anc. geog.), a very ancient city situated in the hilly country of the tribe of Judah to the south. Its more ancient name was Kiriat Arba, or Gariath Arba. In antiquity this city vied with the most ancient cities of Egypt, being eleven years prior to Zoan, translated Tanis by the Seventy. Josephus makes it not only older than Tanis, but even than Memphis. It stood to the west of the lake Asphaltites, and was for some time the royal residence of David. After the captivity it fell into the hands of the Edomites, as did all the south country of Judea. It is now called Habrûnun, situated seven leagues to the south of Bethlehem. The Arabs call it El-kalil, "the well beloved;" which is the epithet they usually apply to Abraham, whose sepulchral grotto they still show. Habrûnun is seated at the foot of an eminence, on which are some wretched ruins, the misshapen remains of an ancient castle. The adjacent country is a sort of oblong hollow, five or six leagues Hebron leagues in length, and not disagreeably varied by rocky hillocks, groves of fir-trees, stunted oaks, and a few plantations of vines and olive trees. These vineyards are not cultivated with a view to make wine, the inhabitants being such zealous Mahometans as not to permit any Christians to live among them: they are only of use to procure dried raisins, which are badly prepared, though the grapes are of an excellent kind.

The peasants cultivate cotton likewise, which is spun by their wives, and sold at Jerusalem and Gaza. They have also some soap manufactories, the kali for which is sold them by the Bedouins; and a very ancient glasshouse, the only one in Syria. They make there a great quantity of coloured rings, bracelets for the wrists and legs, and for the arms above the elbows, besides a variety of other trinkets, which are sent even to Constantinople. In consequence of these manufactures, Mr Volney informs us, Habroun is the most powerful village in all this quarter; and is able to arm 800 or 900 men, who adhere to the faction Kaifi, and are the perpetual enemies of the people of Bethlehem. This discord, which has prevailed throughout the country from the earliest times of the Arabs, causes a perpetual civil war. The peasants are incessantly making inroads on each other's lands, destroying their corn, dourra, tefamum, and olive trees, and carrying off their sheep, goats, and camels. The Turks, who are everywhere negligent in repelling similar disorders, are the less attentive to them here, since their authority is very precarious. The Bedouins, whose camps occupy the level country, are continually at open hostilities with them; of which the peasants avail themselves to refill their authority, or do mischief to each other, according to the blind caprice of their ignorance or the interest of the moment. Hence arises anarchy which is still more dreadful than the despotism which prevails elsewhere, while the mutual devastations of the contending parties render the appearance of this part of Syria more wretched than that of any other.