaries of Judea Proper (§ 2).
  2. Detailed Description.
    1. The Territory of Judah.
      1. Limits, Population and Divisions (§ 1).
        The Shephelah (§ 2).
        The Hill Country (§ 3).
        Hebron (§ 4).
        Mamre (§ 5).
        Other Cities of Josh. xv. (§ 6).
        Places Named in Later Records (§ 7).
    2. 2. The Territory of Benjamin.
      1. General Description; Jericho (§ 1).
        The First Group of Benjamite Cities (§ 2).
        The Second Group (§ 3).
        Other Places of Note (§ 4).
    3. The Judean Territory of Dan.
    4. The Judean Territory of Ephraim.
    5. Cities on the Western Plain.
    6. The Eleven Toparchies of Judea According to Josephus.

I. The Name and the Territory:
1. History.

Judea is the term applied from about 300 B.C. by Greeks and Romans to the land inhabited by the Jews. The limits of the country are to be gathered from passages in Nehemiah (iii, and vii.) and in I and II Maccabees. These reports, while not entirely accordant, yet supplement each other, and start from the point of view either of governmental rule, of tribal possession, or of relationship to the religious community. The boundaries are fairly well indicated in Neh. iii.; on the south Bethzur marked the border, in the north Bethhoron, and on the west Emmaus, and these are approximately the limits implied in the Books of Maccabees (of. the list of fortresses "in Judea" in I Macc. ix. 50 sqq.). Under the Persians, as under the Greeks, this region shared the fate of southern Syria. After the death of Alexander the Great it fell into the hand of the Ptolemies (q.v.), who held control of it almost continuously till 198 B.C. It was a part of the province of "Celesyria" (I Macc. x. 69) or of "Celesyria and Phenice" (II Macc. iii. 5). The inhabitants, on account of their religion, were granted many privileges until the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, but the payment of tribute was enforced, if necessary, by the presence of garrisons, a situation which the Maccabean revolution brought to an end (I Macc. x. 25-45). The Greek name for this territory, loudaia, as well as the adjective loudaios, is not to be derived from the Hebrew Yehudhi, but from the Aramaic Yehudhay (Ezra iv. 12; Dan. iii. 8). The earliest sure traces of the use of this name are found at the end of the fourth century B.C., contemporaneously with the beginning of Greek control of the Orient. In I Maccabees the usage is divided between the normal Greek form and a Hebraizing form louda, with a preference for the latter. As a result of the Hasmonean uprising (see HASMONEANS) the territory was enlarged and the name had both a narrow and a wider content. The extension of territory was begun by Jonathan, when in 147 B.C. Alexander Bales gave to him the city of Ekron with its surrounding territory. In 145 B.C. Demetrius II. added three districts in the north and west which bad belonged to Samaria (I Macc. xi. 28, 34, 57), named "Apherema, Lydda, and Ramathem" after the names of their chief cities. Apherema is probably the Ephraeim or Efraea of the Onomasticon (ccliv. 118, cclvii. 121), about twenty Roman miles north of Jerusalem; Lydda corresponds to the Lod of the Old Testament (Ezra ii. 33); and Ramathem was about nine miles northeast of Lydda and six west of Thamna. The probable reason for this grant was that the population was largely Jewish. Soon after, Bethzur was taken away from the Seleucidæ (I Macc. xi. 66), and in 142 B.C. Joppa was taken and then Judaized (I Macc. xii. 33), and the same happened to Gezer (I Macc. xiii. 43 sqq.). John Hyrcanus took Medaba and Samega across the Jordan, also Samaria and Scythopolis, and in the south the territory of the Idumeans. Aristobulus conquered from the Itureans a part of their territory. Alexander Jannæus annexed considerable territory across the Jordan and Raphia, Anthedon, and Gaza on the Mediterranean. In 63 B.C. Pompey restricted Judea to strictly Jewish territory. Herod came into possession of Samaria, Batanea, Auranitis, Trachonitis, and the region of the Jordan sources. During the first century of the Christian era the changes in apportionment of the territory were numerous. In the second century Judea came to be called Syria Palestina, and after the fourth century simply Palestina. Josephus distinguishes Judea from Samaria, makes Judea stand for the region under Hyrcanua or Herod, or for the district ruled by procurators after 6 A.D., or for the region granted to Vespasian. When he extends the use of the word, he uses the phrase "all Judea," equivalent to the "Canaan" of the Old Testament.

2. Boundaries of Judea Proper.

Judea as treated in this article is the smaller region as distinguished from Samaria, Galilee, and Perea, defined partly in Josephus and in the Talmud. Josephus (Ant. XIV., iii. 4) makes Koreæ, the modern Karawa, the most northern city, and includes the regions of Thamna, Gophna, and Akrabattine (that is, the Akrabbein of the Onomasticon ccxiv.), while Josephus draws the line of the northern boundary through Anuath Borkaios, possibly the 'Othnay of the Talmud. The Talmud also locates Antipatria as a boundary city, possibly the modern Kalat Ras al-Aïn northwest of Jaffa and north of Lydda. Whether Judea at the beginning of the Christian era included a part of the coast is doubtful. Joppa had been in the possession of the Jews and Jamnia had a large Jewish population, but the way in which Josephus mentions these places (War

