Jerash - ancient Gerasa

25 March, 2010

With Rick and Anne's help, I planned my itinerary for the next few days.  The first place I decided to head for was Jerash (ancient Gerasa), 45 minutes drive north of Amman.  A guide book that I borrowed from them said, "Jerash, formerly known as Gerasa, is indisputably the most complete and best preserved Graeco-Roman city in the Middle East and is noted in the Bible as the “region of the Gerasenes” (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26)…. The colonnaded streets, plazas, temples, paved pathways, theatres and fifteen Byzantine churches make Jerash the second most important historical destination for tourists [in Jordan] after Petra."  The ruins were amazing!

The top photo is of the restored hippodrome, viewed from the south, and that tiny person in front of Hadrian's Arch - built to mark the visit of the Emperor Hadrian to Jerash in the second century AD - is me!

As we walked into the ancient town from the south we passed the sacred precinct of the Temple of Zeus.  In an arched room there was a great display of artefacts from the Temple site.  The Temple had been built on the site of an earlier Greek temple of the second century BC.  They had unearthed one of the stones from this earlier temple, still with the original painted colours on it 2100 years later.  (Ray, can Resene provide paint that good?)  It was beautiful.

There were many impressive things to see at Jerash, and among those the southern theatre in the city, built in Roman times, stood out.  It was beautiful, and is still used during the Jerash festival in July. 

I liked the fact that the front row seats were numbered (still) with the original Greek lettering.  I can imagine the usher asking (in Greek or Latin of course), "Was your seat zeta, eta or theta, madam?'

One bizarre thing that happened at the theatre was that a lone piper and then two others, one a drummer, came out to play - not quite what I expected in Jordan.  The purpose was to earn some money from the tourists, but it was very much appreciated by the locals who were there as well.  There were a number of renditions of 'Scotland the Brave', one of 'Amazing Grace', and to finish, they played 'Yankee Doodle'!  You had to be there!

After visiting the theatre I made my way down to the hippodrome again to see the very touristy Roman Army and Chariot Experience.  This was a display of some Roman army manoeuvres, a show to indicate what gladiatorial games would have been like, and a chariot race.  The chariot racing was certainly most impressive and in ancient times was apparently incredibly popular.  In a town of 30,000 people they built a hippodrome that could seat 15,000 people.  It's like half the greater Wellington population going to a test match or a Phoenix game!  We'd have to build a very much bigger stadium.

Just as I took my first photo there, the battery sign on my camera came up, and I couldn't take many more photos.  Although that was a disappointment, it was a good lesson to learn early on in my trip.  Charge your battery!  (And get another one as a spare.)  So I will not comment further on the Temple of Artemis, the churches next to it, the northern theatre, and the northern tetrapylon - all of which were beautiful.

I made my way to the bus station - asking for directions in my halting Arabic and enjoying being able to speak to others.  I loved the adventure I was having, and when I got home I could hardly stop talking about the trip to Jerash and all the beautiful things there.  I was quite tired that evening, but we had an enjoyable dinner with Abraham and Dorothy, work colleagues of Rick and Anne, and with their son, Franklin.