Gerasa: Founded and Lost
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| The Ancient Walkway juxtaposed with the Modern Road. Temple of Zeus on Top Left |
As we walk past Gerasa's Hippodrome and move towards its South Gate, we see the modern road by our side, with commerce thriving robustly in today's Jerash.
Location
Jerash is
just a forty minutes’ drive from Jordan’s capital city, Amman. It lies in a
quiet valley between the mountains of Gilead. Jerash encompasses the north and
south of the valley. The ruins of Jerash are at an altitude of 500 m (1640.42
feet). A perennial stream runs through the middle of the valley which does not
dry even in summer, since times immemorial.
With such a
fine, ancient water supply it is but natural that Jerash had human settlements
since ancient times.
History
The earliest settlers were Neolithic as is proved by the excavations of flint implements found on the slopes, east of the Triumphal Arch.
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| The Triumphal Arch |
There are evidences of
Bronze Age as early as 2500 B.C. and also Iron Age. In the settlements
near the ruins of Jerash and on the hilltops are remains of Dolmens (megalithic
tombs ) earlier than Bronze Age.
Antioch on the Chrysorrhoas
The glory of Jerash has many Founding Fathers. Jerash was at one time called “Antioch on the Chrysorrhoas” (Antioch on the Golden River). Chrysorrhoas refers to the little perennial stream. Antioch probably refers to the Seleucid King Antiochus IV, who ruled in the 2nd century B.C. and who transformed the little village of Jerash into a grand town. Seleucids built temples for Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Poseidon, Artemis and Nemesis.
Roman Era
Jerash is a complete example of a Roman city and is a fine specimen of the powerful Roman rule in the Middle East. In 63 B.C. Pompey the Great, the famous Roman general and statesman who transformed Rome into Roman Empire from a Roman Republic , won the Near East (roughly corresponding to modern Middle East)and divided it into provinces. Gerasa and its lands were attached to Syria. This was the landmark period of Gerasa’s development. From then, till the middle of the first century AD, Gerasa was peaceful. This peace brought stability which allowed the rulers to focus on development. It became known as a Roman commercial city and it flourished as a trade epicenter. It traded with the Nabataeans, as many coins of the Nabataean King, Aretas IV, has been found. It became part of Roman Decapolis which means it was included in a group of ten influential cities that made up the Roman Empire’s eastern border.
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| The 10 Starting Gates of the Carceres |
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| A Closer View of Middle Gate of the Arched Carceres |
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| The Carceres and Racing Track of the Hippodrome Photo:Bernard Gagnon, Wikimedia Commons |
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| An Ancient Stable |
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| A Stable with Double-sided Entrance |
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| The Neat Curves of the Arches |
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| A Distant View of the Carceres |
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| A Rear View of the Seating Arrangement in the Hippodrome |
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| The South Street |
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| The Wide Road leading to the South Gate |
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| The South Gate |
We walked through the principal entrance of the South Gate and came across rows and rows of colonnades (columns) which housed the main ancient thoroughfare, the Cardo Maximus. No wonder, Jerash is called 'The city of Thousand Columns'.
The Cardo
The Cardo is a 800 m (2,625 ft) length ,colonnaded ,straight road, built in the 2nd century AD. It ran through the length of the city. The flagstones are marked by thousands of chariots that ran over it during ancient times.
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| A Portion of Cardo |
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| Colonnades, the Limestone-paved Road and the Sidewalk |
Cardo was Gerasa's main street and it is lined by Corinthian columns, i.e. slender columns with acanthus-leaf capital.The workers in that far-away Roman age were very skilled as their work manifests and the ruling dispensation was not only very wealthy to afford such craftsmen but also had excellent taste. The most important places on the street during Roman times are marked by taller columns. Shops and temples used to border the street on either side.
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| Ancient Jerash flanked by Modern Jerash (in White) |
The Oval Forum
The Forum is the most sought-after tourist spot in Jerash This elliptical forum is in the heart of the ancient city and it links Cardo Maximus with the Temple of Zeus.It is over 90 m long and 80 m wide at its widest point.It was constructed in the middle of the 1st century AD.
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| A Portion of the Magnificent Forum |
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| The Colonnades on Low Blocks |
The forum is surrounded by 160 unfluted, Ionic columns or colonnades.The columns stand on low blocks.
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| Ancient Flagstone-paved Road |
It perhaps served as a market place and also as a focal point of the city's social and political life.
