Golan (Hebrew: גּוֹלָן Gōlān; Arabic: جولان Gōlān or Jōlān) is the name of a biblical town later known from the works of Josephus (first century CE) and Eusebius (Onomasticon, early 4th century CE). Archaeologists localize the biblical city of Golan at Sahm el-Jaulān, a Syrian village east of Wadi ar-Ruqqad in the Daraa Governorate, where early Byzantine ruins were found. Israeli historical geographer, Zev Vilnay, tentatively identified the town Golan with the Goblana (Gaulan) of the Talmud which he thought to be the ruin ej-Jelêbîne on the Wâdy Dabûra, near the Lake of Huleh, by way of a corruption of the site's original name. According to Vilnay, the village took its name from the district Gaulanitis (Golan). The ruin is not far from the Daughters of Jacob Bridge. The traces of the town were described by G. Schumacher in the late 19th-century as being "a desert ruin," having "no visible remains of importance, but [having] the appearance of great antiquity."

Golan, in Grecised form Gaulanitis (Greek: Γαυλανῖτις Gaulanítis), is the name of the region apparently named for the town of Golan. During much of the Hellenistic period, when the name Gaulanitis was coined, the region was part of the Seleucid Empire. In Roman times it was shared between the Roman provinces of Judaea and Phoenice.