the divisions of Palestine, to their imperial masters, who had given, and who at any
time could take away, crown and kingdom from them. The most ancient name by
which this place is known to have been mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures, is Lasha,
in Genesis x. 19, afterwards variously modified into Leshem, (Joshua xix. 47,) and
Laish, (Judges xviii. 7: xiv. 29,) a name somewhat like the former in sound, though
totally different in meaning, ((
Hebrew characters) leshem, "a precious stone," and (Hebrew characters) laish, "a
lion,") undoubtedly all three being from the same root, but variously modified in the
changing pronunciations of different ages and tribes. In the earliest passage, (Gen.
x. 19,) it is clearly described as on the farthest northern limit of the land of Canaan,
and afterwards, being conquered long after most of the cities of that region, by the
tribe of Dan, and receiving the name of this tribe, as an addition to its former one,
it became proverbially known under the name of Dan, as the farthest northern point
of the land of Israel, as Beersheba was the southern one. It did not, however, lose
its early Canaanitish name till long after, for, in Isaiah x. 30, it is spoken of under
the name of Laish, as the most distant part of Israel, to which the cry of the distressed
could reach. It is also mentioned under its later name of Dan, in Gen. xiv.
14, and Deut. xxxiv. 1, where it is given by the writer, or some copyist, in anticipation
of the subsequent account of its acquiring this name after the conquest. Josephus
also mentions it, under this name, in Ant. book i. chap. 10, and book viii. chap.
8, sect. 4, in both which places he speaks of it as standing at one of the sources of the
Jordan, from which circumstance, no doubt, the latter part of the river's name is derived.
After the overthrow of the Israelitish power in that region, it fell into the
hands of new possessors, and under the Greeks and Romans, went by the name of
Panias, (Josephus and Ptolemy,) or Paneas, (Josephus and Pliny,) which name, according
to Ptolemy, it had under the Phoenicians. This name, supposed to have
been taken from the Phoenician name of the mountain near, Josephus gives to it, in all
the later periods of his history, until he speaks of the occasion on which it received
a new change of name.
Its commanding and remarkable position, on the extremity of Palestine, made it a frontier post of some importance; and it was therefore a desirable addition to the dominions of Herod the Great, who received it from his royal patron, Augustus Caesar, along with its adjacent region between Galilee and Trachonitis, after the death of Zenodorus, its former possessor. (Jos. Ant. book xv. chap. 10, sect. 3.) Herod the Great, out of gratitude for this princely addition to his dominions, at a time when attempts were made to deprive him of his imperial master's favor, raised near this city, a noble monument to Augustus. (Jos. as above quoted.) "He built a monument to him, of white marble, in the land of Zenodorus, near Panium. There is a beautiful cave in the mountain, and beneath it there is a chasm in the earth, rugged, and of immense depth, full of still water, and over it hangs a vast mountain; and under the cave rise the springs of the Jordan. This place, already very famous, he adorned with the temple which he consecrated to Caesar." A lofty temple of white marble, on such a high spot, contrasted with the dark rocks of the mountain and cave around, must have been a splendid object in the distance, and a place of frequent resort.
This city, along with the adjacent provinces, after the death of the first Herod, was given to his son Philip, made tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis. This prince, out of gratitude to the royal donor, at the same time when he rebuilt and repaired Bethsaida, as already mentioned, "also embellished Paneas, at the fountains of the Jordan, and gave it the name of Caesarea." (Jos. Ant. book xviii. chap. 2, sect. 1, also Jewish War, book ii. chap. 9, sect. 1,) and to distinguish it from other Caesareas, hereafter to be mentioned, it was called from the name of its royal builder, Caesarea Philippi, that is, "the Caesarea of Philip." By this name it was most commonly known in the time of Christ; but it did not answer the end of perpetuating the name of its builder and his patron, for it shortly afterwards recovered its former name, Paneas, which, probably, never went wholly out of use. As late as the time of Pliny, (about A. D. 70,) Paneas was a part of the name of Caesarea. Fons Paneas, qui cognomen dedit Caesareae, "the fountain Paneas, which gave to Caesarea a surname." (Plin. Nat Hist, book v. chap. 15,) which shows, that at that time, the name Paneas was one, by which even foreign geographers recognized this city, in spite of the imperial dignity of its new title. Eusebius, (about A. D. 315,) speaks of "Caesarea Philippi, which the Phoenicians call Paneas, at the foot of mount Panium." ([Greek: Philippou Kaisareia hên Paneada Phoinikes prosagoreusi], &c. Ecc. Hist. book vii. chap. 17.) Jerome, (about A. D. 392,) never mentions the name Caesarea Philippi, as belonging
