Jerusalem Talmud Rosh Hashanah 2:2

משנה: כֵּיצַד הָיוּ מַשִּׂיאִין מַשּׂוּאוֹת, מְבִיאִין כְּלוּנְסוֹת שֶׁל אֶרֶז אֲרוּכִּין וְקָנִים וַעֲצֵי שֶׁמֶן וּנְעוֹרֶת שֶׁל פִּשְׁתָּן וְכוֹרֵךְ בִּמְשִׁיחָה וְעוֹלֶה לְרֹאשׁ הָהָר וּמַצִּית בָּהֶן אֶת הָאוּר וּמוֹלִיךְ וּמֵבִיא וּמַעֲלֶה וּמוֹרִיד עַד שֶׁהוּא רוֹאֶה אֶת חֲבֵירוֹ שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֶׂה כֵן בְּרֹאשׁ הָהָר הַשֵּׁנִי, וְכֵן בְּרֹאשׁ הָהָר הַשְּׁלִישִׁי: וּמְנַיִין הָיוּ מַשִּׂיאִין מַשּׂוּאוֹת מֵהַר הַמִּשְׁחָה לְסַרְטְבָא וּמִסַּרְטְבָא לִגְרִיפִינָא וּמִגְּרִיפִינָא לְחַוְרָן וּמְחַוְרָן לְבֵית בִּלְתִּין וּמִבֵּית בִּלְתִּין לֹא זָזוּ אֶלָּא מוֹלִיךְ וּמֵבִיא מַעֲלֶה וּמוֹרִיד עַד שֶׁהוּא רוֹאֶה כָל־הַגּוֹלָה לְפָנָיו כִּמְדוּרַת הָאֵשׁ: MISHNAH: How were they lighting the beacons? One brings long logs of cedar, and reed, and oil wood, and linen tow, and ties them with rope. He climbs to the top of the mountain, kindles the fire, moves forward and backward, up and down, until he sees his colleague on the second mountain doing the same, and so on top of the third mountain.
Where did one light beacons? From the Mount of Olives to Sartaba, and from Sartaba to Grippina, and from Grippina to Hauran, and from Hauran to Bet Biltin⁵²Of these mountain tops only Sartaba, overlooking the Jordan valley East of Nablus, and Hauran (Djebel Drouz) are identified. Since the distance from Hauran to Nahardea and Pumbedita on the lower Euphrates (known as “Diaspora”) is about 500 km, some intermediate stations between Hauran in Syria and Bet Biltin in Mesopotamia must have been omitted.. From Bet Biltin they did not move but he moves up and down until he sees the Diaspora like one fire place⁵³As the Babli reports, 23b, the people of Pumbedita climbed on the flat roofs of their houses and waved their torches in reply..

הלכה: מָהוּ עֲצֵי שֶׁמֶן. דדנין. אָמַר רִבִּי יּוֹנָה. כְּהָדֵין מַקְזָנָה. HALAKHAH: What is oil wood? דדנין⁵⁴Krauss conjectures that this is δα̣δίον “pine torch”.. Rebbi Jonah said, like maqazna⁵⁵An unidentified tree..

אָמַר רִבִּי זְעוּרָה. דָּלָא יְהָווּן סָ‍ֽבְרִין דְּהוּא כוֹכָב. אָמַר רִבִּי יוֹסֵה. חֲמִינָן כוֹכָב סָלֵק וּנְחִית. חֲמִינָן כוֹכָב אֲזִיל וְאָתֵי. Rebbi Ze`ura said, that they should not think it was a star⁵⁶They moved a torch rather than starting a stationary bonfire so it should be recognized as human signal.. Rebbi Yose said, did we see a star going up and down? Did we see a star going to and fro⁵⁷While one may see fast moving meteors in the sky, they do not reverse course. The retrograde motion of planets takes months or years to observe.?

תַּנֵּי. בְּהָרֵי מְכָווָר וְגָדוֹר. אָמַר רַב חוּנָה. כַּד סַלְקִינָן לְהָכָא סָ‍ֽלְקִינָן לְרֹאשׁ בֵּית בִּלְתִּין וַהֲוִינָן חַמְייָן [דִּקְלַייָא דְ]בָבֶל כְּאִילֵּין חָגַייָא. It was stated: The mountains of Machaerus and Gadara⁵⁸It is not totally clear whether these are intermediate stations between Sartaba and Hauran or stations to pick up the signal originating in Galilee (cf. Note 39). Most probably they served in both functions.. Rav Huna^58*Read: Rebbi Ḥuna. said, when we ascended here, we climbed to the top of Bet Biltin and saw the [date palms of]⁵⁹Corrector’s addition confirmed by G. Babylonia like thistles.