A Whirlwind Tour of Ancient Ruins

On Friday, my whole program went on a whirlwind tour of Umm Qais, Ajloun Castle, and Jerash.  These three sites have so much history packed into them that I was constantly in awe of the sites I saw.  First up, Umm Qais.

Though it was settled before the Romans arrived, Umm Qais became a city of real significance under the Romans.  It's Roman name was Gadara, and it was one of the cities in the Decapolis, a network of semi-autonomous cities in Greater Syria that were important to commerce in the empire.  It declined under the Islamic Empires, but remained inhabited through the time of the Ottomans.  Now, it's still surrounded by a small urban center.

This was a crazy beetle!  It's wings look like a butterfly's, but I can't say it's as pretty.

Unfortunately it was a hazy morning, but if you look hard, you can see the tip of the Sea of Galilee.   Remember that Bible story about Jesus driving demons into a herd of pigs and sending them over a cliff into Lake Tiberius??  Yeah, that was right about, there!  It's pretty crazy to think that Jesus probably walked around this town.  I wish I could have had more time to sit and dwell on the magnitude of that fact.

These mountains are part of the region called the Golan Heights, which is internationally recognized to be a part of the Syrian state.  However, Israel has illegally occupied this militarily strategic high ground since 1967, resulting in a perpetual declaration of war between the two countries.  Although the UN has condemned this occupation, Israel doesn't seem to care.

Ajloun Castle.  This castle was built by a general, and relative of the famous Saladin - the Kurdish Muslim General that kicked some serious Crusader butt during the second Crusade.  Ajloun was one of a network of castles built my the the Muslim armies of the Middle East during the Crusades.  They were meant to defend their lands from the Crusaders who built their own parallel network of castles (hopefully I'll visit some in a few weeks!).

Beam me up, Scotty!

Ajloun Castle commands a tremendous view of the surrounding countryside.

On to Jerash, some of the best-preserved Roman ruins in Jordan.  Although people had settled Jerash since the neolithic era, like Umm Qais, it only really became important under the Roman occupation.  Also like Umm Qais, Jerash was a part of the Roman Decapolis, but was quite a bit larger, being home to 15,000-20,000 inhabitants!  The sprawling ruins of Jerash were a real pleasure to take in.  The sheer size of the buildings is stunning.  How did those Romans build such huge structures?  It's mind boggling!  This particular picture is, I think, of one of the central points of Jerash.

The Nymphaeum (I think)

The Southern Amphitheater.

A view from atop the Temple of Zeus.

The Hippodrome.  This is where they used to have chariot races.  This arena used to seat up to 15,000 people!

If you thought that Emperor Hadrian only built a wall up in Britain, you thought wrong!  This is Hadrian's arch, the southern gate of the city that was built in 129 AD in order to commemorate his visit.

The End.