Lydda

Lydia, a standing pool

Lydda

(strife), the Greek form of the name, (Acts 9:32,35,38) which appears in the Hebrew records as LOD a town of Benjamin, founded by Shamed or Shamer. (1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 2:33; Nehemiah 7:37; 11:35) It is still called Lidd or Ludd , and stands in part of the great maritime plain which anciently bore the name of Sharon. It is nine miles from Joppa, and is the first town on the northernmost of the two roads between that place and Jerusalem. The watercourse outside the town is said still to bear the name of Abi-Butrus (Peter), in memory the apostle. It was destroyed by Vespasian, and was probably not rebuilt till the time of Hadrian, when it received the name of Diospois. When Eusebius wrote (A.D. 320-330) Diospolis was a well-known and much-frequented town. The modern town is, for a Mohammedan place, buy and prosperous.

Lydda

In Hebrew Lud or Lod, 1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 2:33, and by the Greeks called Diospolis, was a city nine miles east of Joppa, on the way to Jerusalem. Here Peter healed Aeneas, Acts 9:33,34. It was destroyed not long after Jerusalem; but was soon rebuilt, and became the seat of a famous Jewish school. A Christian church was here organized, and was in existence A. D. 518. Lydda is often mentioned in the history of the crusades. It was situated in the midst of fine and extensive plains, the soil of which is a rich black mould, that might be rendered exceedingly fertile. It is at present only a miserable village called Ludd. The ruins of a stately church of the middle ages, called the church of St. George, preserve the name of a saint and martyr said to have been buried here in the third century. The English crusaders adopted him as the "patron" of England, and many fabulous legends are told of his exploits.

LOD; LYDDA

(lodh; Ludda):

1. Scriptural Notices:

Ono and Lod and the towns thereof are said to have been built by Shemed, a Benjamite (1 Chronicles 8:12). The children of Lod, Hadid and One, to the number of 725, returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Ezra 2:33 Nehemiah 7:37 (721)). The town lay in the Shephelah, perhaps in ge ha-charashim, "the valley of craftsmen" (Nehemiah 11:35). In the New Testament it appears as Lydda. Here the apostle Peter visited the saints and healed the palsied Arenas (Acts 9:32). Hence he was summoned by messengers from Joppa on the death of Dorcas.

2. History from Maccabean Times:

The three governments of Aphaerema, Lydda and Ramathaim were added to Judea from the country of Samaria by King Demetrius II (1 Maccabees 11:34). Lydda presided over one of the toparchies under Jerusalem, into which Judea was divided (BJ, III, iii, 5). After the death of Julius Caesar the inhabitants of Lydda and certain other towns, having failed to pay the contributions Cassius demanded, were by him sold into slavery. They were freed by Antony (Ant., XIV, xi, 2; xii, 2). Lydda suffered severely under Cestius Gallus (BJ, II, xix, 1). Along with Jamnia it surrendered to Vespasian (BJ, IV, viii, 1). After the fall of Jerusalem it was noted as a seat of rabbinical learning. The classical name of the city was Diospolis. In the 4th century it was connected with the trade in purple. It became the seat of a bishopric, and the bishop of Lydda was present at the Council of Nicea. At Lydda, in 415 A.D., took place the trial of Pelagius for heresy.

Under the Moslems it became capital of the province of Filastin but later it was superseded by er-Ramleh, founded by Khalif Suleiman, whither its inhabitants were removed (Ya'kubi, circa 891 A.D.). Mukaddasi (circa 985) says that in Lydda "there is a great mosque in which are wont to assemble large numbers of people from the capital (er-Ramleh) and from the villages around. In Lydda, too, is that wonderful church (of George) at the gate of which Christ will slay the antichrist" (quoted by Guy le Strange, Palestine under the Moslems, 493). It was rebuilt by the Crusaders; but was destroyed by Saladin after the battle of ChaTTin, 1191 A.D. It was again restored; but in 1271 it was sacked by the Mengels, and from this blow it has never recovered.

3. Identification and Description:

The ancient Lod or Lydda is represented by the modern village of Ludd, on the road to Jerusalem, about 11 miles Southeast of Yafa. It is a station on the Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway. It occupies a picturesque hollow in the plain of Sharon, and is surrounded by gardens and orchards, the beauty of which intensifies by contrast the squalor of the village. It was the reputed birthplace of George, and here he is said to have been buried. The one ruin of importance in the place is that of the church which perpetuates his name.

The town stood on the great caravan road between Babylon and Egypt, near its intersection with that from Joppa to Jerusalem and the East. Its position on these great arteries of commerce meant trade for the inhabitants. "The manufacture and repair of such requisites for the journey as sacks, saddles and strappings would create the skilled labor in cloth, leather, wood and metal that made the neighborhood once the valley of craftsmen" (Mackie, HDB, under the word). Like many other once prosperous cities on these and similar caravan routes, Lydda suffered from diversion of traffic to the sea; and it may be that for none of them is any great revival now possible.

W. Ewing

LYDDA

lid'-a.

See LOD.

A town in the tribe of Ephraim, mentioned only in the New Testament (Acts 9:32, 35, 38) as the scene of Peter's miracle in healing the paralytic AEneas. It lay about 9 miles east of Joppa, on the road from the sea-port to Jerusalem. In the Old Testament (1 Chronicles 8:12) it is called Lod. It was burned by the Romans, but was afterwards rebuilt, and was known by the name of Diospolis. Its modern name is Ludd. The so-called patron saint of England, St. George, is said to have been born here.