The Ruins of Jerash

Hadrian's Gate
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Today we took an hour car ride out of the city of Amman to the ancient ruins of Jerash which are in situated in the northern part of Jordon. The spectacular drive out of Amman and into a very low valley was one I will not soon forget.  Fruit stands adorned the streets as well as overturned barrels with a fire below them heating two kinds of coffee for sale (caf. and decaf?  nope, a little sugar and a lot of sugar).  Jerash is one of the best preserved Roman cities in the Near East.  This set of ruins are very different than any I have been to before; there are little-to-no off limits areas.  We climbed up stairs and into underground passages.  It was amazing to see such a large sight.  It is presumed that the ruins stretch far under the existing city.  Excavation continues every summer and it looked like some of the workers were even taking advantage of the nice winter weather too!  Jerash was built in stages, the forum being built around 70 AD.  Hadrian's Arch, one of the more breathtaking structures, was added during the second century in the time of Marcus Aurelius.  There were several churches built when Christianity gained acceptance in the Holy Roman Empire and their ruins sit alongside the temples of Artemis and Zeus.  Armed guards walk to ruins keeping an eye on visitors, but really most of them just meandered about talking with each other.  It was disheartening to see large amounts of trash thrown down into some of the ruins as well as human deification.  In many of the larger buildings merchants poked about saying things like, "Postcard for 1 Dinar! 50 Fils! 30 Fils!"  Jerash was last occupied in the 7th century until a large earthquake shook the region.  It was discovered again by the Circassians in 1887 but was not excavated until 1920.  Much work remains to be done.  Even though our exploring took place in late December a t-shirt was fine to wear, and we even found ourselves parched enough to stop for water on the way home!  This truly unique experience gave one the impression of being able to interact with history and connect just by walking the streets, temples and churches of these ancient peoples.  To learn more about Jerash look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerash

The spectacular drive out of Amman and into a very low valley was one I will not soon forget.