Buried Cities and Bible Countries

by George St. Clair

Succoth also was a city east of Jordan, for Jacob came to it before he crossed the Jordan from the east, and Gideon passed it after he had crossed the Jordan from the west (Judges vii. 4). From the account of Jacob’s return it would seem to be at no great distance from Mahanaim. But notwithstanding that Jacob had crossed the Jabbok southward before he met Esau, and journeyed to Succoth after parting with Esau, there is reason for placing Succoth north of the Jabbok. Jacob recrossed the stream. The Jerusalem Talmud tells us that Succoth, one of the cities “in the valley,” came to be called Darala; and just north of the Jabbok we find Deir ’Alla, one of the most conspicuous mounds or tells in the plain, 60 feet high, and covered with broken pottery of many colours and qualities. The site was mapped by Warren in 1868.

The word Succoth means “tents,” and perhaps the place was named from the tents of the Arabs so constantly seen there. The region about the mouth of the Jabbok is fertile, with abundant grass and water, and is very much frequented now by the powerful desert tribes for the purpose of pasturing their flocks and herds. When Gideon, who crossed the Jordan near Beisan, had followed the Midianites down the valley to Succoth, it is said that “he went up by the way of them that dwell in tents,” apparently some well-known route leading up the Jabbok Valley to the eastern deserts.

A fair interpretation of the circumstances leads to the conclusion that Penuel was not far east of Succoth. It was a fortified city, for it had a tower, which Gideon threatened to break down; and was regarded by Jeroboam as an outpost, useful in the defence of Shechem (1 Kings xii. 25). Dr Merrill finds that there is but one suitable site for it, and that is at the mounds called the “Hills of Gold,” about 4 miles east of Jordan, in the valley of the Jabbok. The mounds are very striking objects; they are covered with ruins, and on the eastern side are the remains of an ancient castle. The work is not Moslem, Christian, or Roman; the stones are unhewn blocks, and appear to date from a remote period.

A large district east and south-east of the Sea of Galilee was called Decapolis, or the region of the Ten Cities. The name occurs frequently in Josephus and other writers, and three times in the Gospels. Immediately after the conquest of Syria by the Romans (B.C. 65), ten cities appear to have been rebuilt, partially colonised, and endowed with peculiar privileges. One of the cities was Scythopolis, west of the Jordan; the others included Gadara, Geraza, Philadelphia, Pella, &c., all on the east. The region, once so populous and prosperous, is now almost without inhabitants; and the few families that do remain—in Scythopolis, Gadara, and Canatha—live amid the crumbling ruins of palaces, and in the cavernous recesses of old tombs.

Herr Schumacher has explored Abila of the Decapolis (now Tell Abil), and Gadara (at Umm Keis), and Pella (Fahil).

Pella—situated just opposite Beisan, on the other side of the Ghor—is the city to which the Christian believers fled when Titus advanced to besiege Jerusalem. Epiphanius says that “they removed because they had been forewarned by Christ himself of the approaching siege.” Seventy years later (A.D. 135) when Hadrian rebuilt Jerusalem as a Roman city, and changed its name to Ælia, the Christians again left it and sought refuge in this elegant city of Pella in the Jordan valley. Dr Merrill is inclined to think that Christ himself had been in Pella (for we know that he visited Perea), and met with such favour and success as to make the city a fitting asylum for his followers. Herr Schumacher, after describing a rock-cut chamber of rectangular shape, having a ceiling cut in the shape of a cross vault, with two pillars on the southern and northern walls, says, “It may be accepted as beyond doubt that we have here a cave, once inhabited by those Christian anchorites, who, in the beginning of the Christian era and during the Jewish wars, found a refuge at Pella. The flooring consisting of earth and remains of charcoal, as well as the plan of the whole, has no sepulchral character, but rather that of a habitation; the passages being used to secure air and afford a way of escape in case of persecution, for these small caves, if their door entrance was carefully shut, were hardly visible from below, and the passage still less. The entire northern slope is honeycombed with such caves.”

The wonder is that Pella should ever have been forsaken, it is so favoured in position. Even after the long summer drought, the springs gushing out among the broken columns and ruins of former splendour are abundant enough to make fertile all the neighbouring land, which, situated on the upper level of the Ghor, and 250 feet below the sea, enjoys, perhaps, the finest climate, from an agricultural point of view, that can be found in Syria.

The capital of Perea was Gadara, a city mentioned in the Gospel narrative of the demoniac who had his dwelling among the tombs. The population of Umm Keis may be about two hundred souls, and the people cultivate tobacco, vegetables, and grain. Below the ground occupied by the present village, many caves and ancient burial places have been discovered. The ruins include a Roman theatre and what may be the remains of a castle.

Gilead.—The boundary of the tribe of Gad was some few miles north of the Jabbok, for the territory included Mahanaim; while on the south it extended to the Arnon. The region had belonged to the Ammonites; and it was long before they were driven out, for even after Saul was anointed King of Israel, Nahash the Ammonite besieged Jabesh Gilead and sought to lay a hard condition of surrender upon the Israelites there (1 Sam. xi.). This district is the land of Gilead or “Mount Gilead” of the Bible. It is a good land for cattle, and would be prized by agricultural people in any part of the world. “It is not to be wondered at,” says Dr Merrill, “that the two and a half tribes were perfectly willing to stay on the east of Jordan. Judea has no land to compare with it; neither has Samaria, except in very limited portions. The surface of the country is slightly rolling, but the fields are broad and comparatively free from stone. Here common Arab trails broaden out into fine roads. Here are rich pasture lands and luxuriant fields of wheat and barley, and the ignorant Bedouin who own the soil point with pride to the green acres that are spread out beneath the sun.”

Amman, called in the Bible Rabbath Ammon (Deut. iii. 11; 2 Sam. xi. 1, &c.), was the chief city of the children of Ammon fifteen hundred years before Christ. Here the bedstead of Og, the king of Bashan, was taken by Joab, David’s general (2 Sam. xi. xii.), and Uriah the Hittite was killed in one of the sorties. Rabbath Ammon was rebuilt by Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, and its name changed to Philadelphia. Again it was destroyed by the Saracens when they conquered Syria. The stream of the Jabbok ran right through Rabbath Ammon, and it was called the “City of Waters.” It was after Joab had taken the City of Waters that he sent to David and suggested that he should come and capture the citadel himself, lest all the glory should go to his servant.