Difference between revisions of "Gerasa"
(Created page with ''''Gerasa''' (now ''Jerash'', Jordan) was an ancient polis of the Decapolis. ==Overview== According to Josephus, Alexander Jannaeus took possession of the city, although it was…') |
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==Overview== | ==Overview== | ||
According to Josephus, | According to Josephus, [[Alexander Jannaeus]] took possession of the city in 83 BCE, although it was surrounded by a triple wall (Bell. Jud., I, 4, 8). In Roman times, Gerasa became an independent city of Decapolis and an important city of the Roman empire, in which a number of Jews resided. | ||
The city is mentioned as forming a part, sometimes of Arabia, sometimes of Syria, by Ptolemy, Pliny, and Stephen of Byzantium, who also speak of several notable persons of the place. Coins and a number of inscriptions prove that it was sometimes called Antioch on the Chrysorrhoas, the little river by which it is watered. In the Gospel (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26, 37) there is question of the country of the Gerasans, but if this name is to be read instead of Gadarenians or Gergesians, the reference is to another locality, [[Gadara]], near the Lake of Tiberias. | The city is mentioned as forming a part, sometimes of Arabia, sometimes of Syria, by Ptolemy, Pliny, and Stephen of Byzantium, who also speak of several notable persons of the place. Coins and a number of inscriptions prove that it was sometimes called Antioch on the Chrysorrhoas, the little river by which it is watered. In the Gospel (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26, 37) there is question of the country of the Gerasans, but if this name is to be read instead of Gadarenians or Gergesians, the reference is to another locality, [[Gadara]], near the Lake of Tiberias. | ||
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In 68 A.D. Vespasian ravaged the country and sacked the city because the Jews were all-powerful there (op. cit., IV, 9, 1). Simon, the son of Gioras, one of the principal leaders of the rebellious Jews, was born at Gerasa. Gerasa, however, continued to prosper, its monumental buildings date mainy from the emperors of the second and third centuries. | In 68 A.D. Vespasian ravaged the country and sacked the city because the Jews were all-powerful there (op. cit., IV, 9, 1). Simon, the son of Gioras, one of the principal leaders of the rebellious Jews, was born at Gerasa. Gerasa, however, continued to prosper, its monumental buildings date mainy from the emperors of the second and third centuries. | ||
We know three Greek Bishops of Gerasa: Exairesius, fourth century; Plancus, 451; Aeneas, who built the church of St. Theodore in the sixth century. The decline of the city was brought about by earthquakes and the Arab invasions. In 1121 Baldwin II attempted in vain to conquer it, and at the beginning of the thirteenth century the geographer Yakut informs us that it was no longer inhabited. In modern times, several thousand Tcherkesses established themselves amid its ruins. | We know three Greek Bishops of Gerasa: Exairesius, fourth century; Plancus, 451; Aeneas, who built the church of St. Theodore in the sixth century. The decline of the city was brought about by earthquakes and the Arab invasions. | ||
In ancient sources, the city is mentioned as forming a part, sometimes of Arabia, sometimes of Syria, by Ptolemy, Pliny, and Stephen of Byzantium, who also speak of several notable persons of the place. Coins and a number of inscriptions prove that it was sometimes called Antioch on the Chrysorrhoas, the little river by which it is watered. In the Gospel (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26, 37) there is question of the country of the Gerasans, but if this name is to be read instead of Gadarenians or Gergesians, the reference is to another locality, [[Gadara]], near the Lake of Tiberias. | |||
In 1121 Baldwin II attempted in vain to conquer it, and at the beginning of the thirteenth century the geographer Yakut informs us that it was no longer inhabited. In modern times, several thousand Tcherkesses established themselves amid its ruins. | |||
==Gerasa in ancient sources== | ==Gerasa in ancient sources== | ||
Revision as of 06:36, 27 September 2010
Gerasa (now Jerash, Jordan) was an ancient polis of the Decapolis.
Overview
According to Josephus, Alexander Jannaeus took possession of the city in 83 BCE, although it was surrounded by a triple wall (Bell. Jud., I, 4, 8). In Roman times, Gerasa became an independent city of Decapolis and an important city of the Roman empire, in which a number of Jews resided.
The city is mentioned as forming a part, sometimes of Arabia, sometimes of Syria, by Ptolemy, Pliny, and Stephen of Byzantium, who also speak of several notable persons of the place. Coins and a number of inscriptions prove that it was sometimes called Antioch on the Chrysorrhoas, the little river by which it is watered. In the Gospel (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26, 37) there is question of the country of the Gerasans, but if this name is to be read instead of Gadarenians or Gergesians, the reference is to another locality, Gadara, near the Lake of Tiberias.
In 68 A.D. Vespasian ravaged the country and sacked the city because the Jews were all-powerful there (op. cit., IV, 9, 1). Simon, the son of Gioras, one of the principal leaders of the rebellious Jews, was born at Gerasa. Gerasa, however, continued to prosper, its monumental buildings date mainy from the emperors of the second and third centuries.
We know three Greek Bishops of Gerasa: Exairesius, fourth century; Plancus, 451; Aeneas, who built the church of St. Theodore in the sixth century. The decline of the city was brought about by earthquakes and the Arab invasions.
In ancient sources, the city is mentioned as forming a part, sometimes of Arabia, sometimes of Syria, by Ptolemy, Pliny, and Stephen of Byzantium, who also speak of several notable persons of the place. Coins and a number of inscriptions prove that it was sometimes called Antioch on the Chrysorrhoas, the little river by which it is watered. In the Gospel (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26, 37) there is question of the country of the Gerasans, but if this name is to be read instead of Gadarenians or Gergesians, the reference is to another locality, Gadara, near the Lake of Tiberias.
In 1121 Baldwin II attempted in vain to conquer it, and at the beginning of the thirteenth century the geographer Yakut informs us that it was no longer inhabited. In modern times, several thousand Tcherkesses established themselves amid its ruins.
Gerasa in ancient sources
Gerasa in Scholarship
Gerasa is one of the best preserved city of Roman antiquity and the one which affords us the most exact idea of Roman civilization. Its ramparts, in a state of partial preservation, are still to be seen; also a magnificent triumphal arch, with three openings about 82 feet wide by 29 high; a "naumachia", or circus for naval combats; two theatres; the forum with fifty-fivecolumns still standing; the great colonnade which crosses the city from north to south, and which still retains from 100 to 150 of its columns; several aqueducts; some propylaea; a temple of the Sun, the columns of which are about 40 feet high, and several other temples, baths, etc. Greek and Latin inscriptions are very numerous among the ruins. The ramparts of the city cover a distance of about three miles.