a town of Judea, (Evangelists); thought to be the same with Ramatha, 1 Sam. i. and thus in the tribe of Ephraim (Wells).—This place is now called Ramla; and is in a very ruinous state, containing nothing but rubbish within its boundaries. The aga of Gaza resides here in a feral, the floors and walls of which are tumbling down. He maintains about one hundred horsemen, and as many Barbary soldiers, who (says Mr Volney) are lodged in an old Christian church, the nave of which is used as a stable, and in an ancient khan, which is disputed with them by the scorpions. The adjacent country is planted with lofty olive trees, disposed in quincunces. The greatest part of them are as large as the walnut trees of France; but they are daily perishing through age, the ravages of contending factions, and even from secret mischief: for, in these countries, when a peasant would revenge himself of his enemy, he comes by night, and saws or cuts his trees close to the ground, and the wound, which he takes care to cover, draining off the sap like an issue, the olive tree languishes and dies. Amid the plantations, we meet, at every step, with dry wells, cisterns fallen in, and vast vaulted reservoirs, which prove that, in ancient times, this town must have been upwards of a league and a half in circumference. At present it scarcely contains two hundred families. The little land which is cultivated by a few of them, belongs to the mutti, and two or three persons related to him. The rest content themselves with spinning cotton, which is chiefly purchased by two French houses established there. The only remarkable antiquity at Ramla, is the minaret of a ruined mosque on the road to Yafa, which is very lofty; and by an Arabic inscription appears to have been built by the sultan Saladin.