DANNAH, a place in the mountains of Judah, mentioned by Joshua, (xv. 49). DAPHNE, a river of Palestine which runs into the Jordan.

DAPHNE, FOUNTAIN OF, the name of a fountain in the tribe of Naphtali, probably the same as the former.

DAPHNE, the name of a celebrated grove and village near Antioch, where there was a celebrated oracle. It was situated on the Orontes, and its temple was consecrated to Apollo and Diana, and was a sanctuary to all who retired thither. The grove was planted by Seleucus, and became a place of resort to the citizens of Antioch. The high priest, Onias III., apprehending the designs of the usurper Menelaus, retreated to this place of refuge, 2 Macc. iv. 33, but being treacherously induced to quit it, he was massacred by Andronicus. Daphne was a beautiful place, having streams of the purest water issuing from every hill, and it is still called Beit-el-Mar, or the House of Water. The manners of those who resorted to this place of voluptuous enjoyment were extremely licentious, and hence among the Romans the expression, Daphnicis moribus vivere, denoted the most luxurious and immodest mode of life. The historian of the Roman Empire thus narrates some proceedings of Julian the Apostate respecting this celebrated suburb of Antioch :- "After Babylas, a bishop of Antioch, who died in prison in the persecution of Decius, had rested nearly a century in his grave, his body, by the order of Cæsar Gallus, was transported into the midst of the grove of Daphne. A magnificent church was erected over his remains; a portion of the sacred lands was usurped for the maintenance of the clergy, and for the burial of the Christians of Antioch; and the priests of Apollo retired with their affrighted and indignant votaries. As soon as another revolution seemed to restore the fortune of Paganisın, the church of St Babylas was demolished, and new buildings were added to the mouldering edifice which had been raised by the piety of Syrian kings. Julian was anxious to

deliver the oppressed deity from the odious presence of the dead and living Christians; the bodies were decently removed; and the ministers of the church were permitted to convey the remains of St Babylas to their former habitation within the walls of Antioch. The return of the saint was a triumph, and the triumph was an insult to the religion of the Emperor, who exerted his pride to dissemble his resentment. During the night which terminated the procession that accompanied the removal of the relics of St Babylas, the Temple of Daphne was in flames, the statue of Apollo was consumed, and the walls of the edifice were left a naked and awful monument of ruin. It was said, however, by the Christians of Antioch, that the powerful intercessions of St Babylas had pointed the lightnings of heaven to the devoted roof, but Julian ascribed the fire of Daphne to the revenge of the Galileans. For the discovery of the criminals several ecclesiastics were tortured, and a presbyter of the name of Theodoret was beheaded by the sentence of the Court of the East. But this hasty act was blamed by the Emperor, who lamented, with real or affected concern, that the imprudent zeal of his ministers had tarnished his reign with the disgrace of persecution." See ANTIOCH.

DARABITTA, a village of Palestine at the extremity of Galilee, through which Jonathan Maccabæus passed in his way from Tiberias to Jerusalem.

DAROMA, the name of a district which Eusebius places in the south of Judea, extending north and south about twenty miles, and east and west from the Dead Sea to Beersheba.

DATHEMAH, or DATHMAH, a fortress in Gilead to which the Jews beyond the Jordan retired, and maintained themselves against Timotheus, the general of Antiochus Epiphanes, until Judas Maccabæus came to their relief. Its site is unknown.

DAVID, CITY OF, a name given to Bethlehem, where our Saviour was born, and so called by the angels who announced

the Nativity to the shepherds, Luke ii. 11. Also, a part of ancient Jerusalem so called. See BETHLEHEM and JERUSALEM.

DEAD BODIES, VALLEY OF, a name applied by the Prophet Jeremiah to the Valley of Tophet near Jerusalem, Jer. xxxi. 40, which was a common burying-place, and also the common sewer of the city.

DEBIR, a city near Hebron, called also KIRJATH-SEPHER, or the city of letters, the king of which was slain by Joshua, and the inhabitants put to the sword, Josh. x. 38, 39. It was situated in the tribe of Judah, and fell by lot to Caleb, Josh. xv. 15. It belonged to the Levites, Josh. xxi. 15.

