Those who have read the Bible not only from a religious point of view, but also from a historical point of view, probably remember the New Testament texts, which speak of the Decapolis (decapolis) where Jesus once preached. Why there? Because then the majority of the population of those cities were pagans, whom Jesus called to believe in one God. Basically, his teachings were directed towards the Jewish minority. Also, according to the biblical texts, it is there that Jesus meets a herd of pigs of 2,000 heads, which shocks him, because it is forbidden by kashrut.
At that time, the Decapolis comprised 10 cities independent from each other, however, they all had a similar Semitic culture and language (based on Nabatean, Aramaic and Jewish cultures). Damascus (Syria), Philadelphia (Amman, Jordan), Rafana (Abila, Jordan), Scythopolis (Beit She'an, Israel), Gadara (Jordan), Hippos (Israel), Dion (Jordan), Pella (Jordan), Gerasa (Jarash, Jordan), Kanata (Syria).
To date, it has been possible to excavate part of the ancient cities only in a couple of places, although excavations are slowly but surely carried out to this day.
One of these excavated cities is Gerasa or Jerash.
In antiquity, Gerasa was a developed and lively trading city; today it is just a historical park with ruins not far from the most modern city of Jarash.
At that time, Gerasa (along with Petra and Palmyra) was considered a rather rich, influential and successful city.
Strong earthquake in 749 AD e. destroyed most of Geras. The ruins of Geras remained underground for hundreds of years until they were discovered by the German orientalist Ulrich Seetzen in 1806.
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It was then that the first excavations began.
However, in 1878, Circassian Muslims - refugees from tsarist Russia, at the direction of the Ottoman Sultan Adbul Hamid II, settled in the valley and began to plunder stones from the excavations for the construction of their homes.
In general, excavations continued throughout the 20th century, they were carried out by archaeologists from Great Britain, Germany and the USA. In 1907, the Germans were lucky again, for they discovered a Roman mosaic depicting mythological scenes, which they successfully took and transported to the Berlin Museum Pergamon, where it is kept to this day.
Today Jerash is considered one of the largest and best-preserved ancient city in the style of Greco-Roman architecture.
The peak of the city's development is considered to be the 3rd century AD, when the city became part of the Roman colony. At that time the population of the city was 20 thousand. person. Like Petra, the city of Jerash has survived due to the fact that it was completely buried by the sands.
Today, in addition to numerous columns, you can see a couple of temples, a hippodrome, a square and the remains of fountains.
You get a little freaked out when you look at the tall columns, and you realize that they have all been completely covered with sand and earth for so many years.
One of the best preserved structures is Hadrian's Arch, which was built on the occasion of the visit of Emperor Hadrian in 129 AD.
Right behind the arch is a hippodrome for 15 thousand people. Chariot races, sports competitions were held here, and crews stayed here.
There were two theaters on the territory of the city: North and South.
The northern theater was built in 165 AD and was half the size of the southern one. However, since the 5th century the theater has ceased to be actively used, and the locals pulled it apart over the stones for other buildings.
The southern theater has been preserved in almost perfect condition. It was built in 90-92 AD and housed more than 3000 people. The main feature of the theater is its excellent acoustics, which allows you to hear the speaker standing in the middle of the stage from any seat. In this case, the speaker does not even need to raise his voice! We checked and it really works !!!
Another unique structure is the forum, or oval square, which is located in the city center.
From south to north there is a straight street - Cardo Maximu, which is paved with blocks on which the traces of ancient chariots are imprinted. Also under this street was an underground sewerage system, where rainwater was discharged; and at that time not all cities could boast of such progress.
There are also the ruins of the Temple of Artemis, the Cathedral, and the Church of St. Fedor.
The cathedral and the church of St. Michael are separated by a huge fountain dedicated to the Nymphs. Even today, he looks very impressive, and at that time he completely amazed everyone and everyone with his beauty.
However, today you will no longer see marble cladding, plaster decorations and seven statues of lion heads, through which streams of water rushed down into a small pool.