Galilee, Samaria, and Judea in the First Century CE
A DESCRIPTION OF GALILEE, SAMARIA, AND JUDEA.
1. NOW Phoenicia and Syria encompass about the Galilees,
which are two, and called the Upper Galilee and the Lower. They are bounded
toward the sun-setting, with the borders of the territory belonging to
Ptolemais, and by Carmel; which mountain had formerly belonged to the
Galileans, but now belonged to the Tyrians; to which mountain adjoins Gaba,
which is called the City of Horsemen, because those horsemen that
were dismissed by Herod the king dwelt therein; they are bounded on the
south with Samaria and Scythopolis, as far as the river Jordan; on the east
with Hippeae and Gadaris, and also with Ganlonitis, and the borders of the
kingdom of Agrippa; its northern parts are hounded by Tyre, and the country
of the Tyrians. As for that Galilee which is called the Lower, it, extends
in length from Tiberias to Zabulon, and of the maritime places Ptolemais is
its neighbor; its breadth is from the village called Xaloth, which lies in
the great plain, as far as Bersabe, from which beginning also is taken the
breadth of the Upper Galilee, as far as the village Baca, which divides the
land of the Tyrians from it; its length is also from Meloth to Thella, a
village near to Jordan.
2. These two Galilees, of so great largeness, and
encompassed with so many nations of foreigners, have been always able to
make a strong resistance on all occasions of war; for the Galileans are
inured to war from their infancy, and have been always very numerous; nor
hath the country been ever destitute of men of courage, or wanted a
numerous set of them; for their soil is universally rich and fruitful, and
full of the plantations of trees of all sorts, insomuch that it invites the
most slothful to take pains in its cultivation, by its fruitfulness;
accordingly, it is all cultivated by its inhabitants, and no part of it
lies idle. Moreover, the cities lie here very thick, and the very many
villages there are here are every where so full of people, by the richness
of their soil, that the very least of them contain above fifteen thousand
inhabitants.
3. In short, if any one will suppose that Galilee is
inferior to Perea in magnitude, he will be obliged to prefer it before it
in its strength; for this is all capable of cultivation, and is every where
fruitful; but for Perea, which is indeed much larger in extent, the greater
part of it is desert and rough, and much less disposed for the production
of the milder kinds of fruits; yet hath it a moist soil [in other parts],
and produces all kinds of fruits, and its plains are planted with trees of
all sorts, while yet the olive tree, the vine, and the palm tree are
chiefly cultivated there. It is also sufficiently watered with torrents,
which issue out of the mountains, and with springs that never fail to run,
even when the torrents fail them, as they do in the dog-days. Now the
length of Perea is from Macherus to Pella, and its breadth from
Philadelphia to Jordan; its northern parts are bounded by Pella, as we have
already said, as well as its Western with Jordan; the land of Moab is its
southern border, and its eastern limits reach to Arabia, and Silbonitis,
and besides to Philadelphene and Gerasa.
4. Now as to the country of Samaria, it lies between
Judea and Galilee; it begins at a village that is in the great plain called
Ginea, and ends at the Acrabbene toparchy, and is entirely of the same
nature with Judea; for both countries are made up of hills and valleys, and
are moist enough for agriculture, and are very fruitful. They have
abundance of trees, and are full of autumnal fruit, both that which grows
wild, and that which is the effect of cultivation. They are not naturally
watered by many rivers, but derive their chief moisture from rain-water, of
which they have no want; and for those rivers which they have, all their
waters are exceeding sweet: by reason also of the excellent grass they
have, their cattle yield more milk than do those in other places; and, what
is the greatest sign of excellency and of abundance, they each of them are
very full of people.
5. In the limits of Samaria and Judea lies the village
Anuath, which is also named Borceos. This is the northern boundary of
Judea. The southern parts of Judea, if they be measured lengthways, are
bounded by a Village adjoining to the confines of Arabia; the Jews that
dwell there call it Jordan. However, its breadth is extended from the river
Jordan to Joppa. The city Jerusalem is situated in the very middle; on
which account some have, with sagacity enough, called that city the Navel
of the country. Nor indeed is Judea destitute of such delights as come from
the sea, since its maritime places extend as far as Ptolemais: it was
parted into eleven portions, of which the royal city Jerusalem was the
supreme, and presided over all the neighboring country, as the head does
over the body. As to the other cities that were inferior to it, they
presided over their several toparchies; Gophna was the second of those
cities, and next to that Acrabatta, after them Thamna, and Lydda, and
Emmaus, and Pella, and Idumea, and Engaddi, and Herodium, and Jericho; and
after them came Jamnia and Joppa, as presiding over the neighboring people;
and besides these there was the region of Gamala, and Gaulonitis, and
Batanea, and Trachonitis, which are also parts of the kingdom of Agrippa.
This [last] country begins at Mount Libanus, and the fountains of Jordan,
and reaches breadthways to the lake of Tiberias; and in length is extended
from a village called Arpha, as far as Julias. Its inhabitants are a
mixture of Jews and Syrians. And thus have I, with all possible brevity,
described the country of Judea, and those that lie round about it.
Sources: Internet
Ancient History Sourcebook. Flavius Josephus: The Jewish War.
III.3, trans. William Whiston. Complete works of Josephus online at CCEL - http://ccel.wheaton.edu/j/josephus/JOSEPHUS.HTM |