Jerash and the Decapolis

Jerash, with Petra and Palmyra, is one of the three great classical city sites of the Near East. Set in a wide, fertile valley in the hills of Gilead in Jordan, Jerash is above all an outstanding example of a rich Roman provincial town, both in its plan and its architecture. It is also the best preserved of the cities of the Decapolis, a group of settlements of Hellenistic origin, first referred to in the Bible, whose shared history and culture extended from the time of Alexander the Great, through the Roman and Byzantine periods, to the advent of Islam. In addition to its magnificent legacy of Roman remains, Jerash has some fine examples of Byzantine art and architecture. To put the site into context, the author explores the history of Jerash and the other Decapolis cities, including the adventures and researches of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century travellers and scholars. Against this background, Jerash as it is today is then described and illustrated with 146 architectural drawings, plans, reconstructions, photographs and maps. Of special interest are the nineteenth-century photographs, which show what dramatic changes have taken place in the last hundred years.