VITRUVIUS, POLLO°

VITRUVIUS, POLLO° (or Mamurra; first century B.C.E.), Roman architect and engineer, author of a work on architecture. In it (8. 3. 8) he says that at Joppa in Syria and in Nomad Arabia there are lakes of immense size producing much bitumen which is gathered by the neighboring tribes. The reference, which seems to be to the Dead Sea, is similar to that in Zenophilus (Xenophilus), who likewise speaks of a lake near Joppa with bitumen. (Louis Harry Feldman)