Jerash

Satellite view of ancient Jerash. Image courtesy of Google Earth.
See these and many more photos in our Jerash Photo Gallery.

The oval plaza and other ruins of Jerash, with the modern city behind.
Photo: Mounir Soussi Idrissi.

Inside the Oval Plaza. Photo: Joan Rubió.

The main Roman road, the Cardo Maximus. Photo © Richard Beck.

The Temple of Artemis. Photo © Richard Beck.

Byzantine church of St. Cosmas and Damian. Photo © Richard Beck.

The large Roman theater of Jerash. Photo © Richard Beck.

Jerash is an interesting Hellenistic-Roman ruined city located 80 miles north of Amman. The impressive, beautifully preserved ruins of Jerash include buildings from Byzantine and early Muslim periods as well as classical structures, and the entire setting is quite lovely.

Excavations of Jerash began in the 1920s and are still going on today. Guided tours are very rewarding and can easily be arranged through agencies in Amman.

In the 3rd century BC, during the Hellenistic Era, Jerash became an urban center and a member of the Decapolis, a federation of Greek cities. It was then known as Gerasa.

From the 1st century BC, Jerash drew considerable prestige from the semi-independent status is ws given within the Roman province of Syria. It also prospered greatly as a result of its positions on the incense and spice trade route from the Arabian Peninsula to Syria and the Mediterranean.

Jerash lost its autonomy under Emperor Trajan, but his annexation of Petra in 106 AD brought the city even more wealth. By 130 AD, ancient Gerasa was at its zenith. Having become a favorite city of Hadrian, it flourished both economically and socially.

After a period of decline in the 3rd century, Jerash enjoyed as renaissance as a Christian city under the Byzantines, especially during the reign of Justinian (527-65).

The Muslims took over the city in 635 and it was badly damaged by successive earthquakes in the 8th century. The final blow was dealt by King Baldwin II of Jerusalem in 1112 during the Crusades.

Jerash is a large and fascinating archaeological site. Visitors enter on the south side through Hadrian's Arch, built in honor of its namesake. Nearby is the Hippodrome, where chariot races and sporting events were held. A little way down the track is the South Gate, part of the 4th-century AD city wall.

The Temple of Zeus overlooks the spacious Oval Plaza, which measures 90 x 80 m. Surrounded by a colonnade of 1st-century Ionic columns, it had two altars in the middle that were replaced with a fountain in the 7th century AD. A central column was recently erected to carry the Jerash Festival flame.

From the Oval Plaza, a staircase leads up to an esplanade that was the Temenos, or sacred precinct, of the 2nd-century Temple of Zeus. Originally, a rock in the esplanade served as a high place, and was enclosed into a shrine in 100-80 BC. This shrine was modified in 69-70 AD and in the 2nd century AD, probably under Emperor Hadrian. From there, another staircase led to the temple itself, which was originally surrounded by 15 m high Corinthian columns.

Stretching north from the Oval Plaza is the Cardo Maximus, the main Roman road in Jerash. It is still paved with its original stones and bears the ruts of chariot wheels. As part of a remodeling of the street around 170 AD, the original Ionic columns were replaced with a more decorative Corinthian colonnade. The Cardo was lined with a broad sidewalk and shops and an underground sewage system ran the full length of the street. The holes at the sides of the street drained rainwater into the sewers.

Not far from the Oval Plaza on the right is the onsite Archaeological Museum, which houses a fascinating collection of artifacts found at the site, including gold jewelry, coins, glass and even pottery theater tickets.

The colonnade of the Cardo becomes taller at the entrance to the marketplace (Macellum), a ruined structure on the left. Here there is a fountain with a lion's head dated to 211 AD. The next structure down the Cardo after the marketplace is a recently excavated Umayyad Mosque.

Shortly after the mosque is the South Tetrapylon that marks the intersection of the Cardo with the South Decumanus, a smaller street running east to west.

Continuing north on the Cardo, the next building on the left is the monumental and richly carved gateway of the 2nd century Roman Temple of Dionysus. In the 4th century this temple was rebuilt as a Byzantine church dubbed the Cathedral, but there is no evidence this was the bishop's church. At the top of the stairs, against an outer east wall of the Cathedral, is a Shrine of St. Mary, with a painted inscription to St. Mary and the archangels Michael and Gabriel.

Just behind the Cathedral is the large Church of St. Theodore, built in 496 AD. In between the two churches is a small paved plaza with a fountain in the center, which was originally the Cathedral atrium.

Behind St. Theodore on the far west of the site, the ruins of three Byzantine churches are grouped together around a shared atrium. The northernmost is the Church of St. Cosmos and St. Damian, dedicated to twin brother doctors who were martyred in the 4th century (they have a fine church in Rome as well). This church has the most splendid floor mosaics to be seen in Jerash. An inscription dates the mosaic to 553 AD. The images include the churchwarden Theodore and his wife Georgia praying with widespread arms.

The middle of the three churches is that of St. John the Baptist, dating from 531 AD. Its mosaic floor, now damaged, included images of the four seasons, plants and animals, and the cities of Alexandria and Memphis in Egypt. The church of St. George, the southernmost, was built in 530 AD. It continued to be used after the earthquake of 749 AD, and its mosaics were destroyed when the 8th century Christian iconoclastic movement banned the representation of humans and animals.

Back on the Cardo, just north of the Cathedral is a large nymphaeum, or monumental fountain. It was constructed in 191 AD and was originally faced with marble. Next is the Propylaeum or gateway that led to the sacred precinct of the Temple of Artemis, which occupies a large site to the left of the Cardo. A monumental staircase, originally enclosed by high walls, leads up to a U-shaped terrace where the foundations of an open-air altar can still be seen. A second staircase leads through a colonnade of 22 Corinthian columns and into the Temenos (sacred precinct), which measures 162 x 121 m and had Corinthian columns on all sides.

In the 6th century, a Byzantine church (the Propylaeum Church) was built opposite the Propylaeum on the site of a colonnaded courtyard that formed part of the processional way to the Temple of Artemis. The columns were used as part of the church.

Past the Temple of Artemis and left of the Cardo is a small theater or Odeon, built in 165 AD and doubled to its present size in 235 AD. West of the Odeon is the Church of the Bishop Isaiah, built in 559 and used until the earthquake of 749. Here the Cardo intersects with the North Decumanus, which is marked by the North Tetrapylon. In the 2nd century this probably had a domed roof and elaborate carved decoration.

Map

Location map and satellite view of Jerash. Using the slider on the left, zoom in for a closer look or zoom out to get your bearings. Click and drag the map to move around. You can explore all of Jordan from space on our Jordan Map or on Google Earth.

The Jerash Visitors’ Center (tel. 04/451-272), near the South Gate of the city, is open daily from 7:30am to 7pm (until 8pm in summer) sells books and maps of Jerash and can arrange group or private tours.

The Jerash Archeological Museum (tel. 04/452-267) is open Saturday to Thursday from 8:30am to 5pm (to 6pm in summer); closed Fridays.

Festivals and Events

The Jerash Festival is held each year for 2 weeks in July (contact Jordanian Tourism Information offices for current information).

Frommer's Online-Only Guides
DK Eyewitness Jerusalem Holy Land
Jerash Map and Details - AtlasTours.net