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36-765: Its ruins are today located at Umm Qais , a small town in the Bani Kinanah Department and Irbid Governorate in Jordan , near its borders with Israel and Syria . It stood on a hill 378 metres (1,240 ft) above sea level overlooking the Yarmouk River gorge, with the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee well visible to the north and northwest. This city is distinct from another contemporary one, Gadara or Gadora of Peraea , identified with

72-478: A basilica and other buildings, telling of a once splendid city. A paved street, with double colonnade , ran from east to west . The ruts worn in the paved road by the wheels of ancient vehicles are still to be seen. In 2017, archaeologists discovered an ancient temple that was built in the Hellenistic era in the 3rd century BC. The temple is believed to have been dedicated to Poseidon . Hellenistic pottery

108-650: A series of letters and papers in Zach 's Monatliche Correspondenz and Hammer 's Fundgruben . Many papers and collections were lost through his death or never reached Europe. The collections that were saved form the Oriental museum and the chief part of the Oriental manuscripts of the ducal library in Gotha . The American scholar Edward Robinson , writing in 1841, called Seetzen "judicious, enterprising and indefatigable." In 1826, Robert Brown published Seetzenia which

144-679: A single 106 km section represents one of the most significant hydro-engineering accomplishments of the ancient world. During the Severan period (193–235 CE) the city underwent a rapid expansion westwards and many of the large civic monuments still visible on the site today date to this period and attest to an increase in importance and prosperity. After the Christianisation of the Eastern Roman Empire , Gadara retained its important regional status and became for many years

180-426: A visitor Centre and a museum, Greek statues and Christian mosaics discovered during archaeological excavations of ancient Gadara are exhibited. Ulrich Jasper Seetzen Ulrich Jasper Seetzen (30 January 1767 – September 1811) also known as Musa Al-Hakim was a German explorer of Arabia and Palestine from Jever , German Frisia . An alternative spelling of his name, Ulrich Iospar Sentzen ,

216-401: A visitor centre and museum, where numerous archaeological finding from Gadara are on display. Umm Qais Umm Qais ( Arabic : أم قيس , lit.   'Mother of Qais'), also known as Qays , is a town in northern Jordan principally known for its proximity to the ruins of the ancient Gadara . It is the largest city in the Bani Kinanah Department and Irbid Governorate in

252-525: Is sometimes seen in scientific publications. His father sent him to the University of Göttingen , where he graduated in medicine. His chief interests, however, were in natural history and technology; he wrote papers on these subjects which gained him some reputation. In 1802, he was appointed to a government post in Jever, but he was drawn to geographical exploration. In the summer of 1802 he started down

288-548: The Danube with a companion, Jacobson. After six months in Constantinople, he continued through Asia Minor to Smyrna, where he parted company from Jacobsen. He then travelled through the heart of Asia Minor to Aleppo . He remained there from November 1803 to April 1805 and studied Arabic . From this point on, he kept a full journal of his travels (April 1808 to March 1809), describing his exploration of Jordan, Palestine,

324-644: The Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus . In 63 BC, the Roman general Pompey placed the region under Roman control, rebuilt Gadara and made it one of the semi-autonomous cities of the Roman Decapolis , and a bulwark against Nabataean expansion. But in 30 BC Augustus placed it under the control of the Jewish king Herod . Jewish-Roman historian Josephus relates that after King Herod's death in 4 BC, Gadara

360-466: The Hauran Sanjak . It had 21 households and 15 bachelors; all Muslim , in addition to 3 Christian households. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products; including wheat, barley, summer crops, fruit trees, goats and bee-hives. The total tax was 8,500 akçe . In 1806 Ulrich Jasper Seetzen visited Umm Qais and identified it as the location of ancient Gadara, describing

396-417: The Sea of Tiberias , the Golan Heights , and the Yarmouk River gorge. Strategically central and located close to multiple water sources, Umm Qais has historically attracted a high level of interest. Gadara was a centre of Greek culture in the region during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The oldest archaeological evidence at Umm Qais, extends back to the second half of the third century BC. and

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432-584: The archaeological mound of Tell el-Jadur near Salt , Jordan . Gadara was situated in a defensible position on a ridge accessible to the east but protected by steep falls on the other three sides. It was well-watered, with access to the Ain Qais spring and cisterns. During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Gadara was a centre of Greek culture in the region, considered one of its most Hellenised and enjoying special political and religious status. By

