Chap. 15.] ACCOUNT OF C0TJNTEIE8, ETC. 427 



King Herod, but now the Colony of Prima Flavia, esta- 

 blished by the Emperor Vespasianus : this place is the fron- 

 tier town of Palaestina, at a distance of 188 miles from the 

 confines of Arabia ; after which comes Phoenice^ In the in- 

 terior of Samaria are the towns of Neapolis^, formerly called 

 Mamortha, Sebaste^, situate on a mountain, and, on a still 

 more lofty one, Gamala*. 



CHAP. 15. (14.) — jrn^A. 



Beyond Idumsea and Samaria, Judaea extends far and 

 wide. That part of it which joins up to Syria* is called 

 G-alilfea, while that which is nearest to Arabia and Egypt 

 bears the name of Peraja®. This last is thickly covered with 

 rugged mountains, and is separated from the rest of Judaea 

 by the river Jordanes. The remaining part of Judaea is 

 divided into ten Toparchies, which we will mention in the 

 following order : — That of Hiericus^, covered with groves of 



plied with stones from this site. Massive remains of its mole or break- 

 water and its towers still exist. ^ Or Phoenicia. 



' By some regarded as the Scriptural town of Sichem, but by others 

 as a distinct place, though in its immediate vicinity. Its present name is 

 Naplous or Nabolos, situate between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim. Its 

 proper name under the Eomans was Flavia Neapolis. It was the birth- 

 place of Justin Martyr. 



3 The city of Samaria, so called from Shemer, the owner of the hiU 

 which Omri, King of Israel, purchased, about B.C. 922, for its site. Herod 

 greatly renovated tliis city, which he called Sebaste, in honour of his pa- 

 tron Augustus, in Greek " Sebastos." Its site is now occupied by a poor 

 village, which bears the name of Sebustieh. 



* A town of Palsestina, frequently mentioned by Josephus as remarkable 

 for the strength of its fortifications, and situate on the Lake Tiberias, 

 opposite to Tarichtea. After a spirited defence, it was taken by Vespasian, 

 who slaughtered 4000 of the survivors, upon which 5000 threw themselves 

 fi^m the walls, and were dashed to pieces below. The site had been for- 

 gotten for nearly eighteen centuries, when Lord Lindsay discovered it on 

 a lofty liiU on the east of Lake Tiberias, and nearly opposite the town of 

 that name. It is now called El-Hossn, and the ruins of the fortifications 

 are very extensive. 5 Antiochian Syria. 



* Persea was the general name of that part of Palsestina which lay east 

 of the river Jordan ; but more usually, in a restricted sense, it signified 

 a part only of that region, namely the district between the rivers Hiero- 

 max on the north, and Amon on the south. 



^ Jericho, BO oftea mentioned in Scriptxire. It was celebrated for ita 



