GOLAN . One of the three cities of refuge E. of the Jordan ( Deuteronomy 4:43 , Joshua 20:8 ), assigned to the sons of Gershon ( Joshua 21:27 , 1 Chronicles 6:71 ), in the territory belonging to the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. Both the town, Golan, and a district, Gaulanitis , were known to Josephus ( Ant. XIII. xv. 3, XVII, viii. 1). The latter is called by the Arabs Jaulân . The name seems to have been applied first to a city, and then to the district round about; etymologically, however, the root, meaning ‘circuit,’ would point to the opposite conclusion. The exact site of the city is very uncertain. Schumacher ( Across the Jordan , 92) somewhat hesitatingly identifies it with the ruins of Sahem el-Jaulân , 17 miles E. of the Sea of Galilee.
George L. Robinson.