BASAN. - Region of northern Transjordan (northeast of Palestine). The Hebrew name Bāfān is generally used with the article; it was a land celebrated for its fertility to such an extent that its name became a synonym for it, and therefore the Septuagint and the Vulgate replace the proper name with the translation "fat": Ps. 21, 13; 67, 16; Ez. 39, 18; Am. 4, 1.
It is bounded to the north by Hermon and the plain of Damascus, to the west by the mountains of G. Hejš and the lake of Tiberias, to the south by the Jarmūk (el-Menādireh), which borders
Galaad (v.), to the east by the mountain of the Druzes. It is a vast plain of volcanic nature, surrounded by mountains, sung by the prophets for its fertility, like Galaad and Sharon (Is. 33, 9; Jer. 50, 19; Mic. 7, 14; v. Ps. 67, 16 f.; Nah. 1, 4), famous for its pastures populated with bulls (a symbol of ferocity and pride; Ps. 21, 13; Ez. 39, 18), once covered with forests of admired oaks (Is. 2, 13; Zech. 11, 2) and exported (Ez. 27, 6), now rich in cereals, especially in the plain of Hawrân. Its waters are collected by the Jarmūk.
Its principal cities were Astaroth, Edrei, Salecha, Gaulon; it enclosed the Argob (v.). Before the entry of the Hebrews into Palestine, B. was "the land of the Giants" (Deut. 3, 13), Rephd'Im (v. ASTAROTH) and constituted the greater part of the Amorite kingdom of Og, the last giant; once the Amorites (v.) were exterminated, the territory was assigned to half the tribe of Manasseh (Deut. 3, 13).
In the Greco-Roman era, the region was divided into four provinces ("tetrarchies"): Gaulanitis toward the lake of Gennesaret, Trachonitis, in the opposite part, Auranitis, to the southeast with the mountains of Hawrân, and Batanea (v.).