1 August 2008: We paid 30 Jordanian dinars (~US$42) to a taxi driver to drive us to the well-preserved ancient city of Jerash, 48 km north of Amman.

Jerash is known for the ruins of the Greco-Roman city of Gerasa, also referred to as Antioch on the Golden River.

The big dampener was the hot weather. It was at least 45 deg C that day! Because of the unbearable heat, we didn’t walk to as many places in Jerash as we had wanted to. The heat just sapped all the energy from us.

Here’s a bit of history about Jerash:

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

Gerasa and other Decapolis cities were conquered by Pompey in 63 BC, and was part of the Roman province of Syria, during which it prospered from its position on the incense and spice trade route.

This is one section of the spacious Oval Plaza. Surrounded by a colonnade of 1st-century columns, it had two altars in the middle that were replaced with a fountain in the 7th century AD.

From the Oval Plaza, a staircase leads up to the sacred Temple of Zeus (162 AD).

The main Roman road, the Cardo Maximus.

Look at the ground

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 columns were replaced with a more decorative Corinthian colonnade.

The Cardo Maximus was lined with a broad sidewalk and shops and an underground sewage system ran the full length of the street, into which rainwater was channeled through holes on the sides of the street.

A market place

Sitting on what used to be a fountain

The gateway to the 2nd century Roman Temple Of Dionysus, which was rebuilt as a Byzantine church in the 4th century. It is now known as the “Cathedral“.

 The Temple of Artemis (150 AD)

 The large Roman theater of Jerash

Arch of Hadrian

This monumental gateway spanned an ancient road from the center of Athens, Greece, to the complex of structures on the eastern side of the city that included the Temple of Olympian Zeus. This arch was probably built to celebrate the arrival of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and to honor him for his many benefactions to the city.

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