i 
Cliap. 15.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 427 
King Herod, but now the Colony of Prima Plavia, 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 JSFeapolis^, formerly called 
Mamortha, Sebaste^, situate on a mountain, and, on a still 
more lofty one, Gamala^. 
CHAP. 15. (14.) — JUDJEA. 
Beyond Idumsea and Samaria, Judaea extends far and 
wide. That part of it which joins up to Syria^ is called 
Gralilsea, while that which is nearest to Arabia and Egypt 
bears the name of Persea^. 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. 
2 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 hill 
which Omri, King of Israel, purchased, about B.C. 922, for its site. Herod 
greatly renovated this 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 Tarich&ea. After a spirited defence, it was taken by Yespasian, 
who slaughtered 4000 of the smwivors, upon which 5000 threw themselves 
from 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 hill 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. ^ Antiochian Syria. 
® Persea was the general name of that part of Palaestina 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 Arnon on the south. 
^ Jericho, so often mentioned in Scripture. It waa celebrated for its 
