Hauran

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

 Ezekiel 47:16;  Ezekiel 47:18. Extending from near Damascus southward as far as the Jabbok. The Greek Αuranitis . Derived from Hur "a cave," as it abounds in cisterns excavated for storing water or else grain. With rugged Trachonitis (on the N.), mountainous Batanaea (on the E.), and Gaulanitis (on the W.), it formed ancient Bashan. It was N. of the plains of Moab ( Jeremiah 48:21). The country is level and among the richest in Syria, free from stones except on a few low volcanic tells here and there. It is still the granary of Damascus.

Ruins of Roman towns abound with buildings untenanted, though perfect with walls, roofs, and doors of black basalt rock, there being no timber in the Hauran. Besides the Roman architectural magnificence traceable in some buildings, each village has its tank and bridge. The style of building in Um er Ruman, in the extreme S., is not Roman but almost like that of Palmyra. El Lejah is a rocky plain N.W. of Hauran proper, and is full of deserted towns and villages. El Gebel is a mountainous region between Hauran and the eastern desert.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

The tract of country of this name is mentioned only twice in Scripture,  Ezekiel 47:16;  Ezekiel 47:18 . It was probably of small extent in the time of the Jews; but was enlarged under the Romans, by whom it was called Auranitis. At present it extends from about twenty miles south of Damascus to a little below Bozra, including the rocky district of El Ledja, the ancient Trachonitis, and the mountainous one of the Djebel Haouran. Within its limits are also included, beside Trachonitis, Ituraea or Ittur, now called Djedour, and part of Batanaea or Bashan. It is represented by Burckhardt as a volcanic region, consisting of a porous tufa, pumice, and basalt, with the remains of a crater on the Tel Shoba, on its eastern side. It produces, however, crops of corn, and has many patches of luxuriant herbage, which are frequented in the summer by the Arab tribes for pasturage. It abounds, also, with many interesting remains of cities, scattered over its surface, with Grecian inscriptions. The chief of these are Bozra, Ezra, Medjel, Shoba, Shakka, Souerda, Kanouat, Hebran, Zarle, Oerman, and Aatyl; with Messema, Berak, and Om Ezzeitoun, in the Ledja.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Hauran ( Haw'Ran ), Caves, Caverns. A country east of the Jordan; the northeastern boundary of Palestine,  Ezekiel 47:16;  Ezekiel 47:18, and the Auranitis of the Greeks, and now known as the Hauran. When the Israelites conquered the land, the whole of this region appears to have been subject to Og, the king of Bashan,  Numbers 21:33-35;  Deuteronomy 3:1-5, and a large portion of it was allotted to Manasseh. The ruins scattered over the region are very extensive and remarkable; those built in the caverns are regarded by Wetzstein as the most ancient, and possibly reaching back to the times of the Rephaim.  Genesis 14:5;  Genesis 15:20, and  Deuteronomy 3:11.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Province on the east of the Jordan forming part of the ancient kingdom of Bashan, lying to the south of Damascus. The half tribe of Manasseh occupied it. Afterwards it became the province, including Ituraea, ruled over by Philip.  Luke 3:1 . It is now called the Hauran. It is a fat and fertile plain, but with little natural supply of water. There are many sites of ruined cities and villages, with houses built of hard stone, some of which are in fairly good repair, but with few inhabitants. It is remarkable for its under-ground dwellings, even forming villages, which are difficult of access. The inhabitants are mostly Druzes and nomadic Arabs. When Israel in a future day are in full possession of Palestine, their territory will reach on the N.E. tothe 'coast of Hauran.'  Ezekiel 47:16,18 .

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

 Ezekiel 47:16 , was originally a small district south of Damascus, and east of the sea of Tiberias, but was afterwards extended to the south and east, and under the Romans was called Auranitis. It now includes the ancient Trachonitis, the Haouran, Ituraea, and part of Batanaea, and is very minutely described by Burckhardt. Many ruins of cities, with Greek inscriptions, are scattered over its rugged surface.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Hau'ran. (Caverns). A province of Palestine, twice mentioned by Ezekiel.  Ezekiel 47:16-17. There can be little doubt that, it is identical with the well-known Greek province of Auranitis, and the modern Hauran east of the Sea of Galilee, on the borders of the desert, in the tetrarchy of Philip.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

HAURAN . A man ‘far gone in years and no less also in madness,’ who endeavoured to suppress a tumult in Jerusalem provoked by the sacrileges of Lysimachus, brother of the apostate high priest Menelaus ( 2Ma 4:40 ).