468-607: The Nabateans. The Nabatean response culminated in Nabatean King Obdas 1st' decisive victory over Jannaeus at the Battle of Gadara in 93 BCE. In 63 BCE , Roman general Pompey conquered the region, Gadara was rebuilt and became a member of the semi-autonomous Roman Decapolis . 33 years later Augustus attached it to the Jewish kingdom of his ally, Herod . After King Herod's death in 4 BCE, Gadara became part of

504-729: The Ottoman governor's residence known as Beit Rousan, "Rousan House", dates to this period of expansion in the Late Ottoman period. In 1920 the Madafa and Hosh (courtyard) of Hajj Mahmoud al Rousan's house in Umm Qais hosted a conference of Arab leaders from across the middle east to draw up a treaty in response to the British and French plan to divide the region following the end of the British and French Mandates. The village's school

540-526: The Ottoman settlement and the tombs and other monuments still visible on the surface. The ancient ruins at Um Keis were recorded again by western visitors in 1816 and 1838. By 1899 Schumacher, visiting the site as part of his survey work for the Hijaz railway records the village had expanded significantly with the construction of larger houses, noting also that many of the tombs recorded by early visitors were no longer present. Umm Qais's most impressive building,

576-453: The Roman province of Syria . To supply larger populations Gadara, and the neighbouring Decapolis cities of Adraa (Dera'a, Syria) and Abila (Qweilbeh, Jordan) undertook construction of a water supply system of 170 km of aqueduct tunnels connecting the cities to springs throughout southern Syria and an artificially constructed lake at Dille. Constructed between 90–210 CE the network of rock cut tunnels included 2,900 access shafts, and

612-579: The Seleucid king Antiochus III of Syria. Under the Seleucids , it was also known as Antiochia ( Ancient Greek : Αντιόχεια ) or Antiochia Semiramis ( Ancient Greek : Ἀντιόχεια Σεμίραμις , Antiókheia Semíramis ) and as Seleucia ( Ancient Greek : Σελεύκεια ). The region passed in and out of the control of the Seleucid kings of Syria and the Ptolemies of Egypt. Gadara was captured and damaged by

648-453: The ancient site of Gadara. The ancient walls may now be traced in almost their entire circuit of 3 km. One of the Roman roads ran eastward to Ḍer‛ah; and an aqueduct has been traced to the pool of Ḳhab , about 20 miles to the north of Ḍer‛ah. The ruins include those of "baths, two theaters, a hippodrome , colonnaded streets and, under the Romans, aqueducts," a temple ,

684-621: The capital of the Roman province of Palestina Secunda , but it faded with the city after the Muslim conquest. The diocese was nominally restored no later than the 15th century as Titular bishopric of Gadaræ in Latin of Gadara in Curiate Italian, from 1925 renamed solely Gadara. It is vacant, having had the following incumbents, all of the fitting episcopal (lowest) rank : Gadara

720-517: The capital, Amman, roughly 110 kilometres (68 mi) to the north, to see its extensive ruins and enjoy its panoramic views. The Sea of Galilee and Tiberias , Israel , are visible, and just across the valley of the Yarmouk River is the southern end of the Golan Heights , Syria , under Israeli occupation since the Six-Day War in 1967. Mount Hermon bordering Lebanon is visible in the distance on clear days. At Beit Rousan , now housing

756-458: The city was strategically important and was repeatedly the focus of military conquests throughout the succession of Syrian Wars between 274–188 BCE. The city's military importance during this period was noted by the Greek historian Polybius ' describing it in 218 BCE as a fortress and "the strongest of all places in the region". The Roman-Seleucid War (192–188 BCE) weakened Seleucid control over

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792-688: The conquest of the Arabs, following the Battle of Yarmouk in 636, it came under Muslim rule. Around 749 it was largely destroyed by an earthquake, and was abandoned. The synoptic Gospels mention the Exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac , with some ancient manuscripts replacing Gerasene with Gadarene or Gergesene. Ancient Gadara was important enough to become a suffragan bishopric of the Metropolitan Archbishopric of Scythopolis ,

828-462: The continued settlement of the site at least into the 11th Century. By the 13th Century the site is noted in historic sources under the new name of "Mukais" a local term meaning border place or customs house and from which the modern name of Umm Qais gradual derived. In 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers named as Mkeis , situated in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Kinana, part of

864-626: The direction of Claudia Bührig has been active at Gadara. The team has uncovered Egyptian and Greek imported pottery, stamped amphorae , and a Seleucid fortress, among other things. In 2015, the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and Yarmouk University collaborated to better preserve the Roman Aqueduct of Gadara in Umm Qais. This project was completed in 2018, strengthening the largest remaining subterranean Roman aqueduct. Many visitors come to Umm Qais on day trips from