II. Detailed Description.—1. The Territory of Judah:
1. Limits, Population, and Divisions.

According to the Old Testament this region

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was inhabited by the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Dan, and a part of Ephraim. In spite of the exact details given in Josh. xv. 1-12, the limits assigned to the tribe of Judah can not be determined for lack of identification of many places named in the passage. It is probable also that the boundary there given was not one which remained constant as separating the tribes, and the limits assigned to the tribe and those of the kingdom of Judah may not be taken as equivalents. Still further, it must be remembered that in Joshua the limits are rather ideal than actual, as when the Mediterranean is given as the western boundary, a condition which was realized only in small part and not till the time of Alexander Jannæus and of Herod the Great, though the Philistines were at times tributary. The northeast corner, according to the passage, was where the Jordan enters the Dead Sea, and the boundary passed by Beth-hoglah (Kasr Hajla) to Adummim (Talat al-Damm), then by En-rogel through the Hinnom valley on the west down to Kirjath-jearim, and thence westward to the seacoast. In this Old-Testament territory of Judah dwelt others than the members of the tribe, the chief city of which was Bethlehem. The three great families of the tribe, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (Gen. xlvi. 12) are in part connected with the Canaanitic Shua and partly with Tamar (Gen. xxxviii.), which is perhaps identical with the city (or region) of Tamar on the border of the Negeb, inhabited by Kenizzite or Jerahmeehte affiliations--the stock which furnished new life to the waning tribe of Judah. A part of the Danites which remained in the south became incorporated into the tribe of Judah (Josh. xv. 33, xix. 41). Farther south dwelt the numerous families of the Calebites and Kenizzites in the region of Hebron, and still to the south the Kenites and Jerahmeelites. While the Calebites appear in early times to have been a dominant family, this dominance was lost under David and the whole territory received its name from the principal element of the population at that time, though still later the Calebites came to the front again, until in the Exile the inroads of the Edomites pressed them northward and compelled them to seek homes in the neighborhood of the depopulated Jerusalem, where they became fully identified with the Judaic element. From the Edomitic intruders into the southern region that part received the new name of Idumea, and in Maccabean times Bethzur was on the boundary between the two regions.

2. The Shephelah.

The passage in Joshua divides the whole region into four parts: the Negeb (q-v.), the Shephelah, the hill country, and the desert (see PALESTINE). According to the original text of Josh. xv., the Shephelah had three groups of cities, according to the extended text, four groups, and a distinction is made between towns (protected by a wall), forty-four in number, and villages. The first group (Josh. xv. 33-36) includes fifteen, towns, of which the following are known: Eshtaol, identified by Guérin with Ashu'a on the basis of its earlier name Ashtu'al; Zorah, possibly the Zarha of the Amarna Tablets; Zanoah, the modern Zanu'a; Adullam, identified by Clermont-Ganneau with Khirbat 'Id al-Miya; Socoh is Shuwaika, on the south bank of the Wadi al-Sant. The second group, of sixteen towns, is located to the west and southwest of the first, toward Gaza (verses 37-41). Mizpeh is placed at the foot of the hills near the Wadi al-Sant, westward from Shuwaika. Lachish is identified with Tell el-Hesy, recently excavated, mentioned in the Amarna Tablets as an important Canaanitic center, and appearing in the Assyrian records and in the Books of Kings. Eglon is the modern Ajlan, and Lahmas or Lahmam is the modern Lahm. The third group (verses 42-44) of nine (Septuagint, ten) cities includes Libnah (known to Eusebius as Lobna in the neighborhood of Eleutheropolis); Keilah, located by the Onomasticon seven Roman miles east of Eleutheropolis on the Wadi al-Sur (but this is in the highland, not in the Shephelah); Achzib, placed by the same authority near Eleutheropolis and possibly the modern Ain el-Kazba; and Maresha, located two Roman miles from Eleutheropolis, possibly at Merash. On the fourth group, including Ekron, Ashdod, and Gaza, see PHILISTINES.

3. The Hill Country.

The towns of the hill country of Judah are in the Hebrew text (verses 48-80) divided into five groups, to which the Septuagint adds a sixth. The first group of eleven cities lay south from Hebron, south-east of Jibrin. Shamir is placed by Guérin at Somara southwest of Hebron. The Onomasticon locates Jattir twenty Roman miles from Eleutheropolis, the modern Attir; Socoh is Shuwaika north of Attir; Debir (Kirjath-sannah or Kirjath-sepher) was a royal Canaanitie city of some importance, possibly the modern al-Dahariya; Anab is the present Anab, about three miles southwest of Debir; Eshtemoah may be al-Samua east of Shuwaika; Anim is put by the Onomasticon nine Roman miles south of Hebron. The second group of nine cities lay north of the first group and includes Hebron (verses 52-54). Arab appears in the Septuagint as Airem, but its location is doubtful; Dumah is represented by the modern al-Doma north of al-Dahariya, and is placed by Eusebius and Jerome seventeen Roman miles from Eleutheropolis; Beth-tappuah is the elevated village Taffuh, six miles west of Hebron in a wine-growing country. It was in early times a fortress and was fortified in the Maccabean war (I Macc. ix. 50). The Onomasticon makes it a boundary city between Palestine and Egypt.

