Temple of Zeus

Located in a valley surrounded by fertile hills, the city of Jerash was settled around the seventh millennium B.C. Thanks to its position at a crossroad between the north-south route that connected Syria with Trans-Jordan, and the east-west road that connected the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan Valley with the badia (the arid steppe), the site gained importance under Antiochus IV (175 – 164 B.C.). During the Roman period, Jerash, then known as Gerasa, became one of the most prosperous cities of the Decapolis. However, although it retained some importance during the Byzantine era (when churches and a synagogue were built), the site was progressively abandoned after the collapse of the Umayyad caliphate.

Follow City Walk all the way and go back to the south gate of the starting point. Walking to the end will usher in the Zeus Temple representing the sun and the South Theatre that echoes the North Theatre. The temple of Zeus, like other buildings around it, was influenced by Greece and Rome, so the two civilizations can be seen faintly from the building itself. The temple of Zeus is not far from the oval square, a few hundred meters walk through the square, and you can see the steps. There is also a stone inscription on it, but now this magnificent temple of Zeus is full of ruins.

Jerash is a city in Jordan, north of the capital Amman. Inhabited since the Bronze Age, it’s known for the ruins of the walled Greco-Roman settlement of Gerasa just outside the modern city. These include the 2nd-century Hadrian’s Arch, the Corinthian columns of the Temple of Artemis