Bashan
Sign in to savethumb|View from Mount Bental/Tal Al-Gharam|Mount BentalBashan (; ; or Basanitis) is the ancient, biblical name used for the northernmost region of Transjordan during the Iron Age. It is situated in modern-day Jordan and Syria. Its western part, nowadays known as the Golan Heights, is occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War.
Article
7 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Hebrew Bible
- Later periods
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|View from Mount Bental/Tal Al-Gharam|Mount BentalBashan (; ; or Basanitis) is the ancient, biblical name used for the northernmost region of Transjordan during the Iron Age. It is situated in modern-day Jordan and Syria. Its western part, nowadays known as the Golan Heights, is occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War.
Bashan has been inhabited since at least the fourth millennium BCE. Its earliest mention is found in a Sumerian text dating back to the third millennium BCE. During the Late Bronze Age, Bashan is recorded in Egyptian sources as being under the control of their empire. Biblical tradition holds that an Amorite kingdom in Bashan was conquered by the Israelites during the reign of King Og. Throughout the monarchic period, Bashan was contested between the kingdoms of Israel and Aram-Damascus. Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria eventually intervened, removing Bashan from Israel's control.