Sights to See at Jerash

Today, Jerash is a large and fascinating archaeological site. Visitors enter Jerash 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. To the left and on a prominent rise are columns and other ruins of the Temple of Zeus, dating from the 2nd century AD.

Fairs and Festivals of Jerash

Visitors to Jerash in July are in for a special treat, when the Jerash Festival transforms the ancient city into one of the World’s liveliest and most spectacular cultural events. Two thousand years ago, the great urban trading cities of the Middle East were born when Middle Eastern and Western societies came together in a tremendous synthesis of commerce, art, and culture.

Their legacy shines today in the splendid cities of the Greco-Roman and Arab East, such as Petra, Jerash, Gadara, and Palmyra. The full power and glory of that ancient drama is revived in Jordan every summer in the form of the two-week Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts bringing together local folklore dancers and troupes from allover the World.

The Jerash Festival usually takes place during end of July and beginning of August. It showcases a wide array of singers, musical and folklore troupes, poetry readings, symphony orchestras, ballet, Shakespearean theater, handicrafts, and art shows. Special acts and exhibitions cater to children, making the festival an attractive destination for the entire family.

The colonnaded streets, plazas, and theaters of Jerash all provide unique venues for these acts, under the balmy summer skies of central Jordan. While performances take place in the different arenas, thousands of visitors also enjoy strolling through the ancient streets and monuments of the city, shopping for handicrafts, taking in art and book exhibitions, enjoying a casual meal, or simply absorbing the powerful drama of East and West meeting in a great cultural jamboree. Skilled craftsmen and women display Bedouin rugs, jewelry, embroidery, glass, wood, metal, and ceramicss, and also demonstrate on the spot how they create their wares.

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.

History of Jerash

In a remote, quiet valley among the mountains of Gilead lie the ruins of Jerash, at one time a city of the Decapolis, and the only one of that powerful league through whose streets and monuments we can wander and see them as they were in its heyday, untouched except by the hand of time. Greater cities, such as Gadara and Philadelphia, have vanished almost without trace, but the remoteness of Jerash has saved it from being used as a stone quarry for nearby towns and villages, and it is one of the most complete examples of a provincial Roman city to be seen anywhere.

The setting adds greatly to the charm of the place, lying as it does in a valley running rougly north and south and with a perennial stream running through the centre of it. The banks of the stream are covered in walnut and poplar trees, which look green and cool even in the heat of summer, when the surface of the surrounding hills is reduced to a harsh brown aridity. On the south the hills draw away on either side, and the village of Sweileh can be seen on the far skyline.

The site now lies on a modern highway that links Amman with the northern boundary of the Kingdom towards Syria; the drive takes 40 minutes from Amman at a leisurely speed. As one approaches, it is after a corner of the highway that he is suddenly faced with a wonderful view of the ruins with the Triumphal Arch in the foreground. On the other side of the highway lies the modern town of Jerash.

The history of Jerash goes back to prehistoric times, and on the slopes east of the Triumphal Arch can be found flint implements which show that here was the site of the Neolithic settlement. Outside the walls to the north was a small Early Bronze Age village about 2500 B.C., and on the hilltops above are remains of dolmens of a slightly earlier period. There are now no traces of occupation during the rest of the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, but had there been settlements anywhere within the area of the Roman city they would certainly have disappeared or become buried during the course of its construction. There are many Iron Age settlements in the vicinity, and it is unlikely that a place with so fine a water supply as that of Jerash would have remained unoccupied.

Exactly when the shift was made to the present position cannot now be determined. The town was at one time cal]ed “Antioch on the Chrysorrhoas,” the latter, meaning “Golden River,” being the somewhat grandiose name of the little stream which still separates the eastern from the western section. But the name “Antioch” is significant, and strongly suggests that it was one of the Seleucid Kings with the name Antiochus who was responsible for raising the little village to the status of great town, probably Antiochus IV in the early second century B.C. Inscriptions found in the ruins, however, show that there were many traditions current as to the founding of the city, some attributing it to Alexander the Great, some to the general Perdiccas in the fourth century B.C. It could also have been accomplished by Ptolemy II (285 - 246 B. C.) when he changed Amman into the Hellenistic city of Philadelphia. It is possible and probable that each and every one of these had a finger in the pie, and that the emergence of Jerash from the chrysalis village of mud huts to the brightly coloured butterfly of an Hellenistic town was due rather to the increasing general prosperity and security than to the efforts of any one ruler.

Introducation of Jerash

Jerash (ancient “Antioch-on-the-Chrysorhoas", also known as Gerasa) (Arabic: ???)-considered one of the most important and best preserved Roman cities in the Near East-was a city of the Decapolis. Its ruins are located in the Gilead region of northwest Jordan. Modern city of Jerash located just near the ruins is the capital city of Jerash Governorate. It has a population of about 65,000.

Recent excavations show that Jerash was inhabited during the Bronze Age and Iron Age (3200 BC - 1200 BC. After the Roman conquest in 63 BC, Jerash and the land surrounding it were annexed into the Roman province of Syria, and later joined to the Decapolis. In AD 90, Jerash was absorbed by the Roman province of Arabia, which included the city of Philadelphia (modern day Amman). The Romans ensured security and peace in this area which enabled its people to devote their efforts and time to economic development and building activity.

In the second half of the first century AD, the city of Jerash achieved great prosperity. In AD 106, the Emperor Trajan constructed roads throughout the provinces and more trade came to Jerash. The Emperor Hadrian visited Jerash in AD 129-130. A remarkable Latin inscription records a religious dedication set up by members of the imperial mounted bodyguard “wintering” there. The Triumphal Arch (or Arch of Hadrian) was built to celebrate his visit.

The city finally reached a size of about 800,000 square metres within its walls. The Persian invasion in AD 614 caused the rapid decline of Jerash. However, the city continued to flourish during the Umayyad Period, as shown by recent excavations. In AD 746, a major earthquake destroyed much of Jerash and its surroundings. During the period of the Crusades, some of the monuments were converted to fortresses including the Temple of Artemis. Small settlements continued in Jerash during the Ayyubid, Mameluk and Ottoman periods, and in 1878, Circassians settled in the town after immigrating from their homeland in Central Asia. Excavation and restoration of Jerash has been almost continuous since the 1920s.