The name of a district of country on the eastern declivity of Anti-Lebanon, from twelve to twenty miles north-west of Damascus, towards Heliopolis, or Baalbek; so called from the city of ABILA, and also called Abilene of Lysanias, to distinguish it from others. This territory, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius emperor of Rome, was governed as a tetrarchate by a certain Lysanias, Lu 3:1.

a plain, a district lying on the east slope of the Anti-Lebanon range; so called from its chief town, Abila (Lu 3:1), which stood in the Suk Wady Barada, between Heliopolis (Baalbec) and Damascus, 38 miles from the former and 18 from the latter. Lysanias was governor or tetrarch of this province.

Mentioned in Lu 3:1, and also in several references in Josephus, as a tetrarchy of Lysanias [wh. see]. It was situated in the Anti-Lebanon, and its capital was Abila, a town whose ruins are found to-day on the northern bank of the river Barada, near a village called S

Abile'ne

The district over which Lysanias was tetrarch. Lu 3:1. Abila was its chief city. Josephus speaks of this as "Abila of Lysanias" to distinguish it from other cities of the same name. It was described by ancient writers as eighteen miles from Damascus on the way to Heliopolis or Baalbek, and Robinson reached its site in six hours, on the eastern slope of the Anti-Libanus. The centre of the district of Abilene lies about 33 35' N, 36 5' E. Its extent is not known: it is probable that its limits varied at different times.

Abile'ne

(land of meadows),

Lu 3:1

a city situated on the eastern slope of Antilibanus, in a district fertilized by the river Barada (Abana). The city was 18 miles from Damascus, and stood in a remarkable gorge called Suk Wady Barada.

ABILENE, a small province in Coelo-Syria, between Lebanon and Antilibanus. Of this place Lysanias was governor in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, Lu 3:1. Abela, or Abila, the capital, was north of Damascus, and south of Heliopolis.