PREFACE.
xii
Oerman, an ancient ruin at the foot of the Djebel Haouran,
to the east of Boszra, appears from an inscription copied there
by Burckhardt, to be the site of Philippopolis, a town founded by
Philip, emperor of Rome, who was a native of Boszra.
Another ancient name is found at Hebran, in the same mountains, -
to the N. E. of Boszra, where an inscription records the gratitude ¬
of the tribe of Aedeni to a Roman veteran. The Kelb
Haouran, or summit of the Djebel Haouran, appears to be the
Mount Alsadamum of Ptolemy.*
Of the ancient towns just mentioned, Philippopolis alone is noticed ¬
in ancient history; and although the name of Phæeno occurs
as a bishoprick of Palestine, and that the adjective Phæenesius is
applied to some mines at that place (ra pawfoia pérarta), it seems
evident that these Phænesii were different from those of Trachon,
and that they occupied a part of Idumæa, between Petra and the
southern extremity of the Dead Sea.j
Mezareib, a village and castle on the Hadj route, appears to be
the site of Astaroth, the residence of Og, king of Bashan ; for Eusebius§ ¬
places Astaroth at 6 miles from Adraa (or Edrei, now Draa,)
between that place and Abila (now Abil), and at 25 miles from
Bostra, a distance very nearly confirmed by the Theodosian Table,
which gives 24 Roman miles between those two places. It will be
seen by the map, that the position of Mezareib conforms to all
these particulars. The unfailing pool of the clearest water, which
now attracts the men and cattle of all the surrounding country to
Mezareib in summer, must have made it a place of importance
in ancient times, and therefore excited the wonder of our traveller
at its having preserved only some very scanty relics of antiquity.
Although Mount Sinai, and the deserts lying between that penin* ¬
Reland. Palæst. 1. 3, voce Phæeno.
* Ptolem. 1. 5, c. 15.
§ Euseb. Onomast. in ’Acraged et ’Acagad.
t Deuter. c. l. v. 4. Josh. c ix. v. 10.