DEBIR, a city east of the Jordan, sometimes called Lodebar, and situated on the frontiers of the tribe of Gad, Josh. xiii. 26. It was the residence of Mephibosheth during his childhood.

DEBLATHAIM, or BETH-DiblaTHAIM, a town of the Moabites, the ruin of which was predicted by Jeremiah (xlviii. 22).

DECAPOLIS, a Greek word, compounded of dɛxã, ten, and ñóñís, a city, the name of a district of Syria, so called because it contained ten principal cities on both sides of the Jordan. They were chiefly inhabited by Gentiles, though some of them might be within the country of Judea. The country lay east of the Lake of Gennesareth. Multitudes came from the district called Decapolis to hear our Saviour preach, when he commenced his public ministry, Matt. iv. 25. This district is also mentioned by St Mark (v. 20). The territory of the ten cities originally belonged to the kingdom of Israel, and subsequently to Syria. The most remarkable of those cities, as far as they can be ascertained, for they are reckoned differently by various writers, were, Hippos; Scythopolis; Gadara, with the baths of Amatha; Pella; Dion; Philadelphia, otherwise Rabbath, the chief place of the Ammonites; Gerasa; Gadora; Abela; every one of which had its own district. Some geographers, without any authority, include the city of Damascus in the

Decapolis, without considering its great distance from the Sea of Galilee.

DECISION, VALLEY OF, a name applied to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, Joel iii. 14.

DEDAN, a city of Arabia-Petræa, on the frontiers of Idumea, which appears to have been originally peopled by Dedan, the grandson of Abraham and Keturah. It once possessed a considerable trade with Tyre, but it has long been a scene of desolation, as was foretold by the Prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

DEHAVITES, a people mentioned in the Book of Ezra (iv. 9) as co-operating along with others to oppose the building of the Temple, the same, according to Calmet, who are said in the Second Book of Kings to have been brought by the king of Assyria from Ava into Samaria.

DELUGE, or FLOOD See FLOOD. DERBE, a sting, the name of a city of Lycaonia in Asia Minor, to which St Paul and Barnabas retreated after their expulsion from Iconium, Acts xiv. 6. It was situated in the native country of Timothy, and is supposed to have been the birth-place of the hospitable Gaius. Its name is conjectured to have been derived from darb, a gate; and here probably was one of the passes of Mount Taurus, for the name of Alah-dag is still given to the spot, signifying the pass of the high mountains. The church of Derbe is now no more, the city itself has perished, and the memory of its site is lost. Laborde sought for some remains to determine where it stood, but the attempt was fruitless.

DIAL, or SUN-DIAL, OF AHAZ, 2 Kings xx. 11. "It has been," observe the Authors of the Universal History, “a subject of much debate, of what nature this sun-dial of Ahaz was, and how far the knowledge of astronomy then subsisting could have led to the construction of a regular sun-dial. The word in Hebrew signifies properly steps or stairs, and many have supposed that it was a kind of ascent to the gate of the palace, marked at proper distances with figures showing

the division of the day, rather than a regular piece of dial work."

DIANA, TEMPLE OF, at Ephesus, a celebrated temple erected to that goddess, the fabled daughter of Jupiter and Latona, and the twin sister of Apollo, which was reckoned one of the Seven Wonders of the world. Demetrius the silversmith describes it as "the temple of the great goddess Diana, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth," Acts xix. 27. It was built at the common expense of the states of Asia Minor. The "great Diana of the Ephesians," as this idol was styled by its enthusiastic worshippers, Acts xix. 34, was, according to Pliny, a small statue of ebony made by one Canitia, though commonly believed to have been sent down from heaven by Jupiter. This celebrated and magnificent temple was burnt, on the day when Alexander the Great was born, by an incendiary named Erostratus, who owned on the rack that his only motive for destroying the noble structure was simply that his name might be transmitted to posterity. Alexander the Great offered to rebuild this temple at his own expense, if the Ephesians would agree to inscribe his name on the front, but they declined in a manner which prevented the resentment of the conqueror, politely telling him that "it was not fit one god should build a temple to another." The temple was finally destroyed by the Goths in their third naval invasion, A.D. 260.

