Editing Jerash (section)

==History==
===Neolithic age===
[[File:Place ovale de Gerasa new.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|The Oval Forum and Cardo Maximus in ancient Jerash]]
Archaeologists have found ruins of settlements dating back to the [[Neolithic|Neolithic Age]]. Moreover, in August 2015, an archaeological excavation team from the [[University of Jordan]] unearthed two human skulls that date back to the [[Neolithic|Neolithic period]] (7500–5500 BC) at a site in Jerash. This forms solid evidence of inhabitance of Jordan in that period, especially in connection with the existence of [[Ayn Ghazal (archaeological site)|'Ain Ghazal]] Neolithic settlement in [[Amman]]. The importance of the discovery lies in the rarity of the skulls, as archaeologists estimate that a maximum of 12 sites across the world contain similar human remains.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/two-human-skulls-dating-back-neolithic-period-unearthed-jerash#sthash.azr7NUTn.dpuf|title=Two human skulls dating back to Neolithic period unearthed in Jerash|date=15 August 2015|access-date=24 November 2016}}</ref>

===Bronze Age===
Evidence of settlements dating to the [[Bronze Age]] (3200–1200&nbsp;BC) have been found in the region.<ref>{{cite book|last1=McGovern|first1=Patrick E.|last2=Brown|first2=Robin|title=Late Bronze & Early Iron Ages of Central|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9sNZInKl2Y0C|year=1986|publisher=UPenn Museum of Archaeology|isbn=978-0-934718-75-2|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9sNZInKl2Y0C&dq=jerash+%22bronze+age%22&pg=PA6 6]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Nigro|first=Lorenzo|title=An Early Bronze Age Fortified Town in North-Central Jordan. Preliminary Report of the First Season of Excavations (2005)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xKUi-AogmEC|year=2008|publisher=Lorenzo Nigro|isbn=978-88-88438-05-4|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1xKUi–AogmEC&pg=PA52&dq=jerash+%22bronze+age%22 52]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Steiner|first1=Margreet L.|last2=Killebrew|first2=Ann E.|title=The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000–332 BCE|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d_Z0AgAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-166255-3|chapter=Main Settlements of the North Jordan Uplands|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d_Z0AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT473}}</ref>

===Hellenistic period===
Jerash is the site of the ruins of the Greek city of '''Gerasa''', also referred to as '''Antioch on the Golden River'''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Cities of the Classical World: An Atlas and Gazetteer of 120 Centres of Ancient Civilization|last=McEvedy|first=Colin|publisher=Penguin|year=2011|isbn=978-0141967639|location=UK}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Ancient Greek inscriptions from the city support that the city was founded by [[Alexander the Great]] and his general [[Perdiccas]], who allegedly settled aged [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]] soldiers there during the spring of 331 BC, when he left Egypt and crossed Syria en route to [[Mesopotamia]]. However, other sources, namely the city's former name of "Antioch on the Chrysorrhoas," point to a founding by [[Seleucid]] King [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes|Antioch IV]], while still others attribute the founding to [[Ptolemy II]] of [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Egypt]].<ref name="Mashriq">{{cite web|title=Jerash - A Brief History|url=http://almashriq.hiof.no/jordan/900/930/jerash/jerash.html|website=المشرق|access-date=7 March 2018}}</ref>

In the early 80s BC [[Hasmonean dynasty|Hasmonean]] king [[Alexander Jannaeus]] besieged and conquered Gerasa, incorporating it into the Kingdom of Judea. Archeological findings indicate that public buildings in Gerasa may have been destroyed during that period.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Guy MacLean |title=For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-300-24813-5 |location=New Haven |pages=155, 157, 171, 538}}</ref>  

[[File:Ancient and Modern jerash.jpg|thumb|left|Ancient Jerash against the backdrop of the modern city]]

===Roman period===
[[File:Jerash - colonnaded street.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3| Colonnaded Street]]

With the [[Roman Republic|Roman]] conquest of the area in 63 BC, the short-lived Jewish rule of Gerasa came to an end.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Starr |first=Joshua |date=1934 |title=A New Jewish Source for Gerasa |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3259883 |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=167–169 |doi=10.2307/3259883 |jstor=3259883 |issn=0021-9231|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Pompey]] attached the city to the [[Decapolis]], a league of Hellenistic cities that enjoyed considerable autonomy under Roman protection. The historian [[Josephus]] mentions the city as being principally inhabited by Syrians, and also having a small [[Jews|Jewish]] community.<ref>Josephus, ''De Bello Judaico'' ([[Wars of the Jews]]) II, 457 (''Wars of the Jews'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D2%3Asection%3D457 2.18.1]) and ''De Bello Judaico'' (Wars of the Jews) II, 477 (''Wars of the Jews'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D2%3Asection%3D477 2.18.5].</ref><ref name=":5" /> During the [[First Jewish–Roman War]], Gerasa was among the few non-Jewish cities in the region not to kill or imprison its Jewish residents, and its residents even escorted any Jews who wanted to leave to the border.<ref name=":4" /> 

