James Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Abilene

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James Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Abilene


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ABILENE.—Mentioned in Luk_3:1, and also in several references in Josephus, as a tetrarchy of Lysanias [wh. see]. It was situated in the Anti-Lebanon, and its capital was Abila, a town whose ruins are found to-day on the northern bank of the river Barada, near a village called Sûk Wady Barada. It is one of the most picturesque spots on the railroad to Damascus. The ancient name is to-day preserved in a Latin inscription on a deep rock-cutting high up above the railway. By a worthless Moslem tradition, Abel is said to have been buried here.

E. W. G. Masterman.