Tuesday December 15: Jarash

On the road to Jarash, north of Amman, we noticed several fertile valleys and places where farm land had been created out of the rocky soil.

Still lots of rocks remaining to be removed.

Just as in Israel, water is a scarce resource in Jordan.  Trees in foreground are olive trees, which grow everywhere.

Roadside stand selling a little bit of everything.

Jarash (sometimes spelled Jerash) is famous for its Roman ruins, among the best and largest in the world outside Italy.  Jarash was one of the 10 cities in the Decapolis, a series of cities which formed a protective barrier on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire.  Jarash was deserted from the 12th century until it was rediscovered in 1805.  Excavation and restoration began in 1925.

Hadrian’s Arch which was the southern entrance to the city.

Hippodrome where chariot and other races were held.  Several people in our group took a chariot ride around the track.

One of our group in the chariot.

Temple of Zeus. 

One of two large amphitheaters, this one called the South Theater.  It is still used today during the Festival of Culture and Arts.  We were treated to a concert by an Arab bagpipe and drum group while we were there. 

Bagpipes??

Fractured English still gets the message across.

Oval plaza.

Another view of oval plaza.

The main street was lined with columns with shops on both sides.

These are the original first century B.C. limestone “pavers” laid by the Romans.  The stones were laid on the diagonal in the street so as to smooth out the ride as much as possible for the chariots and wagons.

Typical restoration along colonnaded street.

Mosaic tile floor in Church of St. John the Baptist, dating from first or second century A.D.  Floor was in amazingly excellent condition as the following photos show.

Northern amphitheater, also still in use today.  Acoustics in both amphitheaters were excellent.  From top of theater you can hear people on stage talking in a normal voice.

Temple of Artemis.  Column sections are not joined with any mortar, but by wooden or stone pegs inserted in bottom and top of each section.  These have withstood storms and earthquakes over the centuries and have not had to be “reassembled.”  The columns actually sway slightly with the wind.

This spoon inserted between the column and base would actually move up and down due to the movement of the column.

Column caps at Temple of Artemis.  Note the “cabbage leaf” sculpture.

Artemis the Cat, a stray who hung out at the temple.

There was coffee and tea for sale everywhere, even at the temple.

Following our tour of the Roman ruins we had lunch at a Lebanese restaurant in Jarash. 

King Abdullah II’s picture is everywhere, even on the restaurant sign.

Mezzes, or appetizers, were served with all meals.  Lots of salad, peppers, olives, hummus, even french fries here.  Hot pita bread was also a staple.

Right down the street from the restaurant was a small herd of sheep and goats.  Susan wandered down the street to get a better picture, but she was pursued and called back by our Tourist Police, Assam.

You can see here that all is forgiven.  All tour groups in Jordan are accompanied by a member of the Tourist Police.  To show how much he was needed, most of the time he slept on the back of the bus.  But he did keep Susan out of grave danger from the goats.

After a long day we returned to our hotel in Amman for dinner and packing to leave at midnight.