4. Hebron.

Hebron was regarded as of considerable antiquity, built seven years earlier than Zoan (Tanis) in Egypt (Num. xiii. 22), and with this corresponds the notable part Hebron takes in the narratives concerning the patriarchs. It appears as a city of the Anakites, who were of the race of the giants (Num. xiii. 33), and its old name was Kirjath-arba, "fourfold city," explained in Jewish legend as the place of settlement of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Adam or Caleb. P in several passages locates the Hittites there. The Idumean inhabitants of the time of Josephus said that the city was older than Memphis in Egypt. The

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concurrence of tradition makes it possible that Hebron was the oldest of the southern cities of Judah. Its situation in a defensible location and in a comparatively fruitful region makes the tradition of its age still more probable, and to this is added that its site was on the principal roads which traverse the region, making it a center of commerce also. Hommel would connect the name Hebron with the Habiri of the Amarna Tablets (q.v.) as originally Habiran, i.e., town of the Habiri. According to Josh. x. 36 it was conquered by Joshua when at the head of all the people after the campaign against the five kings, but Judges i. 10 ascribes its conquest to the tribe of Judah alone. It was the home of the Calebites, and the narrative in Josh. xv. 13-19 attributes to Joshua the gift of the region to them. The later history of Hebron is little known. It became the home of David and his company, where he was sought by the Judahites, and was his capital until the capture of Jerusalem, after which it lost its importance. The rebellion of Absalom began there, Rehoboam fortified it, in the time of the exile the Edomites reduced it and held possession of it till Judas Maccabeus took it in 164 B.C. The priest code made it one of the cities of refuge and the Chronicler regards it as Jewish at the time of Zerubbabel. The place on the site now identified as that of Hebron is called al-Halil or Halil al-Rahman, "Friend of the Merciful," in memory of Abraham, whose tomb is still pointed out in the neighborhood. According to Gen. xxiii. 9 sqq., the tomb was in a cave in Machpelah "before Mamre," and Mamre is identified with Hebron in Gen. xxiii. 19; consequently the cave was to the east of the city. But this does not correspond with the present situation, since the greater part of the city is to the east of the tomb. But there are clear evidences that a hill to the west of the present city was in early times thickly populated, and that would correspond with the old Mamre. The tomb is said to have received the bodies of Sarah; Abraham, Isaac, Rebecca, Leah and Jacob. Josephus speaks of a monument of the Abrahamic family in Hebron, of marble and beautifully worked, while the tomb was hewn out of the rock--a description which agrees well with the Genesis account of the cave. The Pilgrim of Bordeaux (c. 333 A.D.) mentions a monument there, Antoninus Martyr (570 A.D.) notes a basilica with a court in the middle, which in the seventh century passed into the possession of the Mohammedans, the haram of the present city, the lower walls of which are old and built of large stones. The entrance is on the east, and between the inner and outer walls are two octagonal chapels in which stand the cenotaphs of Abraham and Sarah. The mosque itself measures some ninety feet by sixty-eight, and is divided into three aisles with nine vaults, the middle one containing the monument of Isaac and Rebecca. The cave in which were the graves of the patriarchs is asserted to be under the mosque, and it is regarded as double in form and has two entrances. The northern part of the haram area contains a number of modern grave monuments, and one of them contains the cenotaph of Jacob and Leah. What is called the tomb of Joseph is in an addition built against the encircling wall at some time later than the crusades. The description of the interior is gathered from the observations of notables to whom the privilege of entrance has in recent years been granted through the special favor of the sultan, since admission to "unbelievers" is refused by the fanatical Moslems of Hebron. This favor was granted to the Prince of Wales (1862), the Marquis of Bute (1866), the Crown Prince of Prussia (1869), and Prince Albert Victor and Prince George of Wales (1882). The report based on examination next preceding that of these later observations was made by monks of the Latin Church in 1119 A.D., and stated that there were chambers under the mosque. The oldest part of the entire structure is the splendid encircling wall, and De Vogüe remarks upon the resemblance of the stones which compose it to those of the south wall of the haram in Jerusalem, rightly attributed to Herod the Great; the Pilgrim of Bordeaux knew such a wall, though Josephus says nothing about it. Some of the capitals of the columns have a Byzantine character and the inclusion of old parts in what is evidently more modern agrees with the statement of Samuel bar Simson (c. 1210 A.D.) to the effect that the sanctuary at Hebron was built 600 years before his time. The present Hebron, divided into seven quarters, has a population of some 19,000, of whom 1,500 are Jews having three synagogues, and the rest Moslems who display a specially fanatical spirit against all foreigners. The immediate region is fruitful, and some industries and considerable commerce are conducted there.

5. Mamre.

In connection with the Mamre of Abraham are mentioned oaks or terebinths where the patriarch built an altar (Gen. xiii. 18); if Mamre is a location opposite the tombs of the patriarchs (Gen. xxiii. 19, xxxv. 27), there is a connection with a holy place. Gen. xiv. 13 speaks of Mamre as a man, an Amorite and brother of Eshcol and Aner. Eshcol is mentioned as a place (Num. xiii. 23 and elsewhere), possibly the modern Iskahal six miles northwest of Hebron. This representation in Gen. xiv. is now regarded as that of a later and special source, and is taken as less reliable than those which make these names apply to places and not individuals, especially as Aner is identified with the hill Na'ir in West Hebron and Mamre with Nimm in the northern part of the city. Yet it must be said that these identifications are uncertain and do not fit the data of the Old Testament. The Septuagint of Gen. xiii. 18 uses the singular in speaking of the oak, and this agrees with Josephus, Ant. I., x. 4, though the latter suggests the weaving of a myth about the place, and in Josephus, War, IV., ix. 7, mention is made of a large terebinth as old as the world situated six stadia from Hebron. Echoes of this sacred tree with its sanctuary come from the times of Hadrian and of Constantine; possibly the tree was destroyed under the latter emperor, as Jerome says that it was in existence while he was still a youth. A place which corresponds well is mentioned in itineraries, and this agrees with the present Ramat al-Halil ("Ramah of Abraham") two miles north of Hebron east of the road to Jerusalem, where ruins suggest

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an old sanctuary. Farther to the east are the remains of a large church, possibly those of the basilica built by Constantine. Traces of recollection of the tree in this locality were found as late as 1856. Since the thirteenth century there have been traces of a tradition of an Abraham's oak to the south, on a site possessed by the Russians. The differences in the traditions and locations assigned may be due to the fact that a grove or groves existed in the earlier times, which dwindled to a single tree perhaps as early as the time of the Septuagint.

