Jerash monuments

Jerash

The Jordanian city of Jerash is located in the north of the Kingdom, and it is about six hundred meters above the sea level, and includes on its land a hundred and fifty three thousand people in the province as a whole, surrounded by the western side of Ajloun Governorate, and from the northern side bordered by Irbid, while it is bordered on the southern and eastern sides of the capital Oman.

Jerash is an ancient city of historical and tourist importance, as it is the focus of attention of tourists from all parts of the world, as it is one of the effects of the Greek and Romen eras. It is noteworthy that Jerash has been subjected to a violent earthquake that destroyed large parts of its effects in the year seven hundred and forty-seven AD. The wars also caused great damage, and they were discovered in 1806 AD by the German orientalist Ulrich Jasper Zeitzen to return to the city and its glory and rise again, which is one of the ten cities of the Decapolis.

Date

Jerash city was subjected during the rule of the Levant to the rule of the Levant, and it took great importance due to its strategic location, as it took a position on the crossroads of commercial caravan routes until then it became a thriving commercial and cultural center, and in 130 AD it became the most important city of the Decapolis union, and the commercial movement witnessed prosperity other than Unprecedented as its relations with the city of the Nabataeans expanded, but it lost its commercial importance after the trade routes were diverted and after the Romens destroyed the city of Palmyra in northern Syria, their security conditions were disturbed, and the Russian Empire expanded its influence and invaded the Levant, and this was the worst period Eh on Jerash.

The label

Jerash took the name of the ancient Semitic Arabs in the time of the ancient Semites such as “Grasha” and “Gershaw.” These names mean the place with dense trees, and with the advent of the era of the Greeks they called it Gerasa, and in the year sixty-three B.C., the city of Jerash joined the Decapolis cities which are cities Ten established by Pompey in northern Jordan, and established to stand up to the Nabateans and counter their power in the south, bearing the name “East Pompey”.

By the year three hundred and fifty AD, the city of Jerash returned to recovery again, witnessing a golden age during the period of the Romen era, and they introduced the Christian religion to it, and witnessed an urban movement in the construction of churches and building monasteries, the majority of which were destroyed by the Persian armies, and by 635 AD The Islamic armies to Jerash led by the great companion Sharhabeel bin Hasna were opened and lived again in security and stability.

Population

Jerash occupied the fourteenth place among the Jordanian municipalities in terms of population, while it occupied the second rank among the Jordanian governorates in terms of population density, and includes among them several different nationalities, and most of its inhabitants embrace the Islamic religion and the minority embraces the Christian religion.

tourism

Jerash tops the list of tourist places, and occupies the second place after Petra, and the ancient city of Jerash takes on a Greek-Romen character, and still maintains its blended character between eastern and western, and it is indicated that it appears to its visitor through architecture, engineering, religion and language the extent of integration and coexistence between the Romen and Greek worlds .

Jerash monuments

Jerash contains many monuments that attract tourists, and among these distinctive monuments that combine the Romen and Greek civilizations are the following:

Southern Theater

The Jordanian Ministry of Culture and Arts holds annually in the Southern Theater an annual cultural festival, “Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts”. It accommodates about three thousand spectators. It is noteworthy that the Southern Theater was built in the end of the first century AD.

The way of the nymphs

The nymph way was built at the end of the second century AD, and it is a building that contains several water fountains, and it is indicated that it is still standing but under the name of Nemphium, which was built in the year one hundred and ninety one AD, and also includes a basin of luxurious marble, and is divided To two floors, the lower part is decorated with marble, and the upper part is decorated with geometrical motifs of great composition.

South Gate

It is also called the Philadelphia Gate, and it was built in the second century AD, and it was destroyed in two hundred and sixty-eight AD during the period of successive wars.

Street of columns

The length of this street is about eight hundred meters, and it is considered the main street in the city.

North Amphitheater

It is considered one of the most important parts of the northern archaeological city, and it was built between 164-165, and can accommodate about one thousand five hundred scenes, and the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts will be held.

Temple of Artemis

This temple is considered one of the most luxurious monuments of the ancient city of Jerash, and includes among its parts the temples of Zeus, Zves, the parliament hall, the cemetery, and the horse racing track in addition to irrigation channels and luxurious bathrooms, and is considered a temple to the gods guarding the city.

Seminar Square

It is a square in the center of the city in an oval shape, surrounded by Greek columns.

Hippodorm

It takes the shape of the letter U in the English language, and it is a track for horses, as it is also called a circus, which is a group of stands that rise from its three sides on the basements, and it is indicated that it was an ancient track for horse racing and two or four horse-drawn carriages.

The cathedral

It has stone gates, distinguished by its magnitude, and it is indicated that these gates are fraught with carvings and carved pictures, and are considered one of the most beautiful religious monuments, and their origins date back to the Dionysus Romen Temple.

Two pools of Jerash

The Romens took the site of the two pools of Jerash as the headquarters for the ceremonies of the arrival of spring. These pools are considered a major source of water in the city, and they are now called “Ain Qayrawan”, and their water rushes inside the ancient city walls, and they were built to transport water to the city in full, and it works by accreditation On a system with pottery tubes and stone channels, and surrounded by a stone amphitheater.

Al Hamidi Mosque

The name of the Hamidi Mosque was attributed to the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and it was built by Circassians in 1887 AD, and that was after they took Jerash as their headquarters. This mosque is considered one of the most important mosques in the ancient city of Jerash, surrounded by Romen ruins on the north and west, and as It overlooks the Romen amphitheater and the street of columns, and it is mentioned that a Romen canal passed near it, and it accommodates about one thousand five hundred worshipers, and the height of its circular minaret reaches about fifteen meters.

The Umayyad Mosque in Jerash

The existence of the Umayyad Mosque was discovered in the city of Jerash in the year 2002 AD, and it occupies a location on the corner of the intersection of El Kadro Street (Main Street) with the branch street of Al Dikmanos.

The shrine of the Prophet Hood

The city of Jerash embraces the shrine of the Prophet of God Hud, peace be upon him, as he sits on top of a high mountain located in the east of Jerash, specifically in the village of Hood, whose name has been attributed to the Prophet of God, and the shrine consists of a narrow road, characterized by its sharp rise, which is a room that reaches an area To sixteen square meters, and at the top of the building is a dome, and its floors are laid out in carpets and mats, and the total land area of ​​the shrine is about one hundred and sixty meters.

Jarash festival

Jordan hosts annually at the Jerash Theater (South and North) the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts, and it is held in July of summer every year. Traditional.