Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/113

 «54 ESDRAELA. ETAM. ft to CUodins ho ezecato at a later period. (Tao. Ann. IT. 43; Saet Claud. 25.) This is the latest mention of it that occurs in history; and the period of its final decay or destmction is nnknoim. At the present day the sito is occupied by a castle, con* •verted into a prison ; a small portion of the substroc- tions, built of very large and massire stones (whence they have been erroneously called Cydopian), is all that remains of the ancient edifice; but some fine granite columns, still existing in other parts of the town, hare doubtless belonged originally to the temple. It has been already mentioned that the temple itself was surrounded by fortifications, so as to constitute a strong fortress or citadel, quite dis- tinct fitnn the city below: a omn struck by C. Con- sidius Nonianus* (in the first century b. a) repre- sents the temple itself, with this fortified peribolus, endoeing a considerable portion of the mountain on which it stands; but little dependence can be placed on the accuracy of the delineation. There was also a temple at Rome dedicated to Venus Erycina, which stood just outside the Golline Gato(Strab. y. p. 272); but the representation on the coin just dted is eri- tlently that of the original Sicilian temple. The coins of the dty of Eryz have types allusire to the worship of Venus, while others present a close analogy to those of Agrigentum, indicating a con- nection between the two dties, of which we find no explanation in history. (Eckhel, vol. i. ^ 208; Tortemuzza, Ntm. Sic. pi. 30.) [E. H. B.] OOm OF KRTX. ' ESDBAEXA ('Em Scythopolis, and 10 from Maxim* opolis, or Legio. Its modem name is Zerm, and it is situated on a rocky ridge extending from east to west in the great plain of Esdraelon, towards ite southern extremity, and a little to the north of Mount Gilboa. It was tlie aodent capital of the kingdom of Israel, and is infamous in the history of Ahab and Jezebel. (I KingSf xxi.) It belonged to the tribe of Issachar (Josh, xix. 18), and was known among the crusaders as " Parvum Gerinum." It is most celebrated for its noble plain, noticed in the next artide; its foim< tain (1 Sctm. xxix. I) rises in the valley directly under the village at the N£. (Robinson, Bib. Res. vol. in. pp. 163—167.) [G. W.] ESDRAELON VALLIS v. CAMPUS (jh fiiya ircSW 'E<r8pi)A(6/;i, Judith^ . 8), the same as the valley of Jezreel {Josh. xvii. 16; Judges, vi. 33; Hosea, i. b. a very extensive and fertile plain, shut in between the mountain ranges of Samaria and Mount Carmel on the SE. and of Galilee on the N., tionary, voL ii. p. 1207; but, owing to the imperfect condition of the specimen figured, does not exhibit extending fitim the MeditennuMui-Bea ai die gulf lain is watered, thningh its greatest extent, by the river Kiahon and ita tzibata- ries; and is distinguished in its rarioas parts by diffisent names, e. g. the vaOey of Megiddo [LegioJ (2 Chron. xxxv. 22) ; itMya w^low A ryew s f, or simply fi4ya weiBior, like the valley of the Jordaa (1 Maocab. zii. 49; Josephus ap. Bebnd, IsiaesL pb 366); or /ifya wc3W lofUftwriSos (d. p. 368). It b now known among the natives as **^ Merij Ibm 'Amir.'* (Robmson, Bib, Res. voL iiL pp. 227— 230.) [G. W.] E'siA. [faARA.] :^ E'SSUI. Caesar, in b.c. 54, distributed his ^ troops in winter quarters in various ^daoes at distence from one another. He ]daoed {B. G. v. 24) L. Roedus, with one legion, among the EssoL A krge force of Galli, from the states called Anmnc, assembled to attack Rosdus in his winter eamp^ but were deterred by hearing unfavoorable news of the rising of the Galli in other parta (▼. 53> This fiKt, combined with what is said in the other chapter, shows that the Essui were between the Seine and Ldre, and not far from the Armorie stotes. In the passage of Caesar (t. 24) there is no MSS. variation in the name **" Essuos." In JBL Gv ii. 34, Caesar speaks of the Sesuvii as one of the Armorie or maritime stetes ; and though then ai% MSS. variations in the form ^ Sesuvii," all the read- ings make the name begin with " Ses." B.G. iii. 7, the Sesuvii are again mentioned with the Curiosolites and the Veneti ; but in that there is a reading ** Esnbios,** and other It seems very likely that the Easui, Sesuvii, and Esubii are the same, and that they occupied the diocese of 5ees, which berders on that of Mome and Eweusc Walckenaer {Giog., &c. i. 398) places the Eesui between the Nervii and the Remi, and near a place called Esch on the river Sure. But the narrative of Caesar (v. 53) shows that this ooncloaioo is fiJw. [G. L.] ESTIO'NES CEipania Baetica, stood on the left (E.) side of the mouth of the Anas. (J^us, Ant. pp. 425, 431 ; Fiona, Esp. S. vd. xiy. p. 206| Ukert, vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 339.) [P. S.] ETAM ("Httov), a place in Judaea mentioned by Jueephus, 50 stadia from Jerusalem, very pleasant in its fine gardens, and abounding in riviilete of water, to which the great king Sdomon was accus- tomed to resort (Ant. viii. 7. § 3.) It must ob- viously be the place celebrated in the book of Eode- siastes (ii. 5, 6), and in the Canticles; and the Rabbinical notices of the fountain of Etam from which waters were conveyed by aqueducts to Jera- salem, teach us to look for the site between Beth- lehem and Hebron. Accordingly we find the name perpetuated among the natives to this day, and assigned to gardens the Urgest and most luxuriant that are to be met with in the mountain region of Judaea. The three well-known poob of Sdomon, on the road to Uebran, are situated at the hewi^of a vaU^ -tt C />r ^ "■^- cf.ir>-uCS.
 * This coin is figured in the Biographical Dic-
 * he pediment of the temple.