6. Other Cities of Josh. xv.

The third group of cities of the hill country includes ten cities (Septuagint, nine), located east of the second and north of the first group. Maon, the modern Ma'in, appears as the home of the Calebite Nabal (I Sam. xxv. 2), and on the site are remains of walls, caves, and cisterns. The "wilderness of Maon" (I Sam. xxiii. 24) was probably the region to the southeast. Carmel, a possession of Nabal, is the modern al-Karmal, about seven miles south of Hebron. Ziph (I Chron. ii. 42; I Sam. xxiii. 19) corresponds with the present Tell Zif southeast of Hebron, while Josh. xv. 24 refers to another place in the Negeb. Juttah (Josh. xxi. 16) retains its name and lies south of Hebron, a large village whose inhabitants possess great herds of sheep. Jezreel is treated in a special article. Of the Gibea of this region no traces remain, though the Onomasticon names it. The fourth group (Josh. xv. 58-59) includes six cities situated north of Hebron. Halhul retains its old name, an important village five and a half miles distant from Hebron. Beth-zur is regarded (I Chron. ii. 45) as Calebite, and in Neh. iii. 16 as a double district. It was an important fortress in the Maccabean wars, lying a little west of the road to Jerusalem, near a good spring where ruins attest the situation. Gedor, the modern Jedur, north of Beth-zur, is mentioned in I Chron. xii. 7 and after the exile was inhabited by Calebites. Beth-anoth (probably meaning "sanctuary of the goddess Anath") is possibly the modern Bat Ainun, southeast of Halhul, where ruins still exist. The other places are unidentified. The fifth group is known only through the text of the Septuagint, and includes eleven places of which eight can be placed. Tekoa appears in Amos i. 1; II Sam. xiv. 2 sqq., xxiii. 26, and was often mentioned in the regal and post-exilic periods. The present Tekua, nearly ten miles south of Jerusalem, contains ruins of a Christian church and cisterns and tombs. Ephrathah is in the Greek text equated with Bethlehem (cf. Gen. xxxv. 19), though there is doubt whether Ephrathah was not the name of a district. Peor, in the neighborhood of Bethlehem, corresponds with the present Faghur. Etam appears in I Chron. iv. 3 and II Chron. xi. 6, and corresponds with the modern 'Ain Atan. Kulon may be the present Kaluniyeh, northwest of Jerusalem, on the road to Jaffa. Sores may be the present Saris, west of Jerusalem, south of the same road. Karem is possibly 'Ain Karim, four and a half miles west of Jerusalem. Bether is regarded as the true name for the Gibeon of Neh. vii. 25, the modern Bittir, six miles southwest of Jerusalem. The sixth group (Josh. xv. 60) includes only two cities, Kirjath-baal (Kirjath-jearim) and Rabbah, clearly west of Jerusalem. The name of the first varies in diferent passages. It was one of the cities of the Gibeonites, the ark remained there a long time, it was the home of the prophet Uriah, and after the exile was reckoned among the possessions of the Jewish community. While its direction from various places is in different passages given with apparent exactness upon the boundary between Judah and Benjamin, and according to the Onomasticon some nine or ten Roman miles from Jerusalem along the old road to Diospolis (Lydda), the exact location is still disputed. The last portion of the Judaic territory (Josh. xv. 61-62) takes in "the wilderness," i.e., the eastern slope of the hills toward the Dead Sea. The Hebrew text mentions six cities, the Septuagint seven with very different names. Two of these are identified. The City of Salt lay probably in the Valley of Salt (II Sam. viii. 13), therefore to the south corresponding to Tell al-Milh, about fifteen miles east of Beersheba. En-gedi lay on the Dead Sea (Ezek. xlvii. 10), and, according to the Onomasticon, was a large village. The name corresponds with that of the present Ain Jidi on a terrace above the sea, near which are the remains of an old wall. It is identified with Hazazon-tamar in II Chron. xx. 2, and was one of the places of refuge of David (I Sam. xxiv. 1).

7. Places Named in Later Records.

This list of places belonging to Judah includes ninety-four "cities," apart from those in the Negeb, but can not be supposed to be exhaustive. Thus the Adoraim of II Chron. xi. 9 does not appear, though it receives frequent mention in the later records. It is the modern Dura, about six miles southwest of Hebron. Another is the Cozeba of I Chron. iv. 22. Later in the history other cities appear, like the Herodia of Herod the Great, sixty stadia south of Jerusalem, with its splendid buildings and its Herodium or tower. Immediately above the coast of the Dead sea and not quite ten miles south of En-gedi was the fortress Masada, of great importance in Herodian times and in the first century, the site of which is placed at al-Sabba, the ruins of which indicate partly Herodian origins and partly Roman. The northern part of the wilderness of Judea was from the fourth till the seventh century inhabited by thousands of recluses and monks, but to-day has only the single monastery of Mar Saba (founded by Sabas c. 478 A.D.), where are some fifty Greek monks. The. names of fifty or sixty establishments for recluses or ascetics have been preserved which were located between the Dead Sea and the watershed to the west. On the west slope of the hill country the city of Eleutheropolis, very often mentioned in the Onomasticon, becomes known under its earlier name of Bethgubrin, known still as Bet-Jibrin. This city became somewhat celebrated under Christian rule, and the names of many of its bishops are on record. Its position was at the crossing of several roads between Gaza and Jerusalem, west of Hebron, near the ancient Marasha. After the Arabian conquest it lost its significance, though it is mentioned several times afterward.

