Talk:Raphana

Why not delete article and auto-link "Raphana" to "Abila (Decapolis)"?

It is usually identified with Abila (Decapolis). Arminden (talk) 07:43, 8 October 2018 (UTC)

Hello Arminden, where does the statement come from that Raphana = Abila is or was?? Are there any clear and archaeologically verifiable references for this? To my knowledge and after 10 years of research in this area, not! There were only 2 reasons why it was rarely stated in the literature that Raphana was Abila.

The first reason was the supposed non-mention in the list of the Decapolis by Pliny, because Raphana was named and Abila supposedly not, a substitution was sought, but this is unfounded and was never claimed by the well known Scientist couple Fuller, who dug in Abila for a very long time. The supposed 2nd reason was that Raphana was not found as a ruin site, so some scientists without real konowing of the landscape there, thought only back to the st reason. Neither the logical description of Pliny nor the later mentions or analogies with Raepta or Arpha/Arefa show that this place was in the middle of the Decapolis region. Even the connection to Raphon the Maccabees makes no sense and is archaeologically untenable. So it is a series of many misunderstandings and you can see this for yourself in the completely contradictory description on the stoa.org pleiades portal. Here it is said that it is in Jordan, as in your text, outdated references are mentioned at the same time and one or even two reference points in southern Syria are specified as coordinates that have nothing to do with either one or the other.

I therefore enclose the article to you

https://peercommunityjournal.org/item/10_24072_pcjournal_201/

The various approaches have also been examined in detail here.

Incidentally, as a friend of Jordan, I am not of the opinion that another city should be tied to the territory of Jordan, because archaeologically the Wadi Queilbeh with Abila is amply documented for its history and in the list of Pliny it appears as the area of Ampeloessa, presumably together with Beit Ras/ Capitolias, which also existed at that time. This naming and linking of Ampeloessa and Abila can not only be combined with the vine-rich and Abila viniferos, 12 miles east of Gadara, but we still find old wine presses everywhere there, or even wild vines. Raphana was definitely on the north-eastern border of the Decapolis and had its own history with its predecessor settlement Raepta and its subsequent reduction fort Arpha/Arefa.

Many thanks in forward for your time 87.154.206.28 (talk) 15:24, 30 March 2023 (UTC)