4 June 2015: Day I in Jerash (Gerasa)
Gerasa of the Dekapolis
"On the side of Syria, joining up to Judaea, is the region of Dekapolis, so called from the number of its cities; as to which all writers are not agreed."
Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE), Natural History 5.16.74
Gerasa (modern Jerash) was part of the Dekapolis ("Ten Cities" in Greek), a group of Hellenized cities located in modern Syria, Jordan, and Israel. By the early 2nd century BCE Greek colonists had settled alongside a local Semitic community at Gerasa whose name is a Greek translation of the Semitic Garshu. Under the Roman rule in the 1st century CE the Dekapolis, including Gerasa, became a semi-autonomous administrative district attached to the Roman Province of Syria. After Trajan's annexation of the Nabataean kingdom and creation of the Province of Arabia in 106, the Dekapolis cities were divided among three provinces (Judaea, Arabia, and Syria) and ceased to be a single administrative unit.
Site
Because of its well-preserved state, the site of Gerasa is one of the few places in the world where one can still experience a Classical city through its spectacular architecture and traces of human activity such as wheel ruts. There is so much to see there that during the eight hours that I spent exploring the site on my first day I barely covered the distance from Hadrian's Arch in the south to the north gate, even though I saved the ecclesiastical complex for another occasion. The order in which the monuments are described and illustrated below follows my path through this marvelous place.
Hadrian's Arch
Hadrian's Arch was built to commemorate the visit of the emperor in 129-30.
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| Hadrian's Arch. South facade. |
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| Hadrian's Arch. |
Church of Bishop Marianos
The Church of Bishop Marianos is located only 30 m north of Hadrian's Arch. Built in 570, it is one of no fewer than fifteen churches in Gerasa.
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| Church of Bishop Marianos. 570. The floor is covered with geometric mosaics. |
Hippodrome
The hippodrome, used for horse and chariot racing, was built in the second half of the 2nd century. It could accommodate about 15,000 spectators.
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| View of the Hippodrome with Hadrian's Arch to the left. An arcade at the far (south) end of the hippodrome marks the starting point for the chariot races. Horses and chariots covered several laps around the central barrier. |
Rows of stone seats were supported on arches, below which were shops and storerooms.
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| North end of the Hippodrome, with rows of stone seats in the background. In the foreground are arches that supported the now missing seats. |
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| Below the arches supporting the seats of the Hippodrome were shops and storerooms. |
Chariot racing ceased at Gerasa sometime during the 3rd century. At that time parts of the arena were fitted out with pottery workshops, kilns, and simple dwellings. Ceramic production continued until the early 7th century. The Hippodrome became a burial place for over 200 plague victims in the mid-7th century. The earthquake of 749/50 caused further damage of the already ruined building.
South Gate
The walled city of Gerasa is entered through the South Gate, of a similar design to Hadrian's Arch and probably built at the same time. The early 2nd-century city wall, repaired and restored in later periods, was almost 3.5 km long and 3 m thick with over 100 square towers. The earlier Hellenistic defenses would have enclosed a smaller area.
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| South Gate. South facade. |
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| Inside the walled city, a paved street runs from the South Gate between a row of shops on the left and the retaining wall of the lower temenos (sacred enclosed area around a temple) of the Temple of Zeus on the right. |
Temple of Zeus
The 2nd-century Temple of Zeus stands on a high podium within an upper temenos.
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| Temple of Zeus. Built in 162-3. |
South Theater
The South Theater was built under Emperor Domitian who was assassinated in 96. Domitian's memory was condemned by the senate, and subsequently his name was hacked out of the dedicatory inscriptions.
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| The much restored South Theater. |
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| Domitian's name has been erased from an inscription on the podium at the western end of the auditorium. The inscription honors the retired decurio (town councillor) Titus Flavius Dionysios for his donation of 3,000 drachmae to build a block of seats. |
Oval Precinct
The Oval Precinct is one of the most distinctive features of Gerasa. It was constructed probably during the first half of the 2nd century. It is delineated by an Ionic colonnade. The column in the center has been erected for the modern Jerash festival, but the podium on which it stands may have originally supported a statue. The Oval Precinct linked the Zeus sanctuary with a longitudinal street (cardo).
