Roman FIlses coin, Ajlun Castle
Stairway, Ajlun Castle
Banadol used for measuring heights, Ajlun Castle
Bedouin man, Ajlun Castle
Bread making, baker's shop, Jarash
Hadrian's Arch, Jarash
Temple of Zeus, Jarash
South Theatre, Jarash
Oval Plaza & Colonnaded St, Jarash
Temple of Artemus, Jarash
Group photo at Nymphaeum fountain, Jarash
Pre-dinner drinks, Amman
This was to be our final full day in Jordan as tomorrow afternoon we commence our journey home.
With this in mind we reviewed the sights on offer around Amman and decided to spend the day at two places rather than rush around and try to see everything. The two tourist sites were Ajlun Castle and Jarash both about 60km north of Amman on the highway to Syria.
We left Amman with the weather forecast predicting a maximum temperature of 28C and the possibility of some rain. (We’ve not had any rain since a brief shower on our trip across Lake Tana in Ethiopia.)
Aljun Castle is one of the better preserved examples of medieval Islamic military architecture in the whole Middle East.
The Castle was built between 1184 and 1188 AD by Izz ed-Din Ousama who was regarded as one of Saladin’s most capable military generals. Saladin (Salah’ ad Din) was triumphant over the Crusaders and evicted them from Jordan in 1189. Aljun Castle became a base from which Islamic forces defended the region against Crusader expansion.
The Castle was partially destroyed by Mongol raiders in 1260 but because of its strategic defensive position it was then rebuilt by the Mamlukes. It has suffered further damage caused by earthquakes in both the 19th and 20th centuries.
Aljun Castle is built from large limestone blocks on the top of Mt. Auf at 1250m above sea-level. The maze of galleries, chambers, vaults, staircases and towers built from these massive blocks gives the impression that as a fortress it would have been impregnable and the effect is both atmospheric and evocative. Within Aljun Castle there is also a small museum with very interesting exhibits and explanations of mostly ancient bronze and pottery artefacts found in and around the castle dating back over the past five thousand years.
After a brief lunch break at a local bakery we drove the short distance back to Jarash.
Apart from the magnificence of Petra there is nothing else in Jordan to visually rival the spectacular ancient Roman city of Jarash which is regarded by many as the best preserved Roman city in the world.
Graeco-Roman Jarash was first built by the Greek armies of Alexander the Great in the 2nd century BC. It flourished as a provincial trading centre after the Roman general Pompeii conquered the region in 63 BC. The city then reached its peak in the 2nd century AD as one of the ten cities that comprised the Decapolis League. This league was a prosperous confederation of ten Roman cities linked by powerful commercial, cultural and political interests. This brought great economic benefits to Jerash and trade flourished with the Nabatean Empire based in Petra.
Jarash displays all the grandeur of Roman provincial urbanism, comprising paved and colonnaded streets, soaring hilltop temples, magnificent theatres, vast public squares and plazas, fountains, grand arches, gates and all enclosed within a sturdy city wall.
We entered Jerash through Hadrian’s Arch, built to celebrate the visit of Emperor Hadrian to Jerash in 129 AD. This huge triumphal arch was intended to become the main southern gate to the city. Our next site visited was the partly restored Hippodrome which is a massive arena 245m long and 52m wide. The Hippodrome with a seating capacity of 15,000 was used for chariot races, marching soldiers, gladiator fighting and other such Roman ‘sports’.
Passing along the impressive city wall we reached the Oval Plaza, a space measuring 90m x 80m surrounded by a colonnade of first century Ionic columns and some remodelled second century Corinthian capitals and columns. There are two altars and a fountain in the middle.
Leaving the Plaza and heading westwards brought us up a small hillside to the South Theatre. This was the main gathering place for on-stage entertainment as the semi-circular, steeply tiered theatre could accommodate 3000 spectators and has extraordinary sharp acoustics as we found. It is still used nowadays for local cultural and arts festivals. Interestingly, there are still Greek letters on some of the seats, presumably used to indicate places for those who had reserved seating!
Adjacent to the South Theatre are the remains of the Temple of Zeus built about 162 AD. This temple has a Classical appearance with 15m high Corinthian columns and a temenos (an enclosed holy precinct).
At this stage on our visit we were becoming a little overloaded with visual grandeur and somewhat awestruck by the never ending pathway to further spectacular monuments and architectural splendour.
In an abbreviated format let it be said that for the next three hours we continued on to see The Church of St. Theodore, the North Theatre, the Cathedral, the Macellum, the South Tetrapylon, the Nymphaeum (fountain) and the Temple of Artemis.
Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and sister of Apollo was the patron goddess of Jerash. Although small, the temple’s eleven remaining Corinthian columns soar impressively from the hilltop site. The columns were built with lead metal padding between the sections making them able to move slightly and thus not break and fall in the event of an earthquake. Their slight movement was dramatically demonstrated for us with people putting their fingers in the gaps and feeling the ‘squeeze’ when these high columns were pushed.
For the first time in nearly three weeks it started to rain slightly and as we were nearing the end of our visit all we had to do was walk back along the 800m of colonnaded central street called the Cardo (from cardiac = heart). On either side of this broad sidewalk are recessed spaces which were thought to be shops. An underground sewerage/storm water system runs the full length of the Cardo with holes at regular intervals to take rain water from the street.
After an afternoon of a fascinating encounter with Graeco-Roman history we headed back the 45km to Amman to prepare for our homeward travel tomorrow.
This has been an afternoon that will never be forgotten; it’s up with Petra in terms of the awe inspiring vista!!