I enjoyed reading Dr. Paul L. Maier's fiction books dealing with real places in the Middle East. Dr. Maier is considered one of the most respected
Bible land and Middle Eastern historians in his field. "Ancient Near East; Ancient Greece; Ancient Rome; Christianity and the Roman Empire; Reformation Era" My friend went on a "Middle Eastern Cruise" following the trails of one of St. Paul's missionary voyages. Greece, Turkey, and Isreal, part of their voyage in September was cancelled because of Syria, and other Middle Eastern uprisings.
Dr. Maier's faith is stronger now, than when he first started in his field, he is not a young man but has the energy most men his age long for.
"Topography also provides interesting traces of the supernatural dimension in Jesus' ministry. Bethany, where he raised Lazarus from the dead, according to John II, is still called "Betanya" by Israelis. But to the majority Arab population of that Jerusalem suburb, the name of the town is El-Lazariyeh, "the place of Lazarus." That name change was known as far back as Eusebius (church historian, A.D. ca 260-339), and exactly what one would expect if indeed Bethany had witnessed so great a miracle as the dead being raised.
A similar instance is a southwestern suburb of Damascus. To this day, that location at the edge of the Syrian capital is named Deraya, "The Vision" in Arabic, because of what happened to Saul (the future St. Paul) on the Damascus Road."