ABILA, capital of the Abilene of Lysanias (Luke iii. s); and distinguished from other places of the same name as the Abila of Lysanias ('ApiX1) roe Avaaviou), and (by Josephus) as the Abila of Lebanon.' It is unnecessary to reason upon the meaning of this Greek name; for it is obviously a form of the Hebrew Abel, which was applied to several places. This has been supposed to be the same as Abel-heth-Maacah, but without founda tion, for that was a city of Naphtali, which Abila was not. An old tradition fixes this as the place where Abel was slain by Cain, which is in unison with the belief that the region of Damascus was the land of Eden. But the same has been said of other places bearing the name of Abel or Abila, and appears to have originated in the belief (created by the Septuagint and the versions which followed it) that the words are identical, which they are not, the one being Hebel (S3 7), and the other Abel However, under the belief that the place and district derived their name from Abel, a monu ment upon the top of a high hill, near the source of the river Barrada, which rises among the eastern roots of Anti-Libanus, and waters Damascus, has long been pointed out as the tomb of Abel, and its length (thirty yards) has been alleged to correspond with his stature ! (Quaresmius, Elucid. Terra
Sancta, vii. 7, i ; Maundrell, under May 4th). This spot is on the road from Heliopolis (Baalbec) to Damascus, between which towns—thirty-twc Roman miles from the former, and eighteen from the latter—Abila is indeed placed in the Itinerary of Antoninus. About the same distance north-west of Damascus is Silk Wady Barrada, where an in scription was found by Mr. Banks, which, beyond doubt, identifies that place with the Abila of Lysanias (Quart. Rev. xxvi. 388; Hogg's Damascus, i. 3o1). Souk means market, and is an appellation often added to villages where periodical markets are held. The name of Silk (Wady) Barrada first occurs in Burckhardt (Sy)M, p. 2); and he states that there are here two villages built on the opposite sides of the Barrada. The lively and refreshing green of this neighbourhood is noticed by him and other travellers, and may be urged in support of the opinion that Abel means in Hebrew a prissy spot (Stanley, Syr. and Pal. p.