Raphana (Ραφάνα in

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

), was one of the Decapolis cities mentioned by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

, within his ''

Naturalis Historia The ''Natural History'' () is a Latin work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work' ...

'' (Book V.74). Raphana was sought for the last two millennia, after no one could identify this ancient settlement, as it was mostly omitted from maps or in scientific literature. Some connected it with Raphon of the Macabbees. Some other looked for a substitution and chose the site of Abila at the northern Jordanian valley of Wadi Queilbeh, because of Abila's important history and its attested connection to the Decapolis region. But, there is no archaeological evidence that Abila has ever had any other ancient name than ''Abila dekapoleos'', ''Abila Seleukia'' or also ''Abila viniferos'' (mentioned by Eusebius in his Onomastikon (Abila), 12 miles east of Gadara). Raphana itself was unidentified. Recent research has found a plausible position for Raphana at the northeastern-edge of the Decapolis region. This fits also to the history of Flavius Josephus, who describes the forts around a place called Raepta, which is very plausibly the predecessor settlement of Raphana. For the mentioned connection see also the Pleiades Database for
Raphana
at stoa.org. In some online sites you can read that Raphana was at the "Abilene plain" and some mixed this name again with Abila at Wadi Queilbeh south of the Yarmuk, but the Abilene Plain describes a completely different region and the area around Abila Lysaniae, which is north-west of Damascus and always connected with the Paneas region too. But Abila Lysaniae and its history also have nothing to do with Raphana. The notation at the Notitia Dignitatum at "Arefa" shows us for a later date that there was a military unit, an '' ala'' at that location. This connection (with Arefa) you will also find at the above-mentioned Pleiades Database. That such a military camp was normally situated at the border of the ancient empires seems to be clear. Therefore with a very high plausibility Raphana of the Decapolis, with its predecessor Raepta and its successor Arpha/Arefa, can be found at the Khirbe
ar-Rafi'ah
("Ar-Rafi'ah Ruins"), positioned a

at the border between the Arabian Desert and the fertile Ghouta south of Damascus.https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.201/ Jens Kleb (2022). ''Raphana of the Decapolis and its successor Arpha – The search for an eminent Greco-Roman City''. For a time the city seems to have been the base camp of the 12th

Roman legion The Roman legion (, ) was the largest military List of military legions, unit of the Roman army, composed of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens serving as legionary, legionaries. During the Roman Republic the manipular legion comprised 4,200 i ...

, Legio XII ''Fulminata'', as well as of Legio III ''Gallica''.

References

Decapolis tour reference
Populated places in Irbid Governorate Decapolis Roman towns and cities in Jordan Former populated places in West Asia Roman fortifications in Arabia Petraea {{Jordan-geo-stub