A. Bashan (Golan Heights)
1. From a root meaning “fruitful plain” or “smooth plain”
2. Extends from Mount Hermon in the north to the Yarmuk River in the south - About 35 miles and about 725 square miles
3. 1,600-3,000 feet above sea level
4. Bashan - Four sections
a. Jetur
b. Golan - The only part within Israel
c. Hauran
d. El Leja
5. The Golan is a flat, basaltic plateau with many rows of extinct volcanos
6. During the Early Bronze Age (3150-2200 B.C.), it was used as a burial site marked to this day by large stone slabs known as dolmens
7. Taken by Israel - Numbers 21:33; 32:33; Deuteronomy 1:4; 3:1-11; 4:47; 29:7; Joshua 9:10; 11-12; 12:1-6; 13:31; Nehemiah 9:22; Psalms 135:11; 136:20
8. Mentioned in conjunction with Dan - Deuteronomy 33:22
9. Portions were given to the Tribe of Manasseh - Deuteronomy 3:13; Joshua 13:29-30; 17:1-6; 21:6, 27; 22:7; I Chronicles 5:23; 6:62
10. Further settled by members of the Tribe of Gad - I Chronicles 5:11-12, 16
11. The city of Golan was situated here as a Levitical City - Joshua 21:27
a. Believed by some to be present day Dabura
b. Dabura may have been the capital of the Jewish Golan during the Roman and Byzantine periods
12. The city of Golan was also one of the six Cities of Refuge - Deuteronomy 4:43; Joshua 20:8; I Chronicles 6:71
13. Frequently served as a buffer zone between Israel and Aram (Syria)
14. It served as the Sixth Solomonic District - I Kings 4:13, 19
15. A disputed area between Israel and the Arameans (Syria) and eventually taken from Israel by Hazael when Jehu was king - II Kings 10:32-33
16. Geshur - Located in the Southern Golan between the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee and west of the fertile plains of Bashan along the major trade routes (The King’s Highway)
a. Area taken by Moses was on the border of Geshur - Deuteronomy 3:14; Joshua 12:5; I Chronicles 2:23
b. Israel failed to dispossess the Geshurites - Joshua 13:11, 13
c. Home of Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai, the wife of David and mother of Absalom and Tamar - II Samuel 3:3; I Chronicles 3:2
d. Place where Absalom fled after killing his half-brother Amnon II Samuel 13:37-38; 14:23, 32; 15:8
e. Geshur, along with Aram (Syria) conquered 60 towns from the sons of Machir, the father of Gilead - II Samuel 15:8; I Chronicles 2:23
f. Ancient sites in the land of Geshur
(1) Mitham Leviah
(a) Meaning: The Enclosure of the Lioness
(b) Was once a densely populated city from the Early Bronze Age (3100-2200 B.C.)
(2) Rogem Hiri (Rujm el-Hiri)
(a) Contains five huge stone circles with 125,000 cubic feet of stone, some weighing as much as 5.5 tons, dating back to 3000 B.C. but the exact purpose is unknown
(b) Meaning of Arabic name: Stone Heap of the Wild Cat
(c) Modern Hebrew name: Galgal Refayim, Giants’ Circles
(d) Also contains large dolmen fields
(3) Tel Soreg
(a) Cave dwellers from the Middle Bronze Age I (2200 2000 B.C.)
(b) Continued habitation until the Hellenistic Period when it was overshadowed by Hippos and Aphek
(4) Tel Hadar
(a) The major Geshurite royal stronghold
(b) Inhabited during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, it reached its height during the Israelite Period
(c) This was probably the city to which Absalom fled
17. Noted for its rams - Deuteronomy 32:14
18. Noted especially for its bulls - Psalm 22:12; 68:15; Jeremiah 50:19; Ezekiel 27:6; 39:18; Amos 4:1; Micah 7:14
19. In the Psalms: 68:22
20. In the Prophets: Isaiah 2:13; 33:9; Jeremiah 22:20; Nahum 1:4; Zechariah 11:2
21. Hellenistic Period (332-63 B.C.)
a. Judah Maccabee defends the Jews of Bashan and Golan
b. Conquered by Alexander Yannai in 83-81 B.C.
