BASAN. – A region of northern Transjordan (northeast Palestine). The Hebrew name Bāšān is generally used with the definite article; it was a region celebrated for its fertility, so much so that its name became synonymous with abundance, and thus the Septuagint and the Vulgate substitute for the proper name the translation “fat” (Ps. 21:13; 67:16; Ezek. 39:18; Amos 4:1).
It is bounded on the north by Mount Hermon and the plain of Damascus, on the west by the mountains of G. Hejš and the lake of Tiberias, on the south by the Jarmūk (el-Menādireh), which separates it from Gilead (q.v.), and on the east by the mountain of the Druses. It is a vast plain of volcanic origin, surrounded by mountains, extolled by the prophets for its fertility, along with Gilead and Sharon (Isa. 33:9; Jer. 50:19; Mic. 7:14; cf. Ps. 67:16 ff.; Nah. 1:4), renowned for its pastures populated by bulls (symbols of ferocity and pride; Ps. 21:13; Ezek. 39:18), once covered with forests of oaks admired (Isa. 2:13; Zech. 11:2) and exported (Ezek. 27:6), now rich in cereals, especially in the plain of Hawrán. Its waters are collected by the Jarmūk.
The principal cities were Astharoth, Edrei, Salecha, Gaulon; it included Argob (q.v.). Before the entry of the Hebrews into Palestine, B. was the land of the Giants (Deut. 3:13), the Rephaim (cf. ASTAROTH), and constituted most of the Amorrite kingdom of Og, the last giant; after the Amorrites were exterminated (q.v.), the territory was assigned to half of the tribe of Manasseh (Deut. 3:13).
In the Greco-Roman period, the region was divided into four provinces (tetrarchies): Gaulanitis toward the Sea of Galilee, Trachonitis in the opposite part, Auranitis to the southeast with the mountains of Hawrán, and Batanea (q.v.).