Difference between revisions of "Pella"
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Revision as of 20:12, 13 October 2011
- SCHOLARLY AND FICTIONAL WORKS: see Category:Pella (subject)
- ANCIENT SOURCES: see Pella (sources)
Pella (now Tabaqat Fahl, Jordan) was a Hellenistic polis in Transjordan, one of the cities of the Decapolis.
Overview
The site has been continuously occupied since Neolithic times. The first literary reference to the city is from the 19th century BCE when it is mentioned in Egyptian texts as Pihilum, or Pehel. In the early Hellenistic period it was given the name Pella, perhaps to honor Alexander the Great's birthplace or as a Hellenisation of Pihilum.
The city changed hands between Ptolemies and Seleucids, and was sacked by Alexander Jannaeus. Its prosperity increased after Pompey's conquest in 63 BCE, when it became part of the Decapolis. According to Eusebius of Caesarea it was a refuge for Jerusalem Christians in the 1st century CE who were fleeing the Jewish–Roman wars.
The city continued to flourished in the Byzantine and early Islamic periods, until it was destroyed by the earthquake of 749. Only a small village remained ever since.
Pella in ancient sources
Pella in scholarship
The University of Sydney and the Jordanian Department of Antiquities have been conducting excavations at Pella since 1979.
Pella in fiction
Related categories
- Decapolis (Canatha, Damascus, Dion, Gadara, Gerasa, Hippos, Pella, Philadelphia, Raphana, Scythopolis)