Geography of Jarash

Jarash lies in a fertile region set in the heart of the mountains of Gilead, eighty-five miles northeast of Jerusalem and twenty-six miles north of the Jordanian captial Amman. A valley runs approximately north and south, and while to the north the hills draw together and enclose the area, to the south they open out. The village of Swailah can be glimpsed far to the west, which lies on the road from Amman to Jerusalem.

The setting is a great part of the charm of the place, for a little stream runs through the center of the town, dividing the eastern from the western section, and even in the heat of summer, when the surrounding hills are brown and arid, the walnut and poplar trees which line its banks are always green and pleasant to the eye. The area was forested in ancient times, but were used to feed the copper smelters, among other uses.

A route from Petra in the south passed this way to Bostra and Damascus. The early city’s water came from the Wadi Jarash, through which flowed the Golden River (Chrysorrhoas) in antiquity.

Later, the main source of water supply for the town was the spring, Ain Qarawan, within the city walls. This is a strong, perennial spring, which seldom runs short of water, but as it lies almost in the bed of the valley it was too low to supply the needs of the great temples and fountains of the western bank. A channel was built from a spring about 1/2 mile up the valley to the north, and situated at a considerably higher level than Ain Qarawan. There was apparently sufficient water here to supply the needs of at least the western section of the town.

Although excavations have shown that Jerash was occupied in Neolithic and Early Bronze Age times, little is known before the foundation of a Hellenistic city here under the name of Antioch-on-the-Chrysorrhoas, apparently a Seleucid king. The wealth of Jarash under Roman rule must have been considerable, and would seem to have derived mainly from agricultural sources, [there being good cornlands immediately to the east], for it is not on any particular trade route nor is it especially well placed strategically. It is possible that the iron mines in the Ajlun hills to the west may have had been exploited, for a later Arab writer says it was noted then for its fine daggers.