Bashan
הַבָּשָׁן
Where is Bashan? The Golan and the Hauran of southern Syria. I mark it certain.
Og king of Bashan marched out to meet Israel at Edrei and lost his kingdom. Moses gave its rich pastures to half the tribe of Manasseh.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- The Golan and the Hauran of southern Syria
- How sure
- Certain The name, the sources and the finds all agree.
- Other names
- Batanaea, Hauran, Kingdom of Og
- Location
- 32.9934° N, 35.7951° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
The towns in the text still sit where the Torah put them. Og's kingdom ran "as far as Salcah and Edrei," and those are Salkhad and Dara'a in southern Syria. Golan, a city of refuge "in Bashan," gave its name to the Golan.
The ground explains the fame. This is a basalt plateau, and the volcanic soil is rich. The grass grew thick and the cattle grew fat. That is where the proverbial "bulls of Bashan" come from. Og himself was the last of the giants, and the Torah notes that his iron bed was nine cubits long.
Bashan's northern and eastern limits are hazy. Its place north of Gilead and the Yarmuk is not.
Visiting today
The Golan side of Bashan is open, with ancient sites and lookouts across the plateau. The Syrian Hauran, with Dara'a and Bosra, is out of reach for most travelers.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Bashan on the interactive map →
The whole Land on your wall
A hand-drawn map of Biblical Israel, with more than 160 places from Dan to Kadesh Barnea, printed on archival matte paper.
Free with every print: a companion ebook on every place on the map, a $19.99 value.
From $49.99 · Free US shipping
Get the print + free ebook