After five days of getting up at 4am, "sleeping in" till 6.30 is quite the luxury. Today on our day off we'd be heading to the "Roman" city of Jerash, about an hour and half's drive away. Though it would appear to have evidence of human occupation going back about 6500 years, its "heyday" was during its Roman period, pretty much from the time Pompey conquered the region in 63 BCE. Its Arabic name of Garsho was later changed to Gerasa, and would later be a part of the Roman Empire, with its membership as part of the Decapolis following.
I was still smarting a little from my injury the previous day, but still had managed to get a decent night's sleep, 3.30am call to prayer withstanding. Showering was proving to be difficult, since I was forbiden to get the finger wet, under any circumstances. Any contact with untreated water could lead to pretty nasty infection, but I wasn't ready to do the plastic bag over the hand in the shower treatment just yet. Sadly, Dear Reader, I was stuck with a bucket of water and face washer for the next couple of days (actually, try the next week). Follow that with a hearty breakfast from Ibrahim and Raad, and by the time the bus came at 8am (driven by Abu-Nassar our trusty driver), we were ready to rock.
Gerasa's status as a Roman province was solidified in 129 CE with a visit from the Emporer Hadrian, and in honour of this visit, the city erected the structure that became known as Hadrian's Arch, at the south end of the city, and it is this structure that greets you when you first enter the site. An inscription on the arch reads,
"In commemoration of Emperor Hadrianus August, the great priest, father of the nation, for his happiness and the salvage of his family. The city of Antioch, located on the river Chrysorhoas Jerash, by recommendation of Flavius Agrippa, presents the Arch with the statue of triumph."
In its heyday, Gerasa had a population of about 20 000 people, and its imposing structures and colonaded streets bare testament to this.
First thing I came across when going for my little wander was these guys, busy excavating. This was a group from the University of Copenhagen, so I promptly said my hellos, and inquired as to how they were going. I mentioned I was from the Abila dig, and was greeted with a "Lucky you" - not sure if they were being genuine or facetious. One of them inquired if we were there to check up on them. "Not today mate, this is strictly my day off" was my equally facetious answer. The dig was huge, not that I was counting numbers or anything, and they were going to be there for the next 4 or 5 weeks.
Walking up the colonade street, it wasn't long before I was grabbed by a local who wanted to show me something. Musical stones, he mentioned, or something along those lines. He then led me to an area that was once part of the many market places that dotted the area. Showing me one of several colonnade headstones, he grabbed a rock and lightly hit it against the headstone, which promptly rang out with a pleasant metallic sound, different pitches on different sections of the headstone. Homeboy was telling me that, due to the loose nature of the colonnades, these headstones would ring out when tremors would occur, essentially making it an earthquake warning system. Sounded feasible, but deep down I suspected he was yanking my chain, a fact which Dr Bob later confirmed.
To top it off, dude wouldn't leave me alone once we left the area, and soon as he introduced me to his mate selling lapis lazuli jewelry, I knew that it was part of the hustle, confirmed when I showed no interest in buying, and upon walking away he asked me for a tip. Come on mate, I never hired you in the first place, and quite frankly, unless you were showing me all this out of the kindness of your own heart...I had asked him if he was a part of the dig happening there, and of course his answer was yes.
One thing he did show me which I thought was interesting (assuming he was genuine), was the layout of the main colonnade street. Basically the main colonnade was laid in a North South Axis, and this particularly area was laid so that to the North was Damascus, South was Philadelphia (modern day Amman), to the East was Baghdad, and West was Jerusalem. Thinking back, one wonders why they didn't have a street facing in the general direction of Rome, but these sorts of questions never pop up in the heat of the moment. So much for "All roads leading to..."
Incidentally, The 'Cardo' or Colonnade Street, starts from the Oval Plaza and goes up towards the southwest. In the Northern part, on both sides of the street, a huge number of columns were erected in 550 CE. Of the original 520 columns, only about 71 exist today, standing on solid bases.
And in those ancient times of colonnaded streets and Roman roads and the like, it was interesting (and perhaps a tad reassuring) to see that the humble manhole was still a necessity...
Anyway, some fixtures of Jerash one must check out when there...
The Temple of Artemis
Built between 134 and 178 CE, Artemis was recognized as the protecting Goddess of the city. its located on top of the northwestern hill, as was customary for Roman temples of the period.
The Nymphaeum
I always get excited by buildings called the Nymphaeum. This one ws built during the reign of Comodius in 191 CE. Supplied with water through an uncovered canal that links the spring of the Two Pools, this particular temple occupies two floors, and was dedicated to the water virgins. Naturally.
The North Theatre
The smaller of the two main theatres of Jerash, it had a capacity of approx 2500 spectators. It's central alley (the good ol' vomitorium) separates the upper and lower floors, and is decorated with seven niches, each 1.8 metres. Some vaults are located under the front seats, apparently used to keep wild animals for bouts against prisoners.
As you can see here, preparations were under way for the theatre to be used as a venue for the upcoming Jerash Festival (?) in August.
Temple of Zeus
The foundation of this temple goes back to 22 - 69 CE, and like most Roman Temples, is situated on a hill overlooking the city. It is believed that the temple ws built upon the remains of a more ancient one, recent excavations having exposed remains from the Hellenistic period.
The temple itself these days is probably in need of a bit of conservation, as you can see by the remains of various columns and bases surrounding its exterior.
South Theatre
The larger of the two theatres, this one holds about 3000, and is built on top of a hill dominating the whole antique city. The stage area at the front (the scaenae) is linked to side recesses, and also has gates that lead to the actor's rooms.
Apparently the acoustic refelctions of the theatre are precise enough so that the last row in the upper seats can hear the action on the stage easy enough without amplification. This theatre is the place where the most important events of the Jerash Festival are held.
[Just as a small disclaimer, my info regarding Jerash has come from a local guidebook. Having checked the Wikipedia entry for Jerash, I noted that the text was lifted pretty much word for word from said guidebook. Wouldn't want you thinking that my research was completely lazy now, wouldn't I?]
After finishing up at Jerash, we were back on the bus and off to Ajloun to visit the famous Ajloun Castle, one of the many crusader castles that can be found around Jordan. Built in 1184-85 by Izz ad-Din Usama, commander of Salah ad-Din al-Ayyuby, it functioned as a small fortress protecting the trade routes between Syria and southern Jordan, and controlling the iron mines of the Ajlun.
It was enlarged in 1214 by Aibak Ibn Abdallah, and later conceded to Salah ad-din Yousef Ibn Ayoub, King of Aleppo and Damascus. Sections of the castle were destroyed by the Mongols in 1260, later to be restored by Sultan al-Dhaher Baibars as a storehouse for crops and provisions. In 1812 the Swiss traveller J.L. Burkhardt found the castle inhabited by around forty people of the Barakat family.
After Ajloun, it would be off home, probably for an early night. Even Abu-Nassar was looking a bit sleepy...
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