PEOR (iy5n; Φογώρ; Phogor, and [Jos 22!7) Beel- Ὁ ΕΟ, etc.).—1. Nu 2355 only, a mountain in
Toab, the last point to which Balak took Balaam, after he had sacrificed at Bamoth-baal and in the field of Zophim, at the top of Pisgah. Peor is described as looking down upon Jeshimon (RVm; RV text ‘the desert’). The ΟΣ ΠΡῸΣ describes the mountain as opposite Jericho, and as having upon it a town, Danaba (DINHABAH, wh. see), 7 miles from Heshbon. Peor is not certainly identi- fied. PEFSt (1882, p. 87) suggests the ἘΞ above "Ain Minyeh overlooking the Dead Sea. Buhl (GAP 116) places Beth-peor at the mouth of the Wad Hesbdn, and is inclined to identify Peor with e/- Musakkar, between Wady ‘Ajtin Misa and Wady Hesban. For further details see BETH-PEOR.
2. A town in Judah, added by the LXX, Φαγώρ, after Jos 15"; for site see BETH-PEOR.
3. A divine name, Nu 25" 3116, Jos 227; see BAAL-PEOR.
4. The LXX reading, Φόγωρ, for Pau, Gn 36”, or Pai, 1 Ch 1; see Pat. W. H. BENNETT.
PERZA (ἡ Περαία, Περαῖος, Iepatrns) is the name given by Josephus to the district which is spoken of in bbinical literature as ‘the land beyond Jordan.’ (In like manner the NT, which never mentions Perea by name, uses the phrase πέραν τοῦ ᾿Ιορδάνου, Mt 416 191, Mk 38, Jn 1% 3% 61-7 102 18). He says (BJ m1. iii. 3) that it stretches from Macheerus in the south to Pella in the north, while its breadth is from Philadelphia (‘Ammén) to the Jordan. In another place (BJ Iv. vii. 3, 6) he makes Gadara the capital of Perma ; and Schiirer (HJP τι. i. 113, note) infers that in the former case the name is used in a political sense, t.¢. with ex- clusion of the towns of the Decapolis. In a geo- graphical sense it must have reached farther north, at any rate to the bank of the Yarmuk, while its southern boundary was probably the Arnon. It thus covered the districts of Jebel “Ajlin and el-Belka. It may be roughly described as a high
tableland, torn in many parts by deep water courses, mighty and picturesque ravines, eee down towards the ‘Arabah, or, as it is now called, el-Ghér. Along the western edge the heights sink abruptly into the Jordan Valley ; eastward they fall away more gently into the desert. The great gorge of the Yarmuk in the north and that of the Arnon in the south form natural boundaries.
Josephus observes that, while larger in extent than Galilee, it is inferior in fertility, and less adapted for the growth of the finer fruits. The Perwean soil, however, is rich, and has always eles good returns to the husbandman. Much and now used for pasture is well capable of culti- vation ; and an excellent supply of water is pro- vided by its streams and perennial springs. Great reaches of these healthy uplands are covered with a forest of oak. The olive flourishes in many of the valleys, while the vine trails over the fruitful slopes. ‘Towards the eastern border the count is treeless, and parts are barren and stony (Guy fe Strange in Schumacher’s Across the Jordan, 292 ff.), but the fellahin of the Arabs find space to grow tolerable crops. Ydakit (A.D. 1225) observes that the region is noted for its wheat τὰς (Guy le Strange, Pal. under the Moslems, 35). The raisins most highly prized in the country come from the district capital es-Salj. Mukaddasi (A.D. 985) says that next to Ba’albek it is the coldest place in Syria (op. cit. 15). See arts. GAD, GILEAD, REUBEN.
In the earlier days of the Maccabees, Perea was inhabited chiefly by Gentiles, among whom was a ‘dispersion’ of Jews. Accordingly Judas, after he had discomfited the heathen, conveyed all the Israelites for safety into Judea (1 Mac 5“), The policy of Judaizing the province was not intr ci before the time of Hyrcanus ; probably by one of his successors (Schiirer, HJP I. i. 192). It shared in the reduction of taxes ordered by Jonathan (Ant. xm. ii. 3). Alexander Janneus waged war with varying fortune throughout his reign, and before his death had the whole country, from Merom to the Dead Sea, under his sway (Schiirer, /.c. pp. 297, 306). At Herod’s request it was given as a tetrarchy to his brother Pheroras, who in the end fled hither, to die, it was thought, by poison (Ant. xv. x. 3, BJ τ. xxiv. 5, xxx. 3, 4). It was the scene of some of Herod’s building enterprise (Ant. xv. viii. 5). On Herod’s death Antipas was appointed tetrarch of Galilee and Perwa (Ant. XVII. viii. 1). When Augustus con- firmed Herod Cai amy in the tetrarchy, Gadara was cut off and added to Syria (BJ 11. vi. 3). On the site of the ancient Beth-haram (Jos 13”) the tetrarch built a city and called it Julias in honour of the emperor's wife (Ant. XVIII. He eB . ix. 1), which Nero afterwards gave to Agripps, with 14 villages about it (Ant. XX. viii. 4) t is now represented by Tell er-Rameh (HGHL* 488, note). Perea was the scene of Simon’s om ἢ so swiftly suppressed by Gratus (Ant. XVII. x. 6, BJ τι. iv. 2). Felix was appointed by Claudius procurator of Galilee, Samaria, and Perma (BJ τι. xii. 8). After the defeat of Cestius, Manasseh was set over Perea (BJ π. xx. 4). The whole region was finally subdued to the Romans by Placidus, acting under Vespasian (BJ Iv. vil. 3-6). When the Moslems conquered the country, the district, with ite capital 'Ammiéin, was attached to the province of Damascus (Ya καὶ, A.D. 874- 890). ete it was included in the kingdom of Kerak (Dimashki (A.D. 1300); Guy le Strange, Pal, under the Moslems, 34, 41).