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Ezekiel 47:16 47:18

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Ezekiel 47:16,18

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hô´ran ( חורן , ḥawrān  ; Septuagint Αὐρανίτις , Auranı́tis , also with aspirate):

1. Extent of Province in Ancient Times

A province of Eastern Palestine which, in  Ezekiel 47:16 ,  Ezekiel 47:18 , stretched from Dan in the North to Gilead in the South, including all that lay between the Jordan and the desert. It thus covered the districts now known as el - Jēdūr , el - Jaulān , and el - Ḥaurān . It corresponded roughly with the jurisdiction of the modern Turkish governor of Hauran. The Auranites of later times answered more closely to the Hauran of today.

2. Modern Hauran

The name Ḥaurān probably means "hollow land." Between Jebel ed - Druze (see Bashan , Mount Of ) on the East, and Jēdūa and Jaulān (see Golan ) on the West, runs a broad vale, from Jebel el ‛Aswad in the North, to the Yarmuk in the Southwest, and the open desert in the Southeast. It is from 1,500 to 2,000 ft. above sea-level, and almost 50 miles in length, by 45 in breadth. Chauran aptly describes it. To the modern Ḥaurān are reckoned 3 districts, clearly distinguished in local speech:

3. En - Nuḳrah

(1) En - Nuḳrah , "the cavity." This district touches the desert in the Southeast, the low range of ez Zumleh on the Southwest, Jaulān on the West, el - Lejā' on the North and, Jebel ed - Druze on the East. The soil, composed of volcanic detritus, is extraordinarily rich. Here and there may be found a bank of vines; but the country is practically treeless: the characteristic product is wheat, and in its cultivation the village population is almost wholly occupied.

4. El̇Lejā'

(2) El - Lejā' , "the asylum." This is a rocky tract lying to the North of en - Nuḳrah . It is entirely volcanic, and takes, roughly, the form of a triangle, with apex in the North at el Burak , and a base of almost 20 miles in the South. For the general characteristics of this district see Trachonitis . Its sharply marked border, where the rocky edges fall into the surrounding plain, have suggested to some the thought that here we have ḥebhel 'argōbh , "the measured lot of Argob." See, however, Argob . There is little land capable of cultivation, and the Arabs who occupy the greater part have an evil reputation. As a refuge for the hunted and for fugitives from justice it well deserves its name.

5. El - Jebel

(3) El - Jebel , "the mountain." This is the great volcanic range which stands on the edge of the desert, protecting the fertile reaches of el - Ḥaurān from encroachment by the sand, known at different times as Mons Asaldamus, Jebel Ḥaurān , and Jebel ed - Druze . This last is the name it bears today in consequence of the settlement of Druzes here, after the massacre in Mt. Lebanon in 1860. Those free-spirited people have been a thorn in the side of the Turks ever since: and whether or not the recent operations against them (January, 1911) will result in their entire, subjugation, remains to be seen. The western slopes of the mountain are well cultivated, and very fruitful; vineyards abound; and there are large reaches of shady woodlands. Ṣalkhad , marking the eastern boundary of the land of Israel, stands on the ridge of the mountain to the South Jebel el - Kuleib in which the range culminates, reaches a height of 5,730 ft. Jebel Ḥaurān is named in the Mishna ( Rōsh ha - shānāh , ii.4) as one of the heights from which fire-signals were flashed, announcing the advent of the new year. For its history see Bashan . The ruins which are so plentiful in the country date for the most part from the early Christian centuries; and probably nothing above ground is older than the Roman period. The substructions, however, and the subterranean dwellings found in different parts, e.g. at Ḍer‛ah , may be very ancient. The latest mention of a Christian building is in an inscription found by the present writer at el - Kufr , which tells of the foundation of a church in 720 ad ( Pefs , July, 1895, p. 275, Inscr number 150). A good account of Hauran and its cities is given in Hghl , Xxix , 611.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Chavran', חִוְרָן ; Sept. Ἀύρανῖτις and Ωραν῝ Ιτις , the Auranitis of Josephus and others, the Hauran of the Arabs, so called prob. from the multitude of Caves, חוֹר , found there, which even at the present day serve as dwellings for the inhabitants), a tract or region of Syria, south of Damascus, east of Gaulonitis (Golan) and Bashan, and west of Trachonitis, extending from the Jabbok to the territory of Damascene-Syria; mentioned only in  Ezekiel 47:16;  Ezekiel 47:18, in defining the north-eastern border of the Promised Land. It was probably of small extent originally, but received extensive additions from the Romans under the name of Auranitis. Josephus frequently mentions Auranitis in connection with Trachonitis, Batanaea, and Gaulonitis, which with it constituted the ancient kingdom of Bashan (War, 1, 20, 4; 2, 17, 4). It formed part of that Τραχενίτιδος Χώρα referred to by Luke ( Luke 3:1) as subject to Philip the tetrarch (comp. Joseph. Ant. 17, 11, 4). It is bounded on the west by Gaulonitis, on the north by the wild and rocky district of Trachonitis, on the east by the mountainous region of Batanaea, and on the south by the great plain of Moab ( Jeremiah 48:21). Some Arab geographers have described the Hauran as much more extensive than here stated (Bohaed. Vit. Sal. ed. Schult. p. 70; Abulfed. Tab. Syr. s.v.); and at the present day the name is applied By Those At A Distance to the whole country east of Jaulan; but the inhabitants themselves define it as above. It is represented by Burckhardt (Travels In Syria, p. 51, 211, 285, 291) as a volcanic region, composed of porous tufa, pumice, and basalt, with the remains of a crater or the tell Shoba, which is on its eastern border. It produces, however, crops of corn, and has many patches of luxuriant herbage, which are frequented in summer by the Arab tribes for pasturage.

