Ba'shan

Ba'shan, a country of North-eastern Palestine, situated to the east of the Jordan. This region is a volcanic plateau rising in the Jebel-ed-Druze to 6000 feet; extends 60 miles north and south, and about 40 miles east and west. Josephus mentions four provinces: Gaulonitis, a western division, the territory of Golan, the ancient Hebrew city of refuge; Trachonitis (ancient Argob) to the east, now known as the remarkable volcanic region of the Lejah; Auranitis, comprising the fertile Haurân plain; and Batanea to the south, the seat of the Druses (q.v.). In the time of Abraham, Bashan was occupied by the Rephaim ('giants'). Ashteroth-Karnaim, identified with Busrâh; Edrei, identified with Derât; and Kenath, with Kunawât, were its chief cities; the first two being the residence of its kings during the Amorite dynasty. The last of its Amorite rulers was Og, who with all his sons was killed by the Israelites under Moses, at the battle of Edrei, when the half-tribe of Manasseh settled in the land. The men of Bashan were remarkable for their stature, its soil and pastures for their richness, and its sheep and oxen for their size and fatness. Bashan is covered with the ruins of the so-called 'giant cities,' which, however, according to Conder, date only from the early Christian centuries; their roofs, doors, stairs, and windows are of stone, some of them as perfect as when first built. Bashan belonged to the tetrarchy of Philip, and afterwards to that of Agrippa II. See the works by Porter, Conder, and De Vogné.