A titular see of Palestina Tertia. It is the ancient Bala or Segor, one of the five cities of the Pentapolis ( Genesis 14:2, 8 ), which escaped the thunder and lightning for having sheltered Lot and his family ( Genesis 19:22, 30 ). It is mentioned by Josephus ("Ant. Jud.", XIII, xv, 4; "Bell. Jud.", IV, viii, 4); Ptolemy (V, xvi, 4); and by Eusebius and Saint Jerome in the "Onomasticon". The "Notitiae dignitatum", 72, places at Zoara, as a garrison, the resident equites sagitkarii indigenae ; Stephen of Byzantium (De urbibus, s.v. Addana) speaks also of its fort, which is mentioned in a recently-discovered Byzantine edit of the fifth century (Revue biblique, 1909, 99). In a Mosaic map of Madaba, of the sixth century, it is represented in the midst of a grove of palm trees under the names of Balac or Segor, now Zoara; near the city is a sanctuary to St. Lot. Hierocles (Syneedemus) and George of Cyprus (Description of the Roman World) both mention it. Some bishops have been ascribed to Zoara; Musonius, at Ephesus (449), and at Chalcedon (451); Isidore in 518; and John in 536 ( Le Quien, "Oriens christ.", III, 737-746). At the end of the fourth century one of its bishops accompanied the western pilgrim, wrongly named Silvia (Geyer, "Itinera hierosolymitana", 54). The pseudo-Antonius in the sixth century describes its monks, and extols its palm trees (op. cit., 166, 181). Owing to its tropical climate and to the waters coming down from the mountains of Moab, Zoara is a flourishing oasis where the balsam, indigo, and date trees bloom luxuriantly. During the French occupation it took the name of Palmer, or of Paumier. William of Tyre (XXII, 30) and Foulcher of Chartres (Hist. hierosol., V) have left beautiful descriptions of it, as well as the Arabian geographers, who highly praise the sweetness of its dates (Guy Le Strange, "Palestine under the Moslems", 289). It is not known when the city disappeared; it is now very difficult to find any traces of it. Search may be made in the Ghor-es-Safieh at the mouth of Wadi el-Qrahy, the ancient torrent of Zared.

The Catholic Encyclopedia is the most comprehensive resource on Catholic teaching, history, and information ever gathered in all of human history. This easy-to-search online version was originally printed in fifteen hardcopy volumes.

Designed to present its readers with the full body of Catholic teaching, the Encyclopedia contains not only precise statements of what the Church has defined, but also an impartial record of different views of acknowledged authority on all disputed questions, national, political or factional. In the determination of the truth the most recent and acknowledged scientific methods are employed, and the results of the latest research in theology, philosophy, history, apologetics, archaeology, and other sciences are given careful consideration.

No one who is interested in human history, past and present, can ignore the Catholic Church, either as an institution which has been the central figure in the civilized world for nearly two thousand years, decisively affecting its destinies, religious, literary, scientific, social and political, or as an existing power whose influence and activity extend to every part of the globe. In the past century the Church has grown both extensively and intensively among English-speaking peoples. Their living interests demand that they should have the means of informing themselves about this vast institution, which, whether they are Catholics or not, affects their fortunes and their destiny.

Copyright © Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company New York, NY. Volume 1: 1907; Volume 2: 1907; Volume 3: 1908; Volume 4: 1908; Volume 5: 1909; Volume 6: 1909; Volume 7: 1910; Volume 8: 1910; Volume 9: 1910; Volume 10: 1911; Volume 11: - 1911; Volume 12: - 1911; Volume 13: - 1912; Volume 14: 1912; Volume 15: 1912

Catholic Online Catholic Encyclopedia Digital version Compiled and Copyright © Catholic Online