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2. The Territory of Benjamin:
1. General Description: Jericho.

The part of Judea which belonged to the tribe of Benjamin is described in Josh. xviii. 11 sqq. Its southern boundary coincided with the northern boundary of Judah from the Jordan in the east to Kirjath-jearim in the west, its western boundary ran from Kirjath-jearim to Beth-horon, its northern boundary from Beth-horon to the Jordan by Bethel and Jericho, while the Jordan limited it on the east, thus including a territory not quite twelve miles by thirty-one. The region about Jericho was very fruitful, the eastern slope unproductive, the upland poor in water and infertile except the strip between Bethel and Beth-horon. From the west and the north the country is not easily reached, and naturally its population was regarded as warlike and inclined to brigandage (Gen. xlix. 27). The account in Josh. xviii. employs earlier sources, but, when considered historically, raises many difficulties, especially in connection with political relations. The boundary between the two kingdoms fluctuated with the fortunes of the kingdoms themselves; probably the picture in Joshua registers the conditions after the time when the northern kingdom fell. Jerusalem seems to have been connected with the territory of Benjamin, not that of Judah. The cities as described in the Joshua passage fall into two groups, one to the east of twelve cities (verses 21-24) and one to the west of fourteen (verses 25-28). The chief city of the first group is Jericho, called also in some passages "the city of palm-trees" (Deut. xxxiv. 3). The book of Joshua tells of the miraculous capture of the city and of its complete destruction by Joshua, as well as of his imprecation upon the man that should rebuild it. This last item does not agree with statements in Judges iii. 13; II Sam. x. 5; but I Kings xvi. 34 tells of its rebuilding and the realization of the curse by Hiel. A company of prophets made it their home in the time of Elijah and Elisha. It was inhabited after the return (Neh. iii. 2), Bacchides fortified it against Jonathan (I Macc. ix. 50), and in a fortress near by Simon the Maccabee was treacherously murdered. Herod secured possession of the city and beautified it, placing there one of his palaces, though his buildings seem to have been south of the ancient city site. In the time of Josephus the region was a very garden for fertility, watered as it was by the streams of the wady which debouched upon its plain. It was Herod's city at which Jesus rested on his last journey to Jerusalem (Matt. xx. 29), and the Onomasticon implies that it was destroyed at the fall of Jerusalem. A new city arose near by, where Justinian built a church, and this was destoyed either by the Persians or the Arabs. The Crusaders erected a city which soon fell into disrepair. In recent times a new era has come to it. The Jordan valley from the Sea of Tiberias to the Dead Sea belongs to the sultan personally, and one of his representatives resides at Jericho. The Russians have a church and a hospice there.

2. The First Group of Benjamite Cities.

A second city in this group was Beth-hoglah, on the boundary line, three Roman miles from Jericho and two from the Jordan, according to the Onomasticon. Betharaba lay on the plain of the Jordan, but its site is not recovered. Zemaraim is probably to be sought on the highland south of Bethel (II Chron. xiii. 4). Bethel is the well-known Betin, and the outlook corresponds entirely with the requirements of Gen. xii. 8, xiii. 3-10, xxviii. 18, 22, though the city of the name was necessarily apart from the sanctuary situated there from which the city took its name. It appears as on the boundary between Joseph and Judah, and near it was the oak of weeping by the grave of Deborah (Gen. xxxv. 8). This may have been one of the oldest Yahweh sanctuaries in the highland, and it was selected by Jeroboam as one of the two great sacred places of his realm. There or near by a company of the prophets had its settlement (II Kings ii. 3 sqq.), and the priests sent by the Assyrians to teach the people religion dwelt there (II Kings xvii. 24 sqq.); Josiah destroyed the sanctuary (II Kings xxiii. 15), and Bacchides fortified the place in the Maccabean wars. North of it is a singular group of stones which is recognized by some scholars as a cromlech (Hebr. Gilgal). Avvim is sometimes identified with Ai, but without certainty. Para is identified with Fara, a little over nine miles west of Jericho in Wadi Fara. Ophra, probably the same as the place mentioned I Sam. xiii. 17, the Ephron of II Chron. xiii. 19, and the Ephraim of II Sam. xiii. 23, is mentioned in John xi. 54 and Josephus, War, IV., ix. 9. Geba is the Gibeah of I Sam. xiii. 16, the present Jeba, to be distinguished from the Gibeath of Josh. xviii. 28.

