As to the varied condition of cities in pre-exilian times of Palestine we have only disconnected notices. The oldest ones of the land were destroyed by a natural or miraculous combustion in Abraham's time (Gen. xix, 24 sq.). During the conipiest by the Israelites many were destroyed by fire (Josh, vi, 24, 26 ; xi, 13), but later were in part rebuilt (Judg. i, 26; 1 Kings xvi, 24) and embellished (Judg. xviii, 28; 1 Kings xii, 25; xv, 17; xvii, 21 ; comp. 2 Chron. viii, 5). The Chahh^an inva- sion made (especially in the case of Jerusalem) many changes, and during the exile most of the cities were deserted. The Svrian wars under the Jlaccabecs wasted or destroyed several (see 1 INIacc, v, 44, 65 ; ix, 62), Oth- ers, however, especially Jerusalem, were fortified, and castles and citadels were built (ver, 50; xii, 38; xiii,33; XV, 7, 39, 40; .Josephus, War, iv, 7, 2; Ant. xiii, 16, 3). During the Roman period cities es|)ecially midti- plied, chierty under the jiatronage of the Herodian fam- ily; but many of them were largely occupied by (ien- tiles, with their heathenish theatres, gymnasia, stadia, and temples {ibid, xv, 5, 2; xviii, 2, 1 and 3; xx. 9, 4, etc). Fortifications and towns also increased {ibid, xv, 9,4; War,\\\,8,S). The post-exilian topography of Palestine therefore exhibits many names of places not mentioned in the Old Test,; some of them, however, may have existed earlier. The district of Galilee was especially rich in towns and villages, which amounted in all to two hundred and four {Life,'ib). See Palestine.
The names of Palestinian cities were almost invaria- bly significant, as appears from the present situation and configuration of the land {c. q. Wu, fountain ; Beth-
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leliem, hread-produdng ; Gibeon, elevation; Mizpah, liok-out ; Kamah, height; many of them, accordingly, nsed with the article). Numbers of these are com- pounded, e. g. with ri"3 (house ; see Riidiger, De A rah. IJbror. Hist. Interpret. \\2\),-^.''V or H^p (city), ^iisn (court), p'C? (valley), ^:;X (mcad.iw), 1X3 (well), -(^-J (spring), and in the post-exilian period with HS3 (vil- lage); those with bi'a (Baal) appear to have been of Canaanitish origin (see Panofka, Ueb. d. Einfluss der dottheiten niif Ortsnamen [Berl. 1842]). Some are of liual (^Kirjathaim, Jerusalem, Uothan) or plural form (Keriiith, Anathoth, Gebim) ; in one case (Beth-horon) we iiave the distinction of upper and lower villages. Several places of the same name are distinguished by the name of the tribe added (see Matt, ii, 1,5; xxi, 11 ; Luke iv, 31). In Roman times, especially under the Her- ods, many old names were displaced by others of Greek or Latin origin (e. g. Diospolis, Neapolis, Sebaste,Ctesarea, Tiberias; later ^EliaCapitolina), some of which have still survived (comp. Ammian. Marcel, xiv, 8), while the most of them have again yielded to iheolderappellation (comp. Joseph us, \Var,'\,A,2; -1;;/. xiii, 13,3; see PJVland, I'alcest. p. 507), or to an imitation in Arabic of a similar sound (Palmer, Desert of the Wandering, p. 31). See Nasik.
On the population of the cities of Palestine nothing definite is known, for the numbers (as Judg. xx, 15) from which an estimate might be made are in many cases cor- rupt (Josephus's statements [e.g. !)'(/;■, iii, 3, 1] are sus- picious; but see Hiiumer, Paldst. p. 430 s().). See Nujiber.
A distinction between walled towns and open villages is not uniformly maintained in the Old Test., all hough in the later period they began to be distinguished (see nilQ, Ezek. xxxviii, 11 ; D'^'I^H, Neh. xi, 25; comp. ri;3, Numb, xxi, 25, 32; Josh, xv, 45; Judg. xi, 26; Neh. xi, 25; CX 2 Sam. xx, 19; see Gesenius, Monuni. rhan. ii, 203; a metropolis or province is called ri:"'"1^ in the Talmud, Afaas. Sheni, iii, 4, etc.). Tiie New Test., however, makes such distinctions (Mark i, 38; comp. Matt, x, 1 1 ; Mark vi, 56 [viii, 27] ; Luke viii, 13, 22; Acts viii, 25): Kwfii], e. g. Bethphage (Matt, xxi, 22), Bethany (John xi, 1), Emmaus (Luke xxiv, 13), Bethlehem (John vii, 42); but TrdAig, e. g. Nazareth, Capernaum, Nain ; but these terms are used loosely, and the compound Kw/ii'.TroXit.' even occurs. So, likewise, Josephus uses ttoAi^ and icw/«f; almost interchangeably (see Life, 45; .4w^ xx, 0, 2), and he occasionally em- ploys the diminutive TToXixi'i] ( War, iv, 2, 1). In gen- eral, however, Kiopt] (village) chiefly belongs to those places whose name is compounded with ^5- ((iesenius, Thesaur. ii, 707). The Talmudists (but comp. Megillak, i, 3; JE'ruftiw, v, 6) distinguish places thus: C'^S'nr, cities ■with defences; niT^", towns without fortifications; d"'7S3, villages (Lightfoot, Ilor. Hehr. p. 599 sq.). Re- land gave the first extensive list of the localities of Pal- estine (in his Palwsthia), which might be greatly en- larged from the Talmud (see Buha Bathra, ii and iii; Baha Aletsiah, xi, 5). See Toi^ooraphii'AL Tkhms.
On the municipal government of pre-exilian Palestine no definite information remains. There were judges (C^ipElU) and overseers (C'lipllj) both named as offi- cers (Dent, xvi, 18), but the latter title is not clear; and elsewhere the elders appear as civil authorities. In post-exilian times the magistrates of Palestinian cities are called councillors (f3ov\ni, Josephus, Life, 12, 13, 34, 61, 08), at whose head, as it would seem, stands a ruler {dp xo) I', ibid. 27 ; War, i'l, 2\, 3). But from these are to be distinguished the territorial rjrpnrijyoi or 'i-rrapxoi, ■who had their seat in certain towns, and probably had civil jurisdiction over a particular district (Life, 9, 11, 17; .•^w^xix, 7, 4). On the civil law in cities see the Mishna (^Sanhedr. i, 1 sq.). See Government.