Editing Golan (section)

{{short description|Ancient city}}
{{About|the ancient city and its immediate surroundings|the geographical region|Golan Heights|other uses}}

'''Golan''' ({{langx|he|גּוֹלָן|Gōlān}}; {{langx|ar|جولان|Jawlān}}) is the name of a [[Hebrew Bible|biblical]] town later known from the works of [[Josephus]] (first century CE) and [[Eusebius]] (''Onomasticon'', early 4th century CE).<ref name="NegevGibson">{{cite book |work=Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land |title=Golan; Gaulanitis; Jaulan |author=Avraham Negev |author2=Shimon Gibson |name-list-style=amp |year=2001 |location=New York and London |publisher=Continuum |pages=206–208 |isbn=0-8264-1316-1 }}</ref> Archaeologists localize the biblical city of Golan at [[Sahm el-Jaulān]],<ref name="Arav">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_KIKUyQHJNQC&q=Sahem+el+golan&pg=PA42 |title=Bethsaida: A City by the North Shore of the Sea of Galilee, vol. 3 (v. 3) |author=Rami Arav |author2=Richard A. Freund |edition=Paperback |publisher=Truman State University Press |year=2004 |isbn=1-931112-39-8 |page=42}}</ref> a [[Syria]]n village east of [[Wadi]] ar-[[Ruqqad]] in the [[Daraa Governorate]], where early [[Byzantine]] ruins were found.<ref name="Arav"/> Israeli historical geographer, [[Zev Vilnay]], tentatively identified the town Golan with the Goblana (Gaulan) of the [[Talmud]]<ref>[[Jerusalem Talmud]] (''[[Avodah Zarah (tractate)|Avodah Zarah]]'' chapter 2; ''[[Megillah (Talmud)|Megillah]]'', chapter 3)</ref> which he thought to be the ruin ''ej-Jelêbîne'' on the Wâdy Dabûra, near the [[Hula Valley|Lake of Huleh]], by way of a corruption of the site's original name.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Vilnay|first=Z.|author-link=Zev Vilnay|title=Identification of Talmudic Place Names |journal=[[The Jewish Quarterly Review]]|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |volume=45|issue=2 |year=1954|pages=[https://www.jstor.org/stable/1452901 133]–134 |doi=10.2307/1452901|language=en |jstor=1452901 }}</ref> 

According to Vilnay, the village took its name from the district [[Gaulanitis]] (Golan). The ruin is not far from the [[Daughters of Jacob Bridge]]. The traces of the town were described by [[Gottlieb Schumacher|G. Schumacher]] in the late 19th-century as being "a desert ruin", having "no visible remains of importance, but [having] the appearance of great antiquity."<ref>{{cite book|first1 =G.|last1=Schumacher |author-link1=Gottlieb Schumacher |title=The Jaulân: surveyed for the German Society for the Exploration of the Holy Land|url=https://archive.org/details/jaulnsurveyedfo00schugoog/page/n7/mode/2up|year=1888|location=London|publisher=Richard Bentley & Son |pages=[https://archive.org/details/jaulnsurveyedfo00schugoog/page/n183/mode/2up 162–163] |oclc=1142389290 }}</ref>

In the Grecised form '''Gaulanitis''' ({{langx|grc|Γαυλανῖτις|Gaulanîtis}}), it is the name of the region apparently named for the town of Golan.<ref name="NegevGibson"/> During much of the [[Hellenistic period]], when the name Gaulanitis was coined, the region was part of the [[Seleucid Empire]].<ref name="NegevGibson"/> In Roman times it was shared between the Roman provinces of [[Judea (Roman province)|Judaea]] and [[Phoenice (Roman province)|Phoenice]].<ref name="hisoma">''[http://www.hisoma.mom.fr/sites/hisoma.mom.fr/files/annuaire-du-personnel/aliquot-julien/Aliquot_Gaulanitide_2009.pdf The history and antiquities of al-Golan - International Conference] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201183409/https://www.hisoma.mom.fr/sites/hisoma.mom.fr/files/annuaire-du-personnel/aliquot-julien/Aliquot_Gaulanitide_2009.pdf |date=2020-02-01 }}'', Al-Bassel Center for Archaeological Research and Training, 2007-2008.</ref>