RAMA. 433 
w^bdohnelic'^y who is stated to have built chap. 
' IX. 
the town with materials from the ruins of < ^—^ 
Lydda\ distant three miles from Rama. That 
this, however, is not true, may be proved 
by reference to the writings of St. Jerom : 
he speaks of its vicinity to Lydda, and calls 
it jirimathea'^ , from an opinion very prevalent 
that it was the native place of Joseph, who 
buried our Saviour \ The testimony of St. Jerom, 
given before the Mohammedan conquest of the 
country, is sufficient to prove that the city 
existed anterior to the invasion of Palestine 
by the Moslems. Indeed they, of all man- 
kind, are the least likely to found a city; 
although the commercial advantages of situation 
(2) " Urbem banc idem non antiquam, sed conditam esse scribit 
[Mulfeda, in Geograpltid sud manuscripld) ab Solimanno filio jibdolmelic, 
vastatcl urbe Lyddd, et aqus ductu, cistern^, aliisque rebus ornatam," 
&c. {Bel. Pal. lllust. torn. 11. p. 9h9. l/^r. 1714.) " Haiic civitatem 
aedificaverunt Arabes prope Lyddarn, quum peregrini prim6 iverunt 
ad partes illas post tempora Mahumeti." Sunutus in Secret. Fidel. 
Crucis, pag. 152. 
(3) Otherwise named Diospolis. It was also railed St. George. 
{See the Itinerary of BeJiJamin of Tudela.) Pliny mentions it amon^ 
the ten Toparchies of Judaa. [Vid. lib. v. Hist. Nut. c. 14. tom.l. 
p. 262. L. Bat. 1635.) It was famous for a church dedicated to 
St. George, said by Boniface [lib. ii. de perenni Cultu Terr. Sanct.) to 
have been built by an English king. There was also a monastery of 
that name in Rama. 
(4) " Haud procul ab e4 {Lyddd) Arimathiara viculum Joseph qui 
Dominura sepelivit." Hiero?iymus in Epitaphio Paula. 
(5) See also Adrichomitu, Tlieat. T. S. p. 29- Colon. 1628. 
VOL. IV. E E 
