Jerash

Jerash جرش Gerasa
City
The Greco-Roman city of Gerasa and the modern Jerash in the background.
Nicknames:  Pompeii of the East The city of 1000 columns
Jerash
Coordinates: 32°16′50″N 35°53′50″E / 32.28056°N 35.89722°E / 32.28056; 35.89722
Grid position	234/187
Country	Jordan
Governorate	Jerash Governorate
Founded	7500 – 5500 BC.
Municipality established	1910
Government
• Type	Municipality
Elevation	600 m (1,968 ft)
Population  (2015)[1]
• Total	city (50,745) Municipality (237,000 est)
Time zone	GMT +2
• Summer (DST)	+3
Area code	+(962)2
Website	http://www.jerash.gov.jo

Jerash (Arabic: جرش Ǧaraš; Greek: Γέρασα, romanized: Gérasa; Attic Greek: [gérasa], Koinē Greek: [ˈgerasa]) is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located 48 kilometres (30 mi) north of the capital city Amman.

The earliest evidence of settlement in Jerash is in a Neolithic site known as Tal Abu Sowan, where rare human remains dating to around 7500 BC were uncovered.^[2] Jerash flourished during the Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods until the mid-eighth century CE, when the 749 Galilee earthquake destroyed large parts of it, while subsequent earthquakes contributed to additional destruction. However, in the year 1120, Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus ordered a garrison of forty men to build up a fort in an unknown site of the ruins of the ancient city, likely the highest spot of the city walls in the north-eastern hills. It was captured in 1121 by Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, and utterly destroyed.^[3][4] Then, the Crusaders immediately abandoned Jerash and withdrew to Sakib (Seecip); the eastern border of the settlement.^[5][6]

Jerash was then deserted until it reappeared in the historical record at the beginning of Ottoman rule in the area during the early 16th century. In the census of 1596, it had a population of 12 Muslim households.^[7] However, archaeologists found a small Mamluk hamlet in the Northwest Quarter^[8] which indicates that Jerash was resettled before the Ottoman era. The excavations conducted since 2011 have shed light on the Middle Islamic period as recent discoveries have uncovered a large concentration of Middle Islamic/Mamluk structures and pottery.^[9] The ancient city has been gradually revealed through a series of excavations which commenced in 1925, and continue to this day.^[10]

Jerash today is home to one of the best preserved Greco-Roman cities, which earned it the nickname "Pompeii of the Middle East".^[11][12] Approximately 330,000 visitors arrived in Jerash in 2018, making it one of the most visited sites in Jordan.^[13] The city hosts the Jerash Festival, one of the leading cultural events in the Middle East that attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year.^[14]