 The spring of Banias with the Cave of Pan in background | |
  Shown within the Golan Heights | |
| Location | Mount Hermon north of the Golan Heights |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°14′55″N 35°41′40″E / 33.24861°N 35.69444°E |
| Type | the town of Caesarea Philippi with the sanctuary of Pan |
| History | |
| Cultures | Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic, Crusader |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Zvi Maoz (Area A, the temples area) and Vassilios Tzaferis (Area B, the central civic area)[1] |
| Public access | yes (national park) |
Banias (Arabic: بانياس الحولة; Modern Hebrew: בניאס; Judeo-Aramaic, Medieval Hebrew: פמייס, etc.;[2] Ancient Greek: Πανεάς), also spelled or Banyas, is a site in the Golan Heights near a natural spring, once associated with the Greek god Pan. It had been inhabited for 2,000 years, until its Syrian population fled and their homes were destroyed by Israel following the Six-Day War.[3] It is located at the foot of Mount Hermon, north of the Golan Heights, the classical Gaulanitis,[4] in the Israeli portion. The spring is the source of the Banias River, one of the main tributaries of the Jordan River. Archaeologists uncovered a shrine dedicated to Pan and related deities, and the remains of an ancient city dating from the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The site was inhabited until 1967.
The ancient city was first mentioned in the context of the Battle of Panium, fought around 200–198 BCE, when the name of the region was given as the Panion. Later, Pliny called the city Paneas (‹See Tfd›Greek: Πανειάς). Both names were derived from that of Pan, the god of the wild and companion of the nymphs. Herod the Great, king of Judaea, constructed a temple dedicated to Augustus at the site.[4] Subsequently, Herod's son, Philip the Tetrarch, further developed the area, establishing a city. In 61 CE, Agrippa II expanded and renamed the city Neronias Irenopolis.[4] The ancient city was mentioned in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, under the name of Caesarea Philippi, as the place where Jesus confirmed Peter's confession that Jesus was the Messiah;[5] the site is today a place of pilgrimage for Christians.[6]
The spring at Banias initially originated in a large cave carved out of a sheer cliff face which was gradually lined with a series of shrines. The temenos (sacred precinct) included in its final phase a temple placed at the mouth of the cave, courtyards for rituals, and niches for statues. It was constructed on an elevated, 80m long natural terrace along the cliff which towered over the north of the city. A four-line inscription at the base of one of the niches relates to Pan and Echo, the mountain nymph, and was dated to 87 BCE.
The once very large spring gushed from the limestone cave, but an earthquake moved it to the foot of the natural terrace where it now seeps quietly from the bedrock, with a greatly reduced flow. From here the stream, called Nahal Hermon in Hebrew, flows towards what once were the malaria-infested Hula marshes.[7]
- ^ Negev & Gibson (2001), pp. 382–383
- ^ Jastrow, M, 1903, p. 1185 and 1189, or webpage.
- ^ "How modern disputes have reshaped the ancient city of Banias". Aeon.
In June 1967, the penultimate day of the Six Day War saw Israeli tanks storm into Banias in breach of a UN ceasefire accepted by Syria hours earlier. The Israeli general Moshe Dayan had decided to act unilaterally and take the Golan. The Arab villagers fled to the Syrian Druze village of Majdal Shams higher up the mountain, where they waited. After seven weeks, abandoning hope of return, they dispersed east into Syria. Israeli bulldozers razed their homes to the ground a few months later, bringing to an end two millennia of life in Banias. Only the mosque, the church and the shrines were spared, along with the Ottoman house of the shaykh perched high atop its Roman foundations.
- ^ a b c Rogers, Guy MacLean (2021). For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 535. ISBN 978-0-300-24813-5.
- ^ "Bible Gateway passage: Matthew 16:13-20 - New International Version". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
- ^ "Hermon Stream (Banias) Nature Reserve". Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
- ^ Wilson (2004), p. 2