The main attraction of the day (and my favourite part of the trip) was the huge and extremely well preserved Roman city of Jerash (Gerasa / Antioch on the Golden River). At its height in the Roman period, it was a city of 25,000 people. Like many of the places we visited, it had been inhabited by many civilisations, until an earthquake in 749AD left most of it abandoned. Some of its buildings were used as fortresses during the Crusades, and small settlements remained through the Ottoman period, but the major part of the city was buried and preserved under sand and soil until the ongoing excavation began in the 1920s.
OM NOM NOM NOM NOM
The Cardo with modern Jerash in the background.
The Southern (Large) Theatre - there were guys in traditional Arab dress playing traditional Highland songs on bagpipes in there (Yes, I mean Scottish Highlands).
Temple of Artemis
The North (small) Theatre
Damascus Gate
The Nymphaeum
Would these same flowers be growing along the roadside in Roman times?
The Cardo
The Roman version of the stock exchange - where ships bringing goods were bought and sold. In the centre was a fountain, and round the edges were food shops. The butcher's table is still intact. Originally the walls would have been faced with marble, and there was a roof.
The main meeting place of the city, plus one of our tour group members.
Temple of Zeus
Hadrian's triumphal arch