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| Ruins near the Forum |
In the middle of the 1st century A.D. Jerash was on a restructuring mode. It had become a wealthy town. Prosperous citizens of Jerash contributed freely for the making of markets,temples, theatres, pools and shrines.
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| Military Barracks |
We walked further straight and took a left turn where we came across a round structure which was a market place, a sort of mall for the rich.
Macellum is an ancient Roman market or market building, especially a meat market.Agora was the main food market/grocery market of the Roman period and it was positioned around a central, cruciform fountain in a courtyard.The fountain is surrounded by Corinthian columns. The market was built by Tiberius Alexandros,governor of Gerasa in 130 AD .
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| The Fountain surrounded by Corinthian Columns |
Outside this circular structure there were porticoes and other shop-like enclosures. One enclosure had sculptures of a cow’s head and a buffalo’s head and that was the butcher’s shop. One part of the parapet gave out musical sounds when hit gently with a stone.
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| A Column with a Human Head in its Capital |
There were rows of pillars and one pillar had a human head in its capital, which meant , the seat of the king was below it.
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| Porticoed Market |
Roman Roads
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| The Ancient Road |
The ancient, original roads in Jerash still exist. Roads played an important part in Roman empire building. They helped in the smooth and swift march of the Roman army .Better roads also helped to build better trade and information routes.In AD 106 ,Emperor Trajan constructed roads throughout the province . As a result more trade came to Gerasa.The roads are excellent specimen of Roman engineering aptitude. The plaza in the oval forum is paved with high quality limestone slabs.
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| Temple of Zeus |
We came out of the ancient market and arrived at a different place of the colonnaded road. We had reached the Temple of Zeus.
Temple of Zeus
This temple was built in 162-163 AD over the remains of an earlier Roman Temple.It is built on the summit of a hill, the highest point in Gerasa from where we can get a panoramic view of the old city far below. It was approached by a magnificent stairway leading from the Temenos (sacred courtyard) where sacrifices used to take place.
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| Temple of Zeus with its Niches and Altars |
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| Sanctuary of Zeus Temple and Oval Plaza |
The sanctuary of the Temple of Zeus is harmoniously connected to the Oval Forum. The Cardo or main street was widened in an oval shape in front of the principal access point to the sactuary where the Oval Forum meets the temple.
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| Zeus Temple and the South Theatre on the Right |
South Theatre or Roman Amphitheatre.
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| The Porticus and Scaenae Frons |
Our next stop was the Roman Theatre which is beside the Temple of Zeus. We entered a narrow passage and then were ejected into a vast open space -- the huge, ancient amphitheatre: the hot seat of performances for thousands of years. The effect was stupendous. A group of Bedouins were performing a show.
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| The Architectural Beauty of Scaenae Frons |
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| The Caveas |
We felt like Roman emperors sitting in the most important area of the cavea and watching the performance. There were lots of structures facing the theatre:–high platform with arches, wide pavilions. The area of this theatre was larger than the theatre in The Citadel, Amman. Like Amman's theatre, South Theatre also had an advanced system of acoustics. There is a focal point at the centre of the pit, just in front of the stage, which is marked by a distinct stone.From this point normal speaking could be heard throughout the auditorium , right up to the topmost seat.
The South Theatre was built in 90 AD,during the reign of the Roman Emperor,Domitian.
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| The Stage and the Proscenium |
The Temple of Artemis
The Temple of Artemis is a Roman peripteral temple.It was built in 150-160 AD during the height of Gerasa's prosperity. The spectacular feature of this temple are the stone columns with Corinthian capitals which stand 39 feet (13.20 m) tall and weighs over 20 tons.The columns were designed in such a way that they would sway during a earthquake.That's the reason that some of its columns withstood the Galilee earthquake .However, the temple was burnt by the Crusaders in 1121 AD when the Turkish army was using it as a fortress.
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| The Temple of Artemis |
Artemis, the Greek Goddess of the hunt,the wilderness, wild animals,the moon and chastity, was the tutelary deity of Gerasa.
The Arch of Hadrian (The Triumphal Arch)
In the 2nd
century AD, Emperor Trajan extended the frontiers of his empire and built
roads. More trade came in which resulted in greater wealth. Ornate structures
were constructed. Two thermae or imperial baths were built. When the Roman Emperor,
Hadrian visited the city (129-130) a spurt of construction activity was
initiated. The Arch of Hadrian, also known as the Triumphal Arch, was erected to celebrate his visit.
