RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Persea Peroival
of the population. Of the roads in Gilead not much can yet be said. From Edrei (see Bashan) there went a road to the Jordan; from El-Muzeirib, the old Astaroth, one led to the west shore of the Sea of Tiberias; two roads from north to south follow in part the watersheds. Of the cities but little is known. Concerning Camon (Judges x. 5) see Jair. Of Jabesh (I Sam. xi.) no certain traces have yet been found. Thisbe, the home of Elijah, is probably to be located at the ruins of Lisdib south of the Wadi Yabis, near which is a hill which bears his name, while the wadi itself sometimes has his name. The name Mahanaim (Josh. xiii. 26) is perhaps preserved in the village Mihne, an hour north of Listib. Complete uncertainty attaches to the site- of Mispeh, the home of Jephthah and an ancient sanctuary (Judges xi. 11). Judas Maccabseus captured and burned it about 164. Depending upon Gen. xxxi. 49, xxxii. 2-3, it has been sought north of Mahanaim; it has also been identified with Ramath-mizpeh in Gad (Josh. xiii. 26) and with the Levitical city of Ramoth in Gilead (Josh. xxi. 38). Schumacher discovered a Mazfa northwest of Jerash, a name which reproduces the Hebrew name. In the neighborhood a Ramath is to be placed (Josh. xiii. 26) which is to be differentiated from the Ramah of II Kings viii. 29 and the Ramoth-gilead of I Kings iv. 13. Eusebius placed it fifteen Roman miles west of Philadelphia (Rabbath Amnion), but in all probability mistakenly. The Zaphon of Josh. xiii. 27 is explained in the Talmud by 'Amato, the modern Tell 'Amate, not far from the Jordan. Succoth (Gen. xxxiii. 27) is given in the Talmud as Tar'ala, which corresponds to the modern Tell Deir Alia on the lower Nahr el-Zerka. The site of Penuel (Gen. xxxii. 31) is uncertain. Jogbehah (Judges vii. 11) is found iri the ruins of Ajbeihat near the sources of the Zerka. The Amoritic city of Jaazer (Num. xxi. 32), later belonging to Gad (Josh. xiii. 25), and in a region noted for its wine (Isa. xvi. 8-9), is located by Eusebius ten Roman miles west from Philadelphia and fifteen from Heshbon on a brook flowing into the Jordan, possibly the modern Khirbet Zar.
The second period of the attachment of this region to the Hebrews was brought about through the Maccabees. At the beginning, according to I Mace. v. 9-54, Judas removed the Jews then living in Gilead to Judea as his brother Simon did with those living in Galilee, and no thought was then entertained of permanent conquest of trans-Jor-
danic territory. Fifty years later John
4. Jewish Hyrcanus conquered Medaba in the
Peraea. old Moabitic region, and Alexander
Jannssus determined to add Gilead to his realm. The control of the Seleucidse had been loosened, and the land was partly in control of Greek cities like Gadara, Pella, etc., and partly under remnants of the Moabites and Ammonites, while other parts were attached to the realm of Demetrius of Gamala and Theodore of Amathus. In numerous campaigns Alexander Jannseus succeeded in subduing the whole district, except Philadelphia, and judaized it (see Hasmoneans). But when in 63 b.c. Pompey " freed " large portions of Syria from Jewish dominions, they reverted to their old relig-
ious preferences. But the region of Persea after the time of Pompey remained attached to the Jewish realm (for its area and boundaries at that time cf. Josephus, Wars, III., iii. 3). The eastern boundary is closely fixed by Josephus {AnL, XX., i. 1), who relates that there was a strife between the Jews of Persea and the Philadelphians over the boundary of Mia, identified in the Onomasticon as Zia, fifteen Roman miles west of Philadelphia.
The rest of Persa fell to the " free " cities, probably united with the permission of Pompey to the Decapolis. In this region were Gadara, Abila, Pella, Dium, Gerasa, and Philadelphia. For Philadelphia see Ammonites. Gadara is the modern Mukeis, an hour south of the hot springs in the valley of the Yarmuk, on an elevated ridge. According to its coins, its era was reckoned from the time of Pompey, 64-63 b.c. About 5. Non- 30 b.c. Augustus granted it to Herod, Jewish at whose death it regained its inde- Peraea. pendence under Roman protection. It controlled the district north to Hippo, and that northwest to Tiberias and Scythopolis, thus touching the Sea of Galilee. Gerasa corresponds to the modern Jerash, the ruins of which comprise a heathen temple, two theaters, a basilica, a mausoleum, etc. Abila is given in an inscription of the time of Hadrian as belonging to the Decapolis {GIG, no. 4501). Pella is placed by the Onomasticon six Roman miles from Jabesh, and is possibly indicated by the ruins of Tabakat Fahil, the name given to it in the Talmud. Pella seems to have taken its name from the Macedonian Pella; it was the refuge of the Christians of Jerusalem during the siege of that city. Dium is located by Ptolemy to the east of Pella. Gadara, metropolis of Jewish Persea (Josephus, War, IV., vii. 3) is the modern al-Salt. Tell 'Amate on the Jordan marks the site of the old fortress Amathus taken by Alexander Jannseus. The noteworthy ruins 'Arak al-Emir in the upper Wadi al- Zir mark the site of the fortress of the Hyrcanus whose doings are related in Josephus, Ant., XII., iv. 11. At the foot of the highlands of Jericho is Tell Nimrin, which corresponds to Beth-nimrah of Num. xxxii. 36. Tell al-Rameh is the Bethramphtha of Josephus, the Beth-Haram of Josh. xiii. 27, and the Beth-haran of Num. xxxii. 36. (H. Guthe.)
Bibliography: A. Reland, Palosstina, pp. 103 sqq., Utrecht, 1714; A. Neubauer, La Geographie de Talmud, Paris, 1868; S. Merrill, Bast of the Jordan, London, 1881; L. Oliphant, The Land of Gilead, New York, 1881 ; C. R. Conder, Heth and Moab, London, 1883; idem. The Survey of Eastern Palestine, vol. i., ib. 1889; G. Schumacher, Across the Jordan, ib. 1886 (contains G. Le Strange, A Ride through 'Ajlun and the Belka during the Autumn of 1884); idem, Pella, ib. 1888; idem, Abila of the Decapolis, ib. 1889; idem, Northern 'Ajlun, ib. 1890; idem, in ZDPV, xviii., 1895, xxiv., 1901; Schurer, Geschichte, vols, i., ii., Eng. transl., I., i., II., i.; G. Clermont-Ganneau, fitudes d' archeologie orientate, pp. 139 sqq., Paris, 1897; DB, iii. 743-744; EB, ii. 1729; JE, ix. 595.
PERAT^E. See Ophites.
PERCIVAL, JOHN: Church of England bishop of Hereford; b. at Brough (36 m. s.e. of Carlisle), Westmoreland, Sept. 27, 1834. He was educated at Queen's College, Oxford (B.A., 1858; fellow, 1858-63); was ordered deacon in 1860 and ordained priest in the following year; was headmaster of
Pereira Pergramos