Onomasticon (Eusebius)

The Onomasticon (Ancient Greek: Ὀνομαστικόν, Onomastikón), more fully On the Place Names in the Holy Scripture (Περὶ τῶν Τοπικῶν Ὀνομάτων τῶν ἐν τῇ Θείᾳ Γραφῇ, Peri tōn Topikōn Onomatōn tōn en tē Theia Graphē), is a 4th-century gazetteer of historical and then-current place names in Palestine and Transjordan compiled by Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea.

Of the approximate 980 Biblical and New Testament names of places contained in those works, Eusebius identifies some 340 with locations known in his own day and age.

In almost all of the entries in his geographical opus, Eusebius brings down the respective distances in Roman "milestones" (semeia) from major points of reference, such as from Jerusalem, Beit Gubrin (Eleutheropolis), Hebron, Ptolemais, Caesarea, etc.

[8] The Onomasticon has traditionally been dated before 324, on the basis of its sparse references to Christianity, and complete absence of remarks on Constantine the Great's buildings in the Holy Land.

Greco-Roman referents are used by Eusebius in his Onomasticon for Hebrew names, such as Ailia for Jerusalem, Nicopolis for Emmaus, Diospolis for Lydda (Lod), Eleutheropolis for Beit Gubrin, Azotus for Ashdod, Jamnia for Yavne, Neapolis for Shechem, Scythopolis for Beit Shean, Diocaesarea for Sepphoris, Philadelphia for Amman, and Ptolemais for Acre.

Out of fourteen entries where he mentions the town's ethnic details, eleven of these settlements were Jewish, namely: Ekron, Anea (thought to be Khirbet Ghuwein et-Taḥta, now a ruin),[14] Debir [sic], En-Gedi, Eshtemoh, Hormah, Thalca, Juttah,[15] Nineveh [sic],[16] Naarah, and Carmel (mentioned incidentally to Ziph); one a Samaritan village: Tirzah (Thersila) in Batanaea;[17] and two Christian settlements: Anaea and Jattir.

[18] The town Debir [sic], being "Dabeira on Mount Thabor, in the borders of Diocaesarea" in Lower Galilee had a sizable Jewish population.