Adelaide's Travel Notes - Jordan

Jordan
Jerash

Jerash is one of the best preserved cities of the Roman Empire. Only a small part of it has been excavated. During a short stay here, Emperor Hadrian had this arch built to be one of the city's entrances.
Jerash was one of the Decapolis - a confederation of ten Roman cities in the Middle East during the first century b.C., which had a certain autonomy regarding Rome. Its apogee lasted from around 70 A.D. to the beginning of the 3rd century. Most of the ruins are from this period, when the city had around 20000 inhabitants.
	The amphitheater has a perfect acoustics. It is still used during the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts held every July.
The Cardo was the main street, surrounded by columns. It even has a sewage system. The surface of the pavement shows marks of the charriot wheels. Jerash was a crossroads of many commercial routes.
	The Nymphaeum was a water fountain at the Cardo. Water flowed from the mouth of lion statues into a pond. A good portion of its sculptured façade is still present.
Archeologists believe that the first settlements in the area began over 6500 years old. Not only the Roman Empire had an influence in Jerash - Greek, Nabateans, Persians and Muslims once ruled. One temple, for instance, shows Bizantine mosaics on the floor.

Links
Gerasa, Outpost City of Antiquity, by Ilan S. Salzberg
Jerash, by @AtlasTours.Net
Jerash, by Petra Moon Tourism