Rabba

[3] Areopolis is mentioned by Ptolemy,[4] Eusebius,[5] who cited the terrifying nature of the place, Hierocles[6] and Stephen of Byzantium,[7] Sozomen[8][clarification needed] and also the Notitia Dignitatum[9] The town is shown on the Tabula Peutingeriana and the Madaba map and is attested to on numerous milestones.

[3] In the Byzantine period, Rabba was the site of a Jewish community numbered at 15,000 people, centered around a spectacular synagogue, then said to be comparable to Solomon's Temple.

During the 5th century CE, Rabba was visited by a Mesopotamian monk named Barsauma, who during his pilgrimage to the region clashed with locals and forced them to convert to Christianity.

"[12] In 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers named as Kafr Rabba, situated in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Karak, part of the Sanjak of Ajlun.

They paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards/fruit trees, goats and bee-hives; in addition to occasional revenues.

[15] Rabba is home to Nabatean,[dubious – discuss] Roman and Byzantine ruins, which are located along the main street in the center of town.

[citation needed] Areopolis was important enough in the Late Roman province of Palestina Tertia to become a suffragan of its capital Petra's Metropolitan Archbishopric, but was to fade.