"The

total disappearance of such a vast edifice as the temple of Diana Ephesia," says Colonel Leake, "is to be ascribed to two causes, both arising from its situation. Its position near the sea has facilitated the removal of its materials for the use of new buildings during the long period of Grecian barbarism, while that gradual rising of the soil of the valley, which has not only obstructed the port near the temple, but has created a plain of three miles between it and the sea, has buried all the remains of the temple that may have escaped removal. Enough of these, however, it is probable, still exists beneath the soil, to enable the architect to obtain

a perfect knowledge of every part of the construction. It is remarkable that all the greatest and most costly of the temples of Asia, except one, are built on low and marshy spots; those of Samus, Ephesus, Magnesia, and Sardis, are all so situated. It might be supposed that the Greek architects, having to guard against earthquakes as against the most cruel enemies of their art, and having ample experience in all the concomitant circumstances of these dreadful convulsions, which are the peculiar scourge of the finest parts of Asia Minor, were of opinion that a marshy situation offered some security against their effects. But the custom seems rather to be connected with the character of the Ionic order, which is of itself associated with that of the Asiatic Greeks. While the massy and majestic Doric was best displayed on a lofty rock, the greater proportional height of the elegant Ionic required a level surrounded with hills. So sensible were the Greeks of this general principle, that the columns of the Doric temple of Nemea, which is situated in a narrow plain, have proportions not less slender than some examples of the lonic order. In fact, it was situation that determined the Greeks in all the varieties of their architecture; and so far from being the slaves of rule, there are no two examples of the Doric, much less of the Ionic, that exactly resemble, either in proportion, construction, or ornament. It must be admitted, however, that the colonies of Italy and Sicily appear to have been less refined in taste, and, like all colonies, to have adhered to ancient models longer than the mother country." See EPHESUS.

DIBLATHA. See DEBLATHAIM, OF HELMon-Deblathaim, a town at the foot of Mount Pisgah.

DIBON, understanding, abundance of knowledge, or of building, a town originally assigned to the tribe of Gad by Moses, but afterwards surrendered to that of Reuben, Numb. xxxii. 33, 34, Josh. xiii. 9. The Gadites repaired it, and made it a strong place, It belonged to the Moabites, who obtained possession of

it about the time that the Israelites were carried into captivity by Tiglath-pileser, but it was subsequently despoiled, and destroyed by the Chaldeans, Jer. xlviii. 18. Eusebius describes Dibon as a large town on the river Arnon. There was another town of this name in the tribe of Judah, which is thought to have been the same with Debir or Kirjath-Sepher.

DIBON-GAD, abundance of sons, happy and powerful, or happy, or great understanding, or edifice, an encampment of the Israelites in the Wilderness, Numb. xxxiii. 45, probably the same as Dibon.

DIMNAH, a city of the tribe of Zebulun, given to the Levites of Merari's family, Josh. xxi. 35.

DIMONAH, a town in the southern part of the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 22.

DINAITES, a people so called in the Book of Ezra (iv. 9), who opposed the rebuilding of the Temple.

DINHABAH, his judgment in her, or she gives judgment, or who gives judgment, a capital city of Edom, at an early period the residence of one of its kings, of which nothing farther is known, Gen. xxxvi. 32.

DIOCESAREA. See SEPHORIS. DIOSPOLIS, thought to be the city of No-Ammon in Egypt, mentioned by Nahum (iii. 8). St Jerome takes it for Alexandria.

DIOSPOLIS, a town of Palestine, situated on an extensive plain reaching from the Mediterranean to the mountains of Judea. See LYDDA.

DOPHKAH, one of the encampments of the Israelites in the Wilderness, betwixt the Wilderness of Sin and Mount Sinai, Numb. xxxiii. 12.

