Mukaddasi (c. 985 a.d.) says that the Belka district is rich in grain and flocks, and has many streams which work the mills. He divides Sj'ria into four belts, from the Mediterranean east- wards. Of the third and fourth he writea : ' The Third Belt is that of the valleys of the Ghaur (the Jordan valley), wherein are found many villages and streams, also palm trees, well- cultivated fields, and indigo plantations. . . . The Fourth Belt is that bordering on the desert. The mountains here are high and bleak, and the climate resembles that of the waste ; but it has many villages, with springs of water, and forest trees.' He also mentions the hot springs of the district, naming those of Al-Hammah. Guy le Strange, whose translation has just been quoted, thinks that the hot springs of Gadara or Amatha in the Yarmuk valley are those referred to, and he adds in regard to them, that ' round the large basin may still be seen the remains of vaulted bath - houses. The sanitary properties of these sulphurous waters are highlj' extolled by many ancient writers, anfl to this day they have maintained their reputation among the Bedawin and fellahin of Palestine, so much so that the bathing-place is regarded by all parties as a neutral ground ' (Description nf Syria, by Mukaddasi, tr. by Guy le Strange [Pal. Pilgr. Text Soc.]). Of the Jordan valley Merrill (East of the Jordan, p. 438) says : ' From the Zerka (Jabbok) to the Sea of Galilee (ib.) it is exceedingly fertile ; and in any period when the country was settled and a good government in power, it must have been one of the most wealthy and important sections of Palestine for the raising of wheat and other products, while the foot-hills would afford excellent pasturage.'
3. History, population, etc. — Under the will of Herod the Great, Galilee and Perrea were united for purposes of government under Antipas, and this arrangement was confirmed by Augustus. As these two provinces had but a very short common boundary where Galilee touched the Jordan north of Samaria, it might have seemed more natural to combine Persia with the regions north of the Yar- muk, or with Samaria. But affinities of race and religion (cf. Jos. Ant. XX. i. 1 ; G. A. Smith, HGHL, p. 539) plainly suggested the wisdom of governing them together. For the same reasons Jews journeying betAveen Galilee and Judsea often preferred to go by way of Perjea, where they were among their own countrymen, rather than pass through Samaria (the more direct route), Avhere they incurred the risk at least of insult ( Lk Q^^, Jn 4'»- » ; cf. Edersheim, LT, i. 394 ; Jo.s. Ant. XX. vi. 1). They used the fords opposite Beisan, north of Samaria, and Jericho, south of it. The northern parts of Peraia mingled with the region of the Decapolis, where in the towns there was a vigorous Hellenistic civilization, and apparently north of the Yarmuk the Jewish element of the population was inconsiderable. The strongly Jewish character of Persea is indicated in theGospels. John the Baptist worked there during part of his ministry (Jn 32« 10'»o). In Per.-ea multitudes gathered round Christ, among whom were Pharisees who entered into controversy with Him and displayed all tlie animus of their sect (Mt lO^f). Mothers, evidently Jewish, brought their children to be blessed (Mk 10^3), and the ruler who had kept the whole Law
sought an answer to his question (Mt 19^^). The mission of the Seventy was to Pera-a, and although the restriction laid upon the Twelve (whose num- ber corresponded with that of the tribes of Israel), ' Go not into any way of the Gentiles' (Mt 10^- ^), is signiiicantly absent in the case of the Seventy (whose number is typical of the nations of the earth), yet the scojje of our Lord's ministry makes it evident that they were to encounter, at least for the most part, Jews.
The immigration of Greek settlers into the country east of Jordan probably began with the presence there of Alexander the Great, and the towns of Pella (no doubt named from the jNIacedonian city which was Alexander's birth- place) and Dion may have been founded by him, as Steph. Byz. states in a somewhat corrupt passage, or by some of his followers. Besides these towns, many other powerful Hellenistic com- munities sprang into existence, and flourished in the midst of a population from which they were separated by their distinctive culture, and, in so far as it was Jewish, by the practice of heathen worship. The Maccabees (r,.c. 166-135) en- deavoured to withdraw the Jews (who presumably were at that time the smaller section of the in- habitants) to Judsea (1 Mac S'*'"^^). John Hyrcanus (B.C. 135-105) possibly first adopted the opposite policy, whicli was vigorously carried out by Alex- ander Jannaeus (B.C. 104-78), who brought the country from Lake Merom to the Dead Sea com- pletely under his control (Jos. Ant. Xlll. xv. 4; Schlirer, HJP, i. i. 192, 297, 306). He took Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Dion, and other important toAvns, and extinguished the Greek culture which had flourished in them. He forced them to assimilate Jewish manners and ideas, and those places which would not submit he destroyed. In B.C. 64 the Roman province of Syria was formed, and under Pompey and Gabinius the procurator the ruined cities were rebuilt, and the Hellenistic communities regained their independence. Indeed, the sym- pathy of Pompey was long remembered by them, as is attested by the numerous coins which have been found impressed with his era. It was prob- ably he who organized the Decapolis (the term T) AfKdTfoXts is found first in the Roman period). See Decapolis.