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| View from the upper temenos of the Temple of Zeus. In the foreground is the lower temenos with the remains of the earlier shrines that were the focus of the Zeus cult until the construction in 162-3 of the grand temple on the hill. |
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| Stone slabs of the Oval Precinct's pavement follow the curve of the ellipses. |
Cardo
Originally laid out in the early 2nd century, the Cardo runs for over 800 m from the Oval Precinct to the North Gate.
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| The cardo maximus was the main street running north-south in a Hellenic or ancient Roman city. |
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| The colonnade along the Cardo supports a continuous architrave. Sections with higher columns mark public buildings behind. |
Macellum
Macellum is the Roman food market, built in the first quarter of the 2nd century.
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| The octagonal courtyard of the Macellum is surrounded by a peristyle of columns. In the center of the courtyard is a fountain. |
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| The intended purpose of these stones with forward-facing lions, located in the southwest exedra (semicircular recess) of the Macellum, was probably to support a stone tabletop used as a counter for commercial transactions. |
South Decumanus
Gerasa had two
decumani (transverse streets), south and north, both laid out in the later 2nd century. The angles of the intersection of the cardo and the south decumanus were cut away to create a circular plaza designed around a Tetrakionion (structure with four pillars).
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| Tetrakionion, looking northeast. The Cardo continues to the north. |
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| South Decumanus, looking west. |
Nymphaion
Beyond the Tetrakionion, on the west side of the Cardo, is the Nymphaion, a monumental fountain dedicated to the Nymphs (the guardian spirits of sources of pure water).
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| Nymphaion. Built towards the end of the 2nd century. |
Sacred Way, Temple of Artemis, and Propylaeum Church
Beyond the Nymphaion, also on the west side of the Cardo, is the Temple of Artemis Propylaeum (monumental entrance gateway). Artemis was the Tyche (Fortuna) of Gerasa.
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| Temple of Artemis Propylaeum. |
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| An elaborate entablature and pediment crowned the gateway, part of which now lies on the Cardo opposite. |
On the east side of the Cardo, vis-a-vis the Propylaeum, was a plaza that was part of a processional route leading to the Temple of Artemis. The route started in the residential eastern suburbs and crossed Chrysorrhoas at the North Bridge (now destroyed). From there a monumental staircase led up to a triple arch and colonnaded street ending in the plaza.
During the 6th century, when the cult of Artemis had declined at Gerasa and Christianity was the dominant religion, the plaza and other parts of the processional route were converted into a church, known as the Propylaeum Church. At the triple gateway was the apse, and the columns of the former street separated the nave and aisles. The plaza became the atrium of the church.
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| Atrium of the Propylaeum Church. The plaza, originally part of a processional route to the Temple of Artemis, was converted into the atrium of the church. |
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| View from the top of the monumental stairway showing the Temple of Artemis Propylaeum, the Cardo, the Propylaeum Church, and the modern city of Jerash in the distance. |
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| Naos (inner sanctuary) of the Temple of Artemis. The naos was clad with marble slabs. The niche housed the image of Artemis. |
Church of Bishop Isaiah
Beyond the north wall of the Temple of Artemis precinct a track leads back to the Cardo past the Church of Bishop Isaiah, dedicated in the mid-6th century.
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| Floor mosaics in the Church of Bishop Isaiah. |
North Theater
Alongside the Church of Bishop Isaiah is the North Theater. It was constructed in the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-80) as a small odeon that served as the city's bouleuterion (meeting room of the boule, i.e. assembly of citizens).
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| Auditorium of the North Theater. During the first quarter of the 3rd century the chairman of the council (proedros) enlarged the odeon by adding the eight rows of seats of the upper auditorium (above the niches), thus doubling its capacity to 1,600. |
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| North Theater. On the pilasters at each end of the orchestra wall are reliefs of musicians. These two show a chubby boy with pipes and a seated figure with a lyre. |
Tetrapylon
The restored Tetrapylon (building with four arched facades set on two intersecting axes) is located in the northeast sector of Gerasa, at the intersection of the Cardo and the North Decumanus. It was built towards the end of the 2nd century.
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| View of the Tetrapylon from the North Decumanus. |
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| View from the Cardo of the Tetrapylon's north facade. To the left are the mostly unexcavated ruins of the West Baths. |
North Gate
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| From the Tetrapylon the Cardo continues to the North Gate. |
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| North Gate. Built in 115. |
After reaching the North Gate I turned around and headed back to Hadrian's Arch. The lighting was much different than eight hours earlier.
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| Approaching the Oval Plaza. |
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