Umm Qais
Umm Qais
أم قيس Gadara | |
---|---|
Town | |
UTC+3) | |
Area code | +(962)2 |
Umm Qais or Qays (
Location
Umm Qais is located 28 km north of
History
Antiquity
Gadara was a centre of
The oldest archaeological evidence at Umm Qais, extends back to the second half of the third century BC.[3] and the site appears to have been founded as a military colony by Alexander the Great's Macedonian Greeks. However, the site's name "Gadara" is not Greek in origin, but rather a Greek version of a local Semitic name meaning "fortifications" or "the fortified city" suggesting the military colony was founded on a pre-existing fortified site.[4]
Located on the boundary between Seleucid and Ptolemaic territory, the city was strategically important and was repeatedly the focus of military conquests throughout the succession of Syrian Wars between 274 - 188 BCE. The city's military importance during this period was noted by the Greek historian Polybius' describing it in 218 BCE as a fortress and "the strongest of all places in the region".
The
In 98 BCE the Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus subjected the city to a 10 month siege, wresting control of the city and the trade routes to the ports of the Eastern Mediterranean that passed through it from the Nabateans.[5][6] The Nabatean response culminated in Nabatean King Obdas 1st' decisive victory over Jannaeus at the Battle of Gadara in 93 BCE.
In 63
To supply larger populations Gadara, and the neighbouring
Early Islamic period
The
On 18 January 749 CE much of the city was destroyed by the Galilee earthquake. Whilst the city was extensively damaged, archaeological evidence of limited reconstruction, including conversion of the large five aisle basilica church into a mosque indicates the continued settlement of the site at least into the 11th Century.
By the 13th Century the site is noted in historic sources under the new name of "Mukais" a local term meaning border place or customs house and from which the modern name of Umm Qais gradual derived.
Ottoman period
In 1596 it appeared in the
In 1806
Modern period
In 1920 the Madafa and Hosh (courtyard) of Hajj Mahmoud al Rousan's house in Umm Qais hosted a conference of Arab leaders from across the middle east to draw up a treaty in response to the British and French plan to divide the region following the end of the British and French Mandates.
The village's school was opened in 1922 by HRH King
By 1961 the population of Umm Qais was 1,196 inhabitants.[13]
During the 1967 Arab-Israeli war Umm Qais' strategic location put it on the front line of conflict again. Heavy shelling from the Golan Heights and aircraft bombing damaged both the village and the ancient city. The underground Roman mausoleum below the five-aisled basilica in the west of the ancient was discovered by accident by the Jordanian army and the large intact underground chamber was used as a temporary field hospital during the conflict.
Preservation efforts
In 1974 the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology uncovered the ruins of a Byzantine church building in Umm Qais.[14]
Since 2005, the Orient Department of the
In 2015, the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and Yarmouk University collaborated to better preserve the Roman Aqueduct of Gadara in Umm Qais. This project was completed in 2018, strengthening the largest remaining subterranean Roman aqueduct.[16]
Tourism
Many visitors come to Umm Qais on day trips from the capital, Amman, roughly 110 kilometres (68 mi) to the north, to see its extensive ruins and enjoy its panoramic views. The
At Beit Rousan, now housing a visitor Centre and a museum, Greek statues and Christian mosaics discovered during archaeological excavations of ancient Gadara are exhibited.
References
Citations
- ^ Alawneh, Firas (Dec 21, 2018). "INVESTIGATIONS OF HELLENISTIC MORTAR FROM UMM QAIS (GADARA), JORDAN". Arqueología Iberoamericana. 40.
- ISBN 978-1-4982-2454-3
- ^ Alawneh, Firas (Dec 21, 2018). "INVESTIGATIONS OF HELLENISTIC MORTAR FROM UMM QAIS (GADARA), JORDAN". Arqueología Iberoamericana. 40.
- ^ Shatzman, Israel. The Armies of the Hasmonaeans and Herod: From Hellenistic to Roman Frameworks.
- ^ Israel Shatzman, The Armies of the Hasmonaeans and Herod: From Hellenistic to Roman Frameworks, p. 74.
- JSTOR 41289144.
- ISBN 9789004114609.
- ISBN 0-8028-2400-5.
- ^ Josephus Antiquities, XVII, xi, 4; Josephus, Bellum Judaicum, II, vi, 3.
- Reland, Palestine, 776.
- ^ Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 202
- ^ Smith, in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, 2nd appendix, p. 163
- ^ Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 19
- S2CID 194802058.
- ^ Rawashdeh, Saeb (8 August 2019). "German research continues in ancient city of Gadara". The Jordan Times.
- ^ "Umm Qais aqueduct opens as preservation project concludes". The Jordan Times. 18 December 2018.
- ^ For example:*UN Resolution 242 Archived 2009-11-27 at the Wayback Machine, *Text of Resolution at UN.org Archived 2011-01-12 at the Wayback Machine (PDF), *"CRS Issue Brief for Congress: Israeli-United States Relations" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. April 5, 2002. Retrieved 2009-06-23.,*"Presidency Statement on Golan Heights". April 1, 2004. Archived from the original on 2011-01-22. Retrieved 2009-06-23.,*"Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories". UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. 11 June 2009. Archived from the original on 20 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-23.,*"The Arab Peace Initiative, 2002". Al-Bab. 2002. Archived from the original on 4 June 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
Bibliography
- Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics (1964). First Census of Population and Housing. Volume I: Final Tables; General Characteristics of the Population (PDF).
- Hütteroth, Wolf-Dieter; Abdulfattah, Kamal (1977). Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century. Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft. ISBN 3-920405-41-2.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
- Weber, Thomas, Umm Qais: Gadara of the Decapolis (1989. Amman: Economic Press Co.)
External links
- GCatholic - (titular) bishopric
- Irbid Guide (in Arabic)
- Greater Irbid Municipality (in Arabic)
- Irbid news (in Arabic)
- History and pictures
- Greco-Roman & Decapolis city of Gadara
- Photos of Umm Qais at the American Center of Research