Batanaea or
Batanea (the Hellenized/Latinised form of
Bashan) was an area of the
Biblical Holy Land, north-east of the
Jordan River, to the west of
Trachonitis. It was one of the four post-
Exile divisions of the area of Bashan. Now known as
Ard-el-Bathanyeh, it runs north-south along the east side of the
Lejah and the
Hauran, from
Salkhad on the south, to Tells Khaledyeh and Asfar on the north. It is, on average, 12 miles wide, and for 30 miles along it extends the
Gebel Hauran, a range of hills, whose central plateau is 2670 ft. above sea level and whose highest point is 6400 ft. Its highest peak may be the "Hill of Basan" referred to in
Psalm 68:15.