3. The Second Group.

The second group of Benjamite cities includes, according to the Hebrew, fourteen places, accord ing to the Septuagint, thirteen (not all the same as the Hebrew). Gibeon comes very often into notice in the history of the people. It formed one of a league of cities at the time of the conquest, and its inhabitants are called Hivites (Josh. ix. 7). It had a notable sanctuary (I Kings iii. 4 sqq.), became one of the priestly cities, and by indications from the Onomasticon is placed at al-Jib about five and a half miles north of Jerusalem, occupying the northern peak of a twin hill. Ramah lay north of Jerusalem and Gibeath, on the road that leads northward, a border town between Israel and Judah in the time of Ass. The tomb of Rachel seems to have been in the vicinity (Jer. xxxi. 15). The Onomasticon places it six Roman miles north of Jerusalem, opposite Bethel, the modern al-Ram, the site of old ruins. Beeroth ("wells") was one of the places which joined in the league with Gibeon (Josh. ix. 17), but was evacuated before the Benjamites (II Sam. iv. 3). The Onomasticon locates it seven Roman miles from Jerusalem on the road to Nicopolis which leads from Jerusalem by Gibeon and Beth-horon to the western plain. This suits better than the location of al-Bira, eleven Roman miles north of Jerusalem near Bethel. Mizpeh was fortified by Asa against the northern kingdom, and was the residence of Gedaliah after 586 B.C. (I Kings xv. 22; II Kings xxv. 23). It is frequently mentioned in both the earlier and the later annals of the people, and lay on the road from Jerusalem to

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Shechem, and, according to the Onomasticon, near Kirjath-jearim. Robinson places it at the lofty Nabi Samwil, two miles south of Gibeon, where is a village and a mosque said to contain the tomb of Samuel. In Byzantine times this was the site assigned to Rama or Ramathaim, and the Crusaders built here a church of St. Samuel, changed into a mosque by the Mohammedans. Chephirah is the modern Kafira, north of Kirjath-jearim. Mozah is placed by the Talmud at the modern Kaloniye, near which is a Bet Mizza, which, however, does not fit the situation. Zelah is given (II Sam. xxi. 14) as the place of Saul's burial, but is unidentified. The Gibeath of Josh. xviii. 28 is not to be confused with the Geba of verse 24, but is to be placed near Ramah (ut sup.). The Kirjath of Josh. xviii. 28 is probably shortened from Kirjathjearim.

4. Other Places of Note.

This list does not include all the cities which belonged to Benjamin. In the plain of the Jordan lay the sanctuary of Gilgal, often mentioned in both early and late annals. The Hebrew generally uses the article with the word, hence it is not a proper name, but signifies merely a "circle" (of stones). It was a locus of significant historical events at the conquest (Josh. iv.-v.), and, according to the Onomasticon, lay two Roman miles from Jericho, between it and the Jordan. The name lingers in the vicinity as Jaljul or Jiljuliye. Dok (Docus), a fortress of Maccabean times (I Mac. xvi. 15) seems to be Ain Duk at the northeast foot of Jebel Karantal, preserved also in the accounts of the early Christian monasteries and as a Templar's fortress. I Sam. xiii-xiv. brings into prominence a Michmash which reappears in post-exilic times (Ezra ii. 27; I Macc. ix. 73); the name is preserved in the present Mahmas. North of this is the modern Makrun, which recalls the Migron of Isa. x. 28. Near the large village of Der Diwan is the site of Ai (Josh. vii.-viii.), which reappears in history as Aiath or Ai (Isa. x. 28; Ezra ii. 28); the exact location is disputed. Northeast of Der Diwan is a rocky height called Rammon, which recalls the old Rimmon (Judges xx. 45). South of Jeba (ut sup.) is a village, Hizma, the name of which reminds of Azmaveth (Ezra ii. 24; Neh. xii. 29, cf. vii. 28, Beth-azmaveth). Anata, an hour northeast of Jerusalem, suggests Anathoth (Jer. i. 1). Other place-names are Laishah (Isa. x. 30), Almon (Josh. xxi. 18), and Bahurim (II Sam. xvi. 5). Two places on the Mount of Olives are often mentioned in the history of Jesus. Bethany was two and a half miles from Jerusalem, on the road to Jericho, on the eastern slope of the mountain, the modern al-Azariya ("Place of Lazarus"), where the grave of Lazarus and the house of Martha and Mary are still shown. Not far from Bethany lay Bethphage (Matt. xxi. 1), the site of which was shown in the time of the Crusades between Bethany and the summit of the mountain. To the west or northwest must have lain Emmaus, the scene of the events told in Luke xxiv. 13 sqq., which the textus receptus places sixty furlongs from Jerusalem but Codex Sinaiticus 160 furlongs. Josephus (War, VII., vi. 6) mentions a place of the name thirty furlongs from the city, while the Crusaders in 1099 knew of a Castle of Emmaus which is identified with the modern al-Kubaba, about sixty-three furlongs from Jerusalem. Hitzig and Sepp located Emmaus at Kaluniyeh, called in the Talmud Mosa, thirty-four furlongs from the capital. Somewhere within the territory of Benjamin should be placed the grave of Rachel. Gen. xxxv. 16, 21 reports that Rachel died between Bethel and the tower of Eder (Jerusalem) on the road to Bethel, north of Jerusalem, with which agrees Jer. xxxi. 15. On the other hand, Gen. xxxv. 19, xlviii. 7 connect the grave with Ephrath or Bethlehem, where the tomb is still shown. But Schick has shown that the Mohammedan sanctuary Kubbat Abd al-Aziz, northwest of Jersualem, is also called Kubbat Rahil and corresponds better with the earlier data.