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| The Cream-Coloured Hadrian's Arch |
This triple-arched gateway is one of the largest -known arches of the Roman Empire.It is 25 m wide and 21.5 m high.The main gate or the middle arch is almost 11 m high and 6 m wide.
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| The Wide Middle Arch |
This cream-coloured architecture is decorated with niches, arches and columns.A particular feature of the decoration of its Corinthian columns is that the acanthus is sculpted at the base of the pillar instead of the capitals at the top.
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| A View of Gilead Mountain through Hadrian's Arch |
The Arch of Hadrian was built outside the city walls which signified that there were plans of expanding, of building a new city southwards and the gate was intended to be an entrance gate to that city.However, that expansion never happened due to political disturbances within Gerasa. The gate has dual facades:looking north towards the city and looking south towards the road. The distant Gilead mountains could be glimpsed through the opening of the arches which bespeak abundantly of the excellent aesthetics of Roman architects.
Downfall of Jerash
Early in the
3rd century A.D. the downfall of Jerash began. Jerash was on the
trade route between Damascus and Petra; as well as on the trade routes running
north and westwards towards the Mediterranean ports of Tyre (Lebanon) and
Joppa/Jaffa (Israel). Jerash lost its strategic importance when trade routes
shifted after Palmyra was destroyed and Sasanian kingdom evolved in Iraq. The Roman force weakened in Gerasa. By the
middle of the 4th century, Christian influence grew in Gerasa. Many
churches were built under the Byzantine Emperor, Justinian (527-565).
The Persian invasion in 614 A.D. struck the death-knell on Jerash. Muslim conquest in 635 A.D. made Jerash decline further. A series of earthquakes destroyed the magnificent architecture in Jerash; notable among them was Galilee earthquake in 749 which destroyed large parts. The ruins are left in the same state as they were when the colossal ,magnificent structures were felled by the earthquake.
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| Ruins Of Gerasa |
Subsequent earthquakes happened and further destroyed the
fine architecture of Jerash. Jerash is as famous as Pompeii .Pompeii was
destroyed by a volcano and Jerash was destroyed by invasions and mostly by
earthquakes.
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| Capitals of Corinthian Columns |
Jerash is mentioned as Gerasa throughout the New Testament as part of the Decapolis with Jesus’ healing of two demoniacs who were living in the tombs ‘somewhere in the broader regions’ of Gerasa. In 1120, the Atabeg of Damascus, Toghtekin, built a fort in Jerash, which was captured and destroyed in 1121 by Baldwin II ,king of Jerusalem and Crusade leader. Later the Crusaders abandoned Jerash. In the early 16th century Jerash came into limelight during the Ottoman rule. Small settlements continued during the Mamluk Sultanate and Ottoman Empire. Jerash never recovered and declined further until it became a lost city known for its ruins and glory days.
Many inhabitants believed that the city was cursed, so it was not rebuilt. For centuries,most of the ruins were buried beneath the soil. From a Neolithic village Gerasa progressed to a Greco city, then a Roman metropolis, then a Byzantine city and finally to an Arabic city until it was destroyed by the Galilee earthquake.After the 16th century ,Jerash was completely deserted and forgotten to history until archaeological excavation began in the 19th century.In 1806,a German explorer, Ulrich Jasper Seetzen started excavation and for 200 years the work progressed until the ruins of ancient Gerasa reached its present stage. Modern day Jerash was built on an adjoining wadi (valley).
Modern Jerash
Jerash is flourishing due to its Tourism Industry and is the second most popular tourist attraction after Petra. Jerash is considered to be one of the largest and most well-preserved sites of Roman architecture in the world outside Italy. It also has the largest and best preserved Byzantine ruins.
A particular feature of Gerasa is that all the structures reflected various shades of yellow in the afternoon sun. While the Arch of Hadrian was laguna yellow, a creamy ,medium-shade yellow; the South Theatre was royal yellow with a golden- brown shade.The Temple of Zeus from afar looked light- khaki yellow, a sort of brownish-beige yellow. The colonnades in the Oval Forum and Cardo looked pale, golden rod yellow while the South Gate was a light,airy yellow like the colour of a lemon chiffon cake. The carceres sometimes looked sunshine yellow and sometimes muted yellow in the sunny haze. But the one constant factor was modern Jerash, with its distant,monochromatic white buildings.
At present
,Jerash is the capital and the largest city of the Jerash Governorate in Jordan.
In ancient times it was one of the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities in
ancient Near East.
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