DOR, or DORA, generation, or habitation, the capital of a district in Canaan called in Hebrew Nephat-Dor, conquered by Joshua, who slew the king of it, Josh. xii. 23, and gave it to the Cis-Jordan portion of the half-tribe of Manasseh. This city was a maritime place situated on the Mediterranean, on a kind of peninsula, at the pass where Mount Carmel commences, and was known by the name

VOL. I.

of Dor even before the Israelites entered Canaan. It belonged to the Phoenicians, from whom it was taken by Joshua, but they retook it, and kept it for a considerable time, paying tribute to the halftribe of Manasseh, Judges i. 27. Dor was destroyed at the captivity of the Ten Tribes; but it was rebuilt, and became, notwithstanding its bad harbour, a place of considerable strength and importance till within a century before the Christian era. Tryphon, the murderer of Jonathan Maccabæus, and who usurped the kingdom of Syria, having taken refuge here, Dor was besieged by Antiochus Sidetus, who took it and put Tryphon to death, after which it fell into decay, and in Jerome's time it was altogether desolate, its ancient magnificence being only indicated by its ruins. It became subject to the kings of Egypt, the successors of Alexander. Polybius informs us that it was taken by Antiochus Epiphanes, after gaining a victory over the troops of Ptolemy Philometer, king of Egypt. It was in possession of the Jews at the time Pompey entered Syria; and when the whole country was reduced to a Roman province, Dor received from the Roman general the privilege of independence. It became latterly a bishop's see, and it is said that there are still gold coins of this city extant with this inscription, The Holy City of Dor, anno 175. Near it there is a village called Tartoura, consisting of about fifty dwellings, without a mosque, but having a khan for the accommodation of travellers, and a small port formed by a range of rocky islets at a short distance from the sandy beach. It has a ruined building on the north, called by Europeans, for some reason unknown, the Accursed Tower, and by the Arabs Khallat-el-Ateek, or the Old Castle. Its present inhabitants, about five hundred in number, are governed by a sheik.

DOTHAN, or DOTHAIM, the law, or custom, a place about twelve miles north of Samaria, in the tribe of Ephraim, in the vicinity of which Joseph was sold by his brethren to the Ishmaelitish merchants, Gen. xxxvii. 17. A small village stil'

2 c

occupies the spot where this town once stood, and the well into which Joseph was cast is also pointed out, having a marble cover supported by three small pillars. Dothan was also the place where Elisha was surrounded by the troops of Benhadad, king of Syria, who were sent to apprehend him, and who were smitten with blindness, by which the Prophet escaped, 2 Kings vi. 13.

DUMAH, a name applied to Edom or Idumea, Isa. xxi. 11, so called from one of Ishmael's sons.

DUMAH, silence, or resemblance, a large village of Palestine, according to Eusebius and Jerome on the southern part of the tribe of Judah, upon the confines of the territory of Eleutheropolis.

DURA, generation or habitation, a name sometimes applied to the city of Dor or Dora.

DURA, the name of the plain near Babylon, or, according to the author of Calmet's Fragments, "a large circular inclosure adjacent to the temple of Belus" in that city itself, where Nebuchadnezzar set up his golden image, which all were commanded to worship under pain of death. The three young Hebrews were cast into the fiery furnace for refusing to comply with this impious injunction, Dan. iii. 23. It now resembles Babylon itself and the country round it, and is undistinguished from any other place in that remarkable scene of melancholy sterility and desolation.

EARTH. This comprehensive term is used in various senses by the sacred writers-1. For that element which sustains animal existence, which produces and nourishes trees, plants, and flowers, which is barren, fertile, mountainous, rocky, and which is distinguished from the element called the sea. Hence Moses informs us (Gen. i. 10, 11), “God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth." 2. The term earth expresses that rude chaotic matter which existed at the beginning of time, before the Almighty Creator and Architect of the universe began and completed his wonderful and incomprehensible work. "God created the heaven and the earth; and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep." The ancient Hebrews appear to have had no word which of itself singly signified the world, and therefore they used in conjunction the "heaven and the earth," as the great

extremities within which all things are. contained. 3. It is sometimes used for the whole terraqueous globe and all it upholds, human beings, the animate and inanimate creation, trees, plants, metals, waters, as in the 24th Psalm-" The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." 4. It is also used exclusively for its inhabitants, as in Gen. xi. 1: "And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech." 5. It is used to express the Chaldean, Assyrian, and Persian Empires, as in the language of Cyrus, Ezra i. 2, «The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth." 6. It is sometimes restricted merely to Judea, which more commonly occurs in the Scriptures than is generally supposed, and has a considerable influence on the interpretation of those passages in which it ought in that peculiarly restricted sense to be used. The phrase a man of the earth means a husbandınan, or tiller of the ground, but it also means in a figurative sense an earthly-minded man,