At first sight it might appear as if Trachon, or Tiri- ckonitix (Tfio\iov, or Tpa^^^dji iric), were only a (ireek name applied to one of the subdivisions of the ancient kingdom of Pashan ; yet there is evidence to show that it is a translation of a more ancient Shemitic appella- tion, descriptive of the physical nature of the region. Tjoax'i^J' signifies rough and rugged ; and Tpax'^^iinc
is "a nigged region" (rpr/^iV Kal -iriTpw^TjQ r('7ro(,),and peculiarly aiiplicable to the district under notice. The Hebrew equivalent is .4 rf/oh (ShiX, " a heap of stones ;" from 23"i = C31), which was the ancient name of an important part of Og's kingdom in Bashan. The iden- tity of Trachon and Argob cannot now be questioned. It was admitted by the Jewish rabbins, for the Tar- gums read NJTlir. {Trachova) instead of S31N {Ar- f/ob) in Dent, iii, 14 and 1 Kings iv. 13 (Lightfoot, Opp. ii, 473); and it is contirnied liy the fact that Kenath, one of the threescore great cities of Argob (1 Chroii. ii, 23), was also, as has been .seen, a city of Trachon. I^u- sebius, led doubtless by similarity of names, confounded Argob with the castle of Erga or Ragaba, near the con- fluence of the Jordan and Jabbok. In this he has been followed by Keland (Pa/wst. p. 959, 201), Kitter (Pa/, viid Si/r. ii, 1041), and even Kobinson (Bibl. Pes. App. p. IGG, 1st ed.). Nothing can be more clear, however, than that Argob, a large province of Bashan containing sixty great cities, was quite distinct from Bagaba, an obscure castle in Gilead (Porter. J}aiiiasciis, ii, 271). Eusebius also confounded Trachonitis and Iturtea (Onomast. s. v. "Iturtea"); a manifest error. William of Tyre gives a curious etymology of the word Trachonitis: "Yidetur autem nobis a truconihus dicta. Tracones cnim dicun- tur occulti et subterranei meatus, quibus ista regio abun- dat" (Gcsta Pki per Francos, p. 896). Be this as it may, there can be no doubt that the whole region abounds in caverns, some of which are of vast extent. Strabo refers to the caves in the mountains beyond Trachon (Geogr. xvi), and he affirms that one of them is so large that it would contain 4000 men. Travellers have vis- ited some spacious caves in Jebel Hauran, and in the interior of the Lejah.
The province of the Li^jah (Arab. " the Eetreat") comprises the principal part of the Hebrew Argob and tireek Trachon. It is oval in form, about twenty-two miles long by fourteen wide. Its physical features are uni)aralleled in Western Asia. It is a jilain, but its surface is elevated above the surrounding plain to an average height of thirty feet or more. It is entirely composed of a thick stratum of black basalt, which ap- pears to have been emitted from pores in the earth in a liquid state, and to have flowed out on every side until the surface of the plain was covered. Before com- pletely cooling, it seems to have been agitated as by a tempest, and then rent and shattered by internal con- vulsions. The cup-like cavities from which the liquid mass was projected are still seen ; and likewise the wavv surface such as a thick licpiid generally assumes which cools while flowing. There are deep fissures and yawn- ing gulfs with rugged broken edges; and I here are jagged mounds that seem not to have been sufficiently heated to flow, but which were forced up by some mightv agency, and then rent and shattered to their centres. The rock is tilled with air-bubbles, and is almost as hard as iron. "In the interior jiarfs of the Lejah." says Bnrckhardt, "the rocks are in many places cleft asun- der, so that the whole hill ajipears shivered and in the act of falling down ; the layers are generally horizon- tal, from six to eight feet or more in thickness, some- times covering the hills, and inclining to their curve, as appears from the fissures which traverse the rock froin top to bottom" (7'>vf;v/.< in Syria, p. 112).
It is worthy of note how minutely this description accords with that of Joseidius, who says of the inhab- itants of Trachon that it was extremely difficult to con- quer them or check their depredations, "as they had neither towns nor fields, but dwelt in caves that served as a refuge bfith for themselves and their flocks. They had, besides, cisterns of water and well-stored granaries, and were thus able to remain long in obscurity and to defy their enemies. The doors of their caves are so narrow that but one man can enter at a time, while within they are incredibly large and spacious. The ground above is almost a plain, but it is covered with
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511 TRACTS AND TRACT SOCIETIES
rufiged rocks, and is difficult of access, except when a fjiiiile points out the paths. These paths do not run in a straight course, but have many windings and turns" (Ant.Kv, 10, 1).
The cliaracter of the inhabitants remains unchanged as the features of their comitry. Tliey are wild, law- less robbers, and they afford a ready asylum to murder- ers, rebels, and outlaws from every part of Syria. It seems to have been so in Old-Test, times; for when Absalom murdered his brother, he tied to his mother's kindred in Gesliur (a part of Trachon), ''and was there three years" (2 Satn. xv, iiT, 38). See Geshlr.