8. The Judean Territory of Dan (Josh. xix. 40-46):

Though the boundaries are not given, it is known that the eastern boundary coincided with the western boundary of Benjamin, its southern border with the western part of the north boundary of Judah, and its northern limits extended to the southern boundary of Ephraim from Beth-horon by Gezer to the sea, reckoning Joppa as part of the territory of Dan. Judges v. 17 places Dan on the coast, i. 34 states that the Amorites forced them back, and chap. xviii. tells of a migration of 600 men to near the sources of the Jordan, while elsewhere places are assigned to Dan which some other parts of Scripture give to Judah or Ephraim. This is the case with the first two towns on the list, Zorah and Eshtaol. Ir-shemesh is the same as Beth-ahemesh, a place which is often named in the history, is put by the Onomasticon east of the tenth milestone on the road to Eleutheropolis, and agrees with the modern uninhabited Ain Shams, where ruins are still to be found, on the south side of the Wadi al-Surar. Shaalabin (Shaalbim, Judges i. 35) has been located, probably wrongly, at Selbit, southwest of Beth-horon. Aijalon appears in the history often as a fortress, also as a city of refuge and Levitical city, and as belonging either to Ephraim or Benjamin. The Onomasticon locates it two Roman miles east of Emmaus-Nicopolis, the modern Jalu two miles east of Amwas. The plain of Aijalon lies to the north of the village. Timnah is probably the same as the Timnah of Josh. xv. 10, west of Beth-shemesh, and in the history is connected with the Philistines and with the campaign of Sennacherib in 701 B.C. Ekron is the well-known city of the Philistines, which in Josh. xv. 45 is reckoned to Judah. Eltekeh, a Levitical city (Josh. xxi: 23), corresponds to the Altaku, where Sennacherib overthrew a hostile army, but its site is not known. Gibbethon, also a Levitical city, is not identified. Jehud is located at al-Yehudiya, north of Lydda and east of Jaffa , while Bene-berak is Ibn Ibrak near Jaffa. Westward of Jalu is the little village Amwas, the name of which corresponds to Emmaus, a place often in question in the Maccabean wars, situated on the western edge of the highland, known as Nicopolis about 250, often mentioned in the Onomasticon. Gezer (q.v.) is named Josh. x. 33; Judges i. 29; I Kings ix. 15-17, and often elsewhere, is called one of the border cities of Joseph, and appears as belonging to Ephraim,

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as a Levitical city, of importance during the Davidic and Maccabean wars, and is located by Clermont-Ganneau four miles west of Amwas at Tell al-Jezar.

4. The Judean Territory of Ephraim:

The most northern part of Judea as already defined took in a part of the territory of Ephraim, the rest of which was reckoned to Samaria. There is no list of the places in this region, but of many cities there is incidental mention. Josephus mentions Phasaelis, a town in the Jordan valley built by Herod in honor of his brother Phasael, the name of which survives in that of the village Fazail, south of the hill Karn Sartaba. The fortress Alexandrium crowned the summit of this hill and was of importance in the war of Pompey. Akrabatta is mentioned by Josephus (War, III., iii. 5) and in the Onomasticon: it is the modern Akraba. Janoah of Josh. xvi. 6 corresponds to the present Janun, north of Akraba. Borkaios, mentioned by Josephus (War, III., iii. 5) as on the boundary between Judea and Galilee, is possibly the heap of ruins at Barkit, in Wadi Ishar. To the southwest of this is al-Lubban, corresponding to the Lebonah of Judges xxi. 19. Farther southeast is Sailun, which points to the old sanctuary of Shiloh, apparently destroyed in the Philistine war, since the descendants of Eli (II Sam. xxi.) went to Nob; yet the priestly document regards Shiloh as the place of the Tabernacle. The Onomasticon locates Shiloh ten Roman miles from Neapolis: it was north of Bethel and east of the road to Shechem. To the west of the road and southwest from al-Lubban lies Jiljilya, recalling another of the places called in the history Gilgal. Farther to the south lies Ain Sinya, the Jeshanah of II Chron. xiii. 19, and near by is Jifna, which suggests the Gophna of Josephus, War I., xi. 2. To the northwest is the heap of ruins called Tibna, perhaps the Thamnatha of I Macc. ix. 50, known also from the Onomasticon, which locates there the tomb of Joshua (the Timnath-heres of Judges ii. 9). Not far to the north of this is Rima, possibly the Ramah of I Sam. xvi. 13, the Ramathaim of I Sam. i. 1, the Ramathem of I Macc. xi. 34, and the Arimathea of Mark xv. 43. But the Onomasticon locates it toward the modern Rentis (6 m. w. of Tibnah). The two Beth-horons of the Old Testament (Josh. xvi. 3, 5) are located farther to the south at Bait Ur al-Fuka and Bait Ur al-Tahta. The upper Beth-horon, by reason of its commanding the road from Jerusalem to Cæsarea and the cast, was of high importance in all periods and is mentioned prominently in the accounts of the wars from the time of Joshua to the Roman period. At al-Midya, on the plain northwest of Beth-horon, is ordinarily located the home of the Maccabees, the Modin of I Macc. ii. 1, xiii. 25, with its seven pyramids to the memory of the members of that family.

