Theme Week Jordan – Jerash

24 March 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  14 minutes

Map of Jerash © Holger Behr

Map of Jerash © Holger Behr

Jerash, the Gerasa of Antiquity, is the capital and largest city of Jerash Governorate, which is situated in the north of Jordan, 48 kilometres (30 mi) north of the capital Amman towards Syria. Jerash Governorate’s geographical features vary from cold mountains to fertile valleys from 250 to 300 metres (820 to 980 ft) above sea level, suitable for growing a wide variety of crops. In the late Ottoman period, the city’s name, Jerash, was abandoned and changed to Sakib, yet this was not a permanent development, as the name Jerash reappeared in Ottoman tax registers by the end of 16th century. A strong earthquake destroyed in 749 AD large parts of Jerash, while subsequent earthquakes along with wars and turmoil contributed to additional destruction. The ruins remained buried in the soil for hundreds of years until they were discovered by German Orientalist Ulrich Jasper Seetzen in 1806. In addition to the role of the people of old villages near Jerash, the process of building the modern city of Jerash was mainly done by the resettlement of Circassian Muslims by the Ottoman authorities; the Circassians came to Transjordan from the Caucasus after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. Subsequently, a community of people from Syria came to the area at the beginning of the 20th century.   read more…

Theme Week Jordan – Irbid

23 March 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  7 minutes

Jordan University of Science and Technology's Library, the largest library in the Middle East © Fawwaz Dawod/cc-by-sa-3.0

Jordan University of Science and Technology’s Library, the largest library in the Middle East
© Fawwaz Dawod/cc-by-sa-3.0

Irbid, known in ancient times as Arabella or Arbela, is the capital and largest city of the Irbid Governorate. It also has the second largest metropolitan population in Jordan after Amman, with a population of around 1,088,100, and is located about 70 km north of Amman on the northern ridge of the Gilead, equidistant from Pella, Beit Ras (Capitolias), and Um Qais. It’s 20 km south of the Syrian border. Irbid is the third largest city in Jordan by population (after Amman and Zarqa). Metropolitan Irbid is the second largest. The province of Irbid Governorate has the second largest population, and the highest population density in the kingdom. The city is a major ground transportation hub between Amman, Syria to the north, and Mafraq to the east. The Irbid region is also home to several colleges and universities.   read more…

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