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GOLAN.—One of the three cities of refuge E. of the Jordan (Deu_4:43, Jos_20:8), assigned to the sons of Gershon (Jos_21:27, 1Ch_6:71), in the territory belonging to the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. Both the town, Golan, and a district, Gaulanitis, were known to Josephus (Ant. XIII. xv. 3, XVII, viii. 1). The latter is called by the Arabs Jaulân. The name seems to have been applied first to a city, and then to the district round about; etymologically, however, the root, meaning ‘circuit,’ would point to the opposite conclusion. The exact site of the city is very uncertain. Schumacher (Across the Jordan, 92) somewhat hesitatingly identifies it with the ruins of Sahem el-Jaulân, 17 miles E. of the Sea of Galilee.
George L. Robinson.