900-456: The extreme northwest of the country, near Jordan's borders with Israel and Syria . Today, the site is divided into three main areas: the archaeological site (Gadara), the traditional village (Umm Qais), and the modern town of Umm Qais. Umm Qais is located 28 km north of Irbid and 120 km north of Amman . It expanded from the ruins of ancient Gadara, which are located on a ridge 378 metres (1,240 ft) above sea level, overlooking

936-698: The five-aisled basilica in the west of the ancient was discovered by accident by the Jordanian army and the large intact underground chamber was used as a temporary field hospital during the conflict. In 1974 the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology uncovered the ruins of a Byzantine church building in Umm Qais. Since 2005, the Orient Department of the German Archaeological Institute under

972-494: The following year he left Mocha with the hope of reaching Muscat , but was found dead two days later, allegedly poisoned by his guides on orders from the imam of Sana'a . His exploits were first published in 1810 by the British Palestine Association . For the parts of Seetzen's journeys not covered by the published journal ( Reisen , ed. Kruse, 4 vols, Berlin, 1854), the only printed records are

1008-653: The region devolving autonomy in Palestine and trans-Jordan to the Hasmonean , Iturean and Nabatean kingdoms whose rivalries continued to make Gadara a strategically important city and the focus of continued conflict. In 98 BCE the Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus subjected the city to a 10 month siege, wresting control of the city and the trade routes to the ports of the Eastern Mediterranean that passed through it from

1044-464: The seat of a Christian bishop . The Battle of Yarmouk in 636 CE a short distance from Gadara, brought the entire region under Arab-Muslim rule. On 18 January 749 CE much of the city was destroyed by the Galilee earthquake . Whilst the city was extensively damaged, archaeological evidence of limited reconstruction, including conversion of the large five aisle basilica church into a mosque indicates

1080-458: The site appears to have been founded as a military colony by Alexander the Great's Macedonian Greeks. However, the site's name "Gadara" is not Greek in origin, but rather a Greek version of a local Semitic name meaning "fortifications" or "the fortified city" suggesting the military colony was founded on a pre-existing fortified site. Located on the boundary between Seleucid and Ptolemaic territory,

1116-405: The third century BC the town was already of some cultural importance. Several prominent cultural figures were born in the city, such as Menippus , Philodemus , and Meleager (for more see below at "Notable inhabitants" ). The Greek historian Polybius describes Gadara as being in 218 BC the "strongest of all places in the region". Nevertheless, it capitulated shortly afterwards when besieged by

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1152-695: The wilderness of Sinai , Cairo and the Fayum . His chief exploit was a tour round the Dead Sea , which he did alone in the disguise of a beggar. From Egypt he went by sea to Jeddah and reached Mecca as a pilgrim in October 1809, after which he converted to Islam and changed his name to Musa Al-Hakim. In Arabia he traveled from Medina to Lahak and returned to Mocha, Yemen , from where he wrote his last letters to Europe in November 1810. In September of

1188-458: Was also found on the site. The temple, built following the design of distyle in antis , consists of a pronaos , a podium and a naos, the holy chamber of the temple. Archaeologists have also discovered a network of water tunnels at the centre of the ancient town, which are separated from the external tunnel that was discovered decades ago in the area. The formerly residence of the Ottoman governor known as Beit Rousan ("Rousan House") serves as

1224-478: Was made part of the Roman province of Syria . The 2nd century AD Roman aqueduct to Gadara supplied drinking water through a qanat 170 km (110 mi) long. Its longest underground section, running for 94 km, is the longest known tunnel from ancient times . Gadara continued to be an important town within the Eastern Roman Empire, and was long the seat of a Christian bishop . With

1260-414: Was once called the "city of philosophers". David Sider notes that Gadara was produced numerous remarkable philosophers, writers and mathematicians, but in spite of that and of being large enough to boast two theatres, it saw all its famous sons move to Greece and Italy in search of career opportunities. Among others, Gadara was home to (chronologically): Umm Qais was recognised by Ulrich Seetzen in 1806 as

1296-613: Was opened in 1922 by HRH King Abdullah I of Jordan making it the third oldest school in Jordan after those in Salt and Kerak . By 1961 the population of Umm Qais was 1,196 inhabitants. During the 1967 Arab-Israeli war Umm Qais' strategic location put it on the front line of conflict again. Heavy shelling from the Golan Heights and aircraft bombing damaged both the village and the ancient city. The underground Roman mausoleum below

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