6. Cities on the Western Plain:

There were other places in the plain west of the highland which in later times were reckoned to Judah, but do not appear in the lists of places given in Joshua. Indeed, the assignment of the places named in the Joshua lists is not entirely concordant with that of other passages. Doubtless the possession of these places on the plain was often contested with the Philistines. So was it with Gimzo (II Chron. xxviii. 18), the modern Jimzu north of Gezer. The Hadid of Ezra ii. 33 may be the Aditha of the Onomasticon, east of Diospolis, the present al-Hadithe, and perhaps the Adida of I Macc. xii. 38. Lod, mentioned with Hadid in the Ezra passage, is the Greek Lydda, is often assigned in the Old Testament to the Benjamites, was ceded with its outlying region to Jonathan the Maccabee by Demetrius (I Macc. xi. 34), and was an object of strife between the Jews and the Romans. It is mentioned in Acts ix. 32 sqq., and after the destruction of Jerusalem became the residence of Jewish scholars, for example, of Rabbi Eliezer. In the third century it took the name of Diospolis and became thereafter the seat of a bishopric. The legend of St. George was localized here. The present Ludd is a town inhabited by Mohammedans and Greeks, not far from the road from Jerusalem to Jaffa. Ono, also mentioned in the Ezra passage, may be the modern Kafr Ana, five and a half miles northwest of Ludd. On the northern boundary of the later Judea lay Antipatris, a city built and named by Herod in honor of his father: it is mentioned Acts xxiii. 31. The pilgrim of Bordeaux locates it ten Roman miles north of Lydda, the Onomasticon six miles south of Galgulis, the modern Jiljuliya in the plain northeast of Jaffa. A passage in Josephus would suggest Kalat Ras al-Ain as the site. Ten miles north of this is Kafr Saba, recalling the Chaberzaba of Josephus (Ant. XIII., xv. 1).

8. The Eleven Toparchies of Judea According to Josephus:

In War, III., iii. 5 Josephus names as the first district of Judea Jerusalem with its vicinity. The others are (2) Gophna, (3) Akrabatta, (4) Thamna, (5) Lydda, (6) Emmaus, (7) Pella, (8) Idumea, (9) Engedi, (10) Herodium, and (11) Jericho. Pliny (Hist. naturalis, V., xiv. 70) names ten, including 2-6 and 10-11 above, and gives in addition to these Jopica (Jaffa), Betholethephene, and Orine. The last includes the district of the capital. Josephus mentions a Betholethepha (War, IV., viii. 1), which is probably the present Bait Nattif west of Bethlehem on the edge of the highland and the Netophah of Ezra ii. 22 and other Old-Testament passages. Therefore Pella above seems to be replaced by Betholethepha. Pliny was in error in assigning the region of Joppa to Judea, since it was independent. For the coast region which abutted on Judean territory see PHILISTINES; and PHENICIA, PHENICIANS.

(H. GUTHE.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Literature on the history is given under AHAB; ISRAEL, HISTORY OF; to which add: H. Kosters, Het Herstel van Israel, Leyden, 1893; H. Willrich, Juden und Griechen vor der makkabäischen Erhebung, Göttingen, 1895; E. Meyer, Die Entstehung des Judentums, Halle, 1896. For the geography much of the literature given under Jerusalem is available. Of peculiar value are the works of Röhricht, Tobler, G. A. Smith, E. Robinson, W. M, Thomson, and Reland, as well as the publications of the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, described in vol. i., p. 13 of this work, and the publications of the Société de l'orient Latin, ed. T. Tobler and A. Molinier, Geneva, 1877-80. The following publications of the PEF are of importance: The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs, vols. ii, iii., 1882-83; Thirty Years' Work, 1895; C. Clermont-Ganneau, Archæological Researches, 1896-99; G. Armstrong, Names and Places in the Old and New Testaments

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and Apocrypha
; the Quarterly Statements; and, of their maps, the Great Map of Western Palestine, the Photo-Relief Map of Palestine, and the Raised Map of Palestine. Indispensable are: Onomastica sacra, ed. P. de Lagarde, Göttingen, 1887; A. Neubauer, La Géographie du Talmud, Paris, 1868; V. Guérin, Description de la Palestine, i.-ii., Paris, 1868-75. A very convenient check-list of place-names is given in P. Thomsen, Loca sancta. Verzeichnis der im 1.-6. Jahrhundert erwähnten Ortschaften Palästinas, vol. i., Halle, 1907; cf. idem, Systematische Bibliographie der Palästina-Literatur, Leipsic, 1908. A considerable literature of travel may be found in J. F. Hurst, Literature of Theology, pp. 119-130, New York, 1896. Consult further: C. Ritter, Comparative Geography of Palestine and the Sinaitic Peninsula, iii.,174-350, Edinburgh, 1866; G. Ebers and H. Guthe, Palästina in Bild und Wort, 2 vols., Stuttgart, 1881-83; F. Buhl, Geographie des alten Palästina, Tübingen, 1896; F. J. Bliss, Development of Palestine Exploration, New York, 1906; DB, ii. 791-792; EB, ii. 2616-2623; K. Baedeker, Palestine and Syria, Leipsic. 1906.

On Hebron consult: M. de Vogüé, Macpéla ou tombeau des patriarches à Hebron, Lausanne, 1869; E. Pierotti, Macpéla ou tombeau des patriarches à Hebron, ib. 1869; E. Rosen, in Berliner Zeitschrift für allgemeine Erdku-de, xiv (1863), 369-429, xv (1864), 160-162; idem, in ZDMG, xii (1858), 477-513; H. Guthe, in ZDPV, xvii (1894), 238 sqq. On Gilgal: H. Zschokke, Beiträge zur Topographie der westlichen Jordansau, Jerusalem, 1866. On Bethphage: C. Clermont-Ganneau, in Revue archéologique, December, 1877. On Emmaus: H. Zschokke, Das neutestamentliche Emmaus, Schaffhausen, 1865; M. J. Schiffers, Amwas, das Emmaus des heiligen Lucas, Freiburg, 1890; H. Guthe, in ZDPV, xvi (1893), 298 sqq. On Mizpeh: P. A. Raboisson, Les Maspeh. Étude de géographie exégétique touchant les différentes localités de ce nom, Paris, 1897. Also see GEZER.

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