c. Iturians, an Arab tribe, settled in the Northern Golan
22. During the Roman Period (63 B.C. - A.D. 324) it was heavily settled by both Jews and Greeks
23. New Testament Times - Included five provinces that made up the Tetrachy of Philip, the son of Herod the Great
a. Iturea - The Greek form for Jetur; in the extreme north and included Mount Hermon
(1) Jetur was a son of Ishmael - Genesis 25:15
(2) Fought against the Tribes of Reuben, Gad and the Half tribe of Manasseh - I Chronicles 5:19
(3) During the Assyrian Period, the Itureans moved north from Gilead to the Golan around Mount Hermon and became known for herding, mountain agriculture, robbing and smuggling
(4) After remaining nomadic for six centuries, during the second half of the second century B.C., they founded a strong kingdom establishing their capital at Chalsis
(5) According to Josephus, the Hasmonean King Aristobulus I (104-103 B.C.) made war against the Itureans and forced many of them to convert to Judaism
(6) The height of the Iturean Kingdom was reached under King Ptolemy Mennaeus - 85-40 B.C.
(7) During the Hellenistic and Roman Periods, the Jews and Itureans had friendly relations
(8) Area was conquered by Rome and made part of the Roman Empire in 63 B.C.
(9) Zenodorus was the last independent Iturean ruler (30-20 B.C.) who was deposed by the Roman governor of Syria
(10) In the New Testament, it is recorded that Philip, the son of Herod the Great, became the Tetrarch of Iturea - Luke 3:1
(11) The Itureans disappear in the seventh century A.D. but some believe that the modern Druze are the descendants of the Itureans
(12) Iturean Sites
(a) Khirbet Zemel - Near the Druze town of Bukata
(b) Tel el-Hawarit - Between the Druze towns of Ein Kinya and Masadeh
(c) Khirbet Ra’abaneh - At the edge of Odem Forest
(d) Bab el-Hawah - North of Kibbutz Merom Golan
(e) Har Senaim - Near Moshav Neve Ativ
(f) The Lost City - Near Mount Agass
b. Gaulanitis - Greek for Golan, today known as the Golan Heights
c. Trachonitis - The modern El Leja covering the territory between Southern Golan and Damascus comprising a volcanic plateau
d. Auranitis - Greek form for Hauran located south of Trachonitis
e. Batanea - Greek form for Bashan but as a province located between Gaulanitis to the west, Trachonitis to the north and Auranitis to the east
24. Byzantine Period (A.D. 365-638)
a. Jewish and Christian settlements exist side by side
b. As many as one million Jews lived here in about one hundred towns
c. Thus far, 25 synagogues have been discovered
d. Had a large population of Messianic Jews
e. With the Arab conquest, the settlements were abandoned and nomads prevail - Out of 173 Byzantine sites, only 14 continued
to exist25. During the Crusader Period (1099-1291), it served as a border area between the Crusader Kingdom and the Emirate of Damascus
26. During the subsequent Moslem Period, it was sparsely populated and mostly by Bedouins but roads and caravanesarais were built
27. During the Ottoman Turkish Period (1517-1917), permanent settlements were built composed of Bedouin, Magreb, Circassian, Alawite, Druze and Turkoman
28. In the early days of Zionism, there were some early settlements in this area but they were abandoned
a. The first settlement was Bnei Yehudah in 1885 by settlers from Safed but it was abandoned after two years
b. The settlers resettled in Bir a-Shagum
29. After World War I the area became part of the British Mandate but in 1923 was given to Syria under the French Mandate and Bir a-Shagum was abandoned after 32 years when two members were murdered
30. In 1948, after the Syrians were defeated, they fortified the Golan Heights and used it for periodic shelling of Jewish settlements in the Hulah Valley
31. During the Six Day War, it was the major scene of battle in the last two days of that war
32. The Arab and Circassian population fled in 1967 and today it is occupied by the Druze in four towns in the northern part
a. Ein Kinya - The smallest and the oldest of the four by several centuries
b. Majdal Shams - Established by Druze from Galilee in the 18th century and the largest of the four
c. Bukata - Established about a century ago by two families from Majdal Shams after a family dispute
d. Masada - Also established by residents of Majdal Shams about a century ago
33. Since 1967, many kibbutzim and moshavim have been established
34. In the Yom Kippur War, the Syrians retook most of the Golan but lost it again in the Israeli counter attack
35. Population and settlement today
a. Before the Six Day War in 1967, it had a population of 40,000
b. After the war, 6,400 of the original population stayed behind
c. Current population is 30,000
(1) 13,000 Jews
(2) 17,000 Druze
d. There are 33 Jewish settlements
(1) One city - Katzrin
(2) 27 kibbutzim
(3) Five moshavim