Jerash (AKA Antioch)

Hadrian's Arch constructed by the people of Jerash to welcome Emperor Hadrian
Theatre with capacity of 5,000 people suggesting that the population of Jerash was 50,000
Inscription on wall indicating when Theatre was built. Guide explaining
Former Jordanian Army Musicians


Roman ruins in background
Temple of Artemis in background
Sign at entrance of Temple


Last remaining, surviving fresco at top of arch

20 March 2008

After breakfast at the Mosaico Restaruant, we took off for ancient Jerash also know as Antioch. Jerash is considered to be one of the three best preserved Roman cities. The other two are Ephasis in Turkey and Pompeii in Italy. We drove up from the Dead Sea. Our guide mentioned a project in talk between Israel and Jordan to try to get more water into the Dead Sea which is losing about 3 feet a year. The idea is to bring water in from the Gulf of Eliat or Aqaba (depending on which side of the border that you are on). Apparently there is enough of a drop to generate some electricity and potentially to run a desalinization plant.

As we drove to Aman, you could see the beautiful green fields of vegetables growing. In theory we could see Mt Nebo, but it wasn’t a clear view. We drove through Aman, which is a very clean, modern city. We arrived in Jerash. We entered through Hadrian’s gate which the populace built to welcome Emperor Hadrian in about 150 CE. We continued walking until we reached one of the gates of the city. We saw the hypodrome which was used for chariot races and gladiator contests. There is sand on the ground to absorb blood and that is where we get the name arena for a sport’s stadium. Our next stop was the theatre, which was able to seat about 5,000 people, which means that the population of the city was about 50,000. Some former army musicians played the bagpipes and drums.

Our next stop was the Temple of Artemis or Diane. There was another temple nearby that had been converted to a church during the Byzantium period. The Temple of Artemis, which was the G-ddess that was the protector of the city, was the largest. It had not been converted to a church, but its building blocks had been taken to be used in other building projects. We then walked down to the entrance of the temple and onto the Cardo Maximus. The street was paved with the stones at a 45 degree angle. The reason was that chariots had iron wheels that would have destroyed the stone streets. In addition there were the equivalent of man holes to drain the rain water away.

I walked down the Cardo Maximus to the gate and then onto the parking lot where the bus was parked. I joined the others on the bus and we headed for Lebanon House for lunch. The food was as usual great Middle Eastern food. After lunch, we loaded into the bus and headed back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, I prepared for my hot stone massage. I had a very tight schedule. My massage was scheduled for 5:00 PM, our farewell banquet for 7:00 PM, my luggage had to be out by 10:30 PM and I leave at 11:00 PM for Amman for a 3:00 AM flight.

I headed over to the spa at about 4:30 PM where I went into the steam room for about 20 minutes and then was escorted upstairs to wait. The massage was excellent. I noticed that most of the masseuses appeared to be European, Pilipino or Asian. Most of the woman on the trip had some sort of massage done and loved it.

The farewell banquet was held in the Italian restaurant, because Bill felt that we would be tired of Middle Eastern food by now. It was quite pleasant. I’m sorry to see the trip end. In addition to the planned sight-seeing, which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, I’ve truly enjoyed the intelligent conversation from so many divergent points of view.

My suitcase is packed. Now I need to pack my back pack and go.