Listed 4 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "EPIFANIA Ancient city SYRIA" .
EPIFANIA (Ancient city) SYRIA
Epiphaneia (Epiphaneia: Eth. EpiphaneWs), a city of Syria, placed
by Ptolemy in 69° 36', 30° 26', in the district of Cassiotis, in which also Antioch
and Larissa were situated. The Itinerary of Antoninus places it 16 miles from
Larissa, 32 from Emesa (Arethusa lying half way between it and the latter), and
so 101 from Antioch of Syria. It was situated on the western bank of the Orontes,
lower down the stream than Emesa (i. e. to the north), and is supposed to be identical
with the ancient Hamath (2 Sam. viii. 9; 1 Kings, viii. 65; Is. x. 9), called
also Hamath the Great (Amos, vi. 2). St. Jerome states that both Antioch and Epiphaneia
were formerly named Hamath. and mentions that the first station on the road to
Mesopotamia (qy. from Antioch) was in his day named Emmas, probably the modern
Hems Emesa. Eusebius (Onomast. s. v. Emath) does not think it to be Epiphaneia
near Emesa; but St. Jerome, in the same place, maintains their identity, and says
that Epiphaneia was still called Hamath by the native Syrians. (Comp. Onomast.
s. v. Aemath.) Aquila also rendered Emath, gen Epiphaneian ges Surias. (Theodoret.
Quaest. 22 in 2 King.); and Theodoret, in common with St. Jerome, mentions both
Epiphaneia and Emesa as Hamath, and says that the former was still so called.
(Comment. in Jerem. xlvi. and iv.) Reland, however (Palaest. pp. 119, 120, 317),
doubts the identity, and is disposed to place the Hamath of Scripture further
south, and nearer to the confines of the land of Israel, as indeed Numb. xiii.
21 and other passages above referred to seem to require. This, however, would
not disprove the assertion that Epiphaneia was formerly called Hamath, the proof
of which rests on independent ground, and is greatly confirmed by the fact of
its retaining that name among the natives in St. Jerome's time, as indeed it does
to this day. being still called Hamah, which is described by Irby and Mangles
as delightfully situated in a hollow, between and on the sides of two hills, near
the west bank of the Orontes, but in itself presents nothing worthy of notice
at this day. (Travels, p. 244.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
A city of Syria, on the Orontes, below Apamea. Its Oriental and true name was Hamath, and it was reckoned by the people of the East one of the most magnificent cities in the world, having been founded, as they imagined, by Hamath, one of the sons of Canaan. Allusion is frequently made to Hamath in the Old Testament. Its name was changed to Epiphanea, in honour of Antiochus Epiphanes.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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