Jerash, Jordan
Jerash is an ancient Roman city 48 km. north of Amman. It was inhabited for about 6500 years by the Romans and at one point had 20,000 people living there.
If you went to Jerash, the first thing that you would notice would probably be the columns. They are huge and are in rows. There is also a hippodrome which held chariot races and gladiator fights. Nearly 1/2 of Jerash’s population would attend these events every day. Other items in Jerash were fountains, a city wall, towers, the oval plaza, amphitheaters, and gates.
Jerash developed into a big town in the 4th Century B.C., but it wasn’t until the 3rd Century A.D. that the “Golden Age” took place. The Golden Age was the most prosperous time in Jerash and it was then that Jerash held 20,000 people. Then, in 749 A.D., a series of earthquakes took place which caused serious damage to Jerash and the population declined to about 4,000 people.
Today, Jerash is one of the largest and well-preserved ancient Roman cities. The reason for this is that Jerash was covered in sand, so it wasn’t exposed to wind or rain. It was rediscovered in 1806 when Ulrich Jasper Sutzen (a visitor) found part of it.
While we were in Jordan, we visited Jerash. We saw not only the ruins, but also got to see lots of animals. We ended up seeing Starred Agamas, a Gecko, a lizard, and a Red Whip Snake (Our guide had never seen a snake before in Jerash). Jerash and Dana National Reserve (see Sterling’s report) were my two favorite places in Jordan and I hope to return some day.