Gerasa was the birthplace of the mathematician [[Nicomachus]] of Gerasa ({{langx|el|Νικόμαχος}}) ({{Circa|60|120 AD}}).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Taran|first1=L.|editor1-last=Gillispie|editor1-first=Charles C.|title=Dictionary of Scientific Biography|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofscie04gill|chapter-url-access=registration|date=1970|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|location=New York|edition=1st|chapter=Nicomachus of Gerasa|isbn=9780684101149}}</ref> It has been proposed to identify it as Geresh, a place mentioned by Josephus as the birthplace of Jewish [[Zealots|Zealot]] leader [[Simon bar Giora]], but other scholars identify it with modern-day [[Jurish]].<ref name=":4" /><ref name="Klein2009">Klein, E, 2009, "Jewish Settlement in the Toparchy of Acraba during the Second Temple Period - The Archaeological Evidence", in: Y. Eshel (ed.), Judea and Samaria Research Studies, Volume 18, Ariel, pp. 177-200 (Hebrew).</ref>

In the second half of the 1st century AD, the city of Gerasa achieved great prosperity. In AD 106, Geras was absorbed into the Roman province of [[Arabia (province)|Arabia]], which included the cities of [[Philadelphia (Amman)|Philadelphia]] (modern day [[Amman]]), [[Petra]] and [[Bostra]]. The Romans ensured security and peace in this area, which enabled its people to devote their efforts and time to economic development and encouraged civic building activity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Borgia |first1=E. |title=Jordan: Past and Present: Petra, Jerash, Amman |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford}}</ref> Emperor [[Trajan]] constructed roads throughout the province, and more trade came to Jerash. Emperor [[Hadrian]] visited Gerasa in AD 129–130, and the triumphal arch known as the [[Arch of Hadrian (Jerash)|Arch of Hadrian]] was built to celebrate this occasion.<ref name="Mashriq" />

===Byzantine period===
[[File:Thedecapolis.png|thumb|upright|Map of the Decapolis showing the location of Gerasa (Jerash)]]

The city finally reached a size of about {{cvt|80|ha}} within its walls.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bryce|first1=Trevor|title=Atlas of the Ancient Near East: From Prehistoric Times to the Roman Imperial Period|date=2016|publisher=Routledge|location=Abingdon|isbn=9781317562092}}</ref> Beneath the foundations of a Byzantine church built in Gerasa in AD 530  a mosaic floor was discovered with ancient Greek and [[Hebrew]]-[[Aramaic]] inscriptions. The presence of the Hebrew-Aramaic script has led scholars to suggest that the place was a synagogue converted into a church.<ref>Samuel Klein, ''Sefer ha-Yishuv'', vol. 1, Jerusalem 1939, p. 34 and folio "chet" on pp. 40–41, and which inscription reads: '''שלום על כל ישראל אמן סלה פינחס בר ברוך יוסה בר שמואל וי(ו)דן בר חזקיה'''; Crowfoot-Hamilton, "The Discovery of a Synagogue at Jerash": ''[[Palestine Exploration Fund|PEF]]'', Quarterly Statement, 1929; Sukenik, Note on the Aramaic; A. Barrois, ''Découverte d’une synagogue à Djérash'', Rev. Bibl. 39 (1930), p. 261. pl. xi p. 259 (pl. ix)</ref> Gerasa was invaded by the [[Persians|Persian]] [[Sassanids]] in AD 614. In 636, the Byzantine army was defeated in the [[Battle of the Yarmuk]] by the invading Muslim forces and these territories became part of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]].

===Umayyad period===
The city flourished during the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]. It had numerous shops and issued coins with the mint named "Jerash" in Arabic. It was also a centre for ceramic manufacture; molded ceramic lamps had Arabic inscriptions that showed the potter's name and Jerash as the place of manufacture. The large mosque and several churches that continued to be used as places of worship, indicated that during the Umayyad period Jerash had a sizable Muslim community that co-existed with the Christians.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.discoverislamicart.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;jo;Mon01;14;en|title=Jarash (Gerasa) in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2017|last=Bisheh|first=Ghazi|date=2017|website=www.discoverislamicart.org}}</ref> In 749, a devastating earthquake destroyed much of Jerash and its surroundings.

===Crusader period===
In the early 12th century a fortress was built by a garrison stationed in the area by the [[Toghtekin|Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus]]. [[Baldwin II of Jerusalem|Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem]], captured and burned the fortress in 1121–1122. Although the site of the fortification has often been identified with the ruins of the temple of Artemis, there is no evidence of the construction of a fortification in the temple in the 12th century. The location of this fort is probably to be found at the highest point of the city walls, in the north-eastern hills.<ref>{{Citation |title=Guglielmo di Tiro e il castrum di Gerasa, ''Prospettive Settanta'', 5|last=Pierobon|first=Raffaella|date=1983|pages=8–13}}</ref>

===Mid to Late Muslim period===
Small settlements continued in Jerash during the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultanate]], and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] periods. This occurred particularly in the Northwest Quarter and around the Temple of Zeus, where several Islamic [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]] domestic structures have now been excavated.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

In 1596, during the Ottoman era, Jerash was noted in the  [[Defter|census]] as ''Jaras'', being located  in the ''[[nahiya]]'' of ''Bani Ilwan'' in the ''[[Liwa (Arabic)|liwa]]'' of  [[Ajloun]]. It had a population of 12 [[Islam|Muslim]] households.  They paid a fixed tax-rate of 25%  on various  agricultural products, including wheat, barley, olive trees/fruit trees, goats and beehives, in addition to  occasional revenues and a press for olive oil/grape syrup; a total of  6,000 [[akçe]].<ref name=HA164>Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 164</ref>

In 1838 Jerash was described as a ruin.<ref>[[Eli Smith|Smith]], in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. [https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/167/mode/1up 167]</ref>