ngs x. 33).
This is the last historical event related in the Old Testament of Bashan.
In the poetical and prophetic books it is referred to in connexion with the
products for which it was noted. From a passage in the "Blessing of Moses"
(Deut. xxxiii. 22) it seems to have been inhabited by lions. Elsewhere it
is referred to in connexion with its cattle (Deut. xxxii. 14; Ezek. xxxix.
18), which seem to have been proverbial for ferocity (Ps. xxii. 12); Amos
(iv. 1) calls the wealthy women of Samaria, who oppressed the poor, "kine
of Bashan." It is also noted for its mountain (Ps. lxviii. 15), and
especially for oaks, which are coupled with the cedars of Lebanon (Isa. ii.
13; compare xxxiii. 9; Zechariah xi. 2). Oars were made from them (Ezek.
xxvii. 6).

The boundaries of Bashan may to some extent be deduced from the indications
afforded in the earlier historical books. Og dwelt at Ashteroth, and did
battle with the Israelites at Edrei (Deut. i. 4). In Deut. iii. 4, "the
region of Argob" with its threescore cities is mentioned; Mt. Hermon is
referred to as a northern limit, and Salecah is alluded to in addition to
the other cities already mentioned. Josh. xii. 4 and Josh. xiii. 29 confirm
this. Josephus (_Ant._ iv. 5. 3; _Wars_, ii. 6. 3) enumerates four
provinces of Bashan, Gaulanitis, Trachonitis, Auranitis and Batanaea.
Gaulanitis (which probably derived its name from the city of refuge, Golan,
the site of which has not yet been discovered) is represented by the modern
Jaul[=a]n, a province extending from the Jordan lakes to the Haj Road.
Josephus (_Wars_, iv. 1. 1) speaks of it as divided into two sections,
Gamalitis and Sogana. Trachonitis (mentioned in Luke iii. 1 as in the
territory of Philip the tetrarch) adjoined the territory of Damascus,
Auranitis and Batanaea. This corresponds to the _Trach[=o]nes_ of Strabo
(xvi. 20), and the modern district of the Lej[=a]; inscriptions have been
found in the Lej[=a] giving Trach[=o]n as its former name. Auranitis is the
Hauran of Ezekiel xlvii. 16, and of the modern Arabs. It is south of the
Jaul[=a]n and north of Gilead. According to Porter (_Journal Soc. Lit._,
1854, p. 303), the name is locally restricted to the plain south of the
Lej[=a]. and the narrow strip on the west; although it is loosely applied
by strangers to the whole country east of the Jaul[=a]n. The fourth
province, Batanaea, which still is remembered in the name _'Ard
el-Bathaniyeh_, lies east of the Lej[=a]