PHASAE´LIS
PHASAE´LIS (
Φασαηλίς, Joseph., Stepl. B., s. v.;
Φασηλίς,
Ptol. 5.16.7; Phaselis,
Plin. Nat. 13.4. s. 19,
21.5. s. 11: Eth.
Φασαηλίτης), a town of Palestine built by Herod the Great in the Aulon or
Ghor, N. of Jericho, by which means a tract formerly desert was rendered fertile and productive. (Joseph. 16.5.2, 17.11.5, 18.2.2,
B. J. 1.21.9.)
The name seems still to have existed in the middle ages, for Brocardus, quoted by Robinson, speaks of a village named Phasellum, situated a league N. of
Dûk, and corresponding to the position of
El-‘Aujeh, where there are ruins. (Robinson,
Biblical Researches, vol. ii. p. 305.)