The surface is perfectly flat, and not a stone is to be seen save on the few low volcanic tells that rise up here and there like islands in a sea. It contains upwards of a hundred towns and villages, most of them now deserted, though not ruined. The buildings in many of these are remarkable the walls are of great thickness, and the roofs and doors are of stone, evidently of remote antiquity (see Porter's Five Years in Damascus, vol. 2). According to E. Smith (in Robinson's Researches, in, Apend. 1). 150-157), the modern province of Hauran is regarded by the natives as consisting of three parts, called en'ukrah, el- Lejah, and el-Jebel. The first of these terms designates the plain of Hauran as above defined, extending through its whole length, from wady el-Ajam on the north to the desert on the south. On the west of it is Jeidur, Jaulan, and Jebel Ajlun; and on the east the Lejah and Jebel Hauran. It has a gentle undulating surface, is arable throughout, and, in general, very fertile. With the rest of Hauran, it is the granary of Damascus. The soil belongs to the government, and nothing but grain is cultivated. Hardly a tree appears anywhere. The region still abounds in caves, which the old inhabitants excavated partly to serve as cisterns for the collection of water, and partly for granaries in which to secure their grain from plunderers. Eshmiskin is considered the capital of the whole Hauran, being the residence of the chief of all its sheiks. The inhabitants of this district are chiefly Muslims, who in manners and dress resemble the Bedawin, but there is a sprinkling also of professed Christians, and latterly of the Druses (Murray's Handbook, p. 499). The second division, or el-Lejah, lying east of the Nukrah and north of the mountains, has an elevation about the same as that of the Nukrah; but it is said to be almost a complete labyrinth of passages among rocks. The Lejah is the resort of several small tribes of Bedawin, who make it their home, and who continually issue forth from their rocky fastnesses on predatory excursions, and attack, plunder, or destroy, as suits their purpose. They have had the same character from a very remote period. The third division is the mountain of Hauran, and appears from the northwest, as an isolated range, with the conical peak called Kelb and Kuleib Hauran (the dog), which is probably an extinct volcano, near its southern extremity. But from the neighborhood of Busrah it is discovered that a lower continuation extends southward as far as the eye can see. On this lower range stands the castle of Sulkhad, distinctly seen from Busrah. This mountain is perhaps the Alsadamus of Ptolemy. (See Lightfoot, Op. 1, 316; 2, 474; Reland, Palcest. p. 190; Journ. of Sac. Lit. July 1854; Graham, in Journ. Roy. Geol. Soc. 1858, p. 254; Porter, Handbook, 2, 507; Stanley, Jewish Church, 1, 213.)

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Hau´ran, a tract or region of Syria, south of Damascus, which is twice mentioned under this name in Scripture . It was probably of small extent originally; but received extensive additions from the Romans under the name of Auranitis. At present it reaches from about twenty miles south of Damascus to a little below Bozra, including the rocky district of el-Ledja, the ancient Trachonitis, and the mountainous region of Jebel-Haouran. Within its limits are also included, besides Trachonitis, Ituræa or Ittur, now called Jedour, and part of Batanæa or Bashan. It is represented by Burckhardt as a volcanic region, composed of porous tufa, pumice, and basalt, with the remains of a crater on the Tel Shoba, which is on its eastern border. It produces, however, crops of corn, and has many patches of luxuriant herbage, which are frequented in summer by the Arab tribes for pasturage. It also abounds with interesting remains of cities, scattered over its surface, among which are found Greek inscriptions.