Trachonitis

Trachonitis, meaning "the rugged region," was a volcanic, boulder-strewn district east of the Sea of Galilee, named among the territories governed by Philip the tetrarch in Luke 3:1, part of the political framework Luke uses to date the start of John the Baptist's ministry. Herod the Great had earlier campaigned against bandits who used its lava-field terrain, still known today as the Lejah, as a natural fortress, an account preserved by the first-century historian Josephus. Inscriptions found across the wider Hauran region independently confirm the area's governance first by the Herodian dynasty and then directly by Rome, matching Luke's political framework.