21/02/2025
Umm Qais
was known in ancient times as Gadara, one of the ten Greco-Roman cities (the Decapolis League). In ancient times, Gadara was located in a strategic location and a number of trade routes passed through it that connected Syria and Palestine.
In 218 BC, Ptolemy IV (221-203 BC), King of Egypt, ruled Palestine and Jordan and was attacked by Antiochus III the Seleucid (223-186 BC) who launched a military campaign and took control of Galilee, crossed the Jordan River and seized parts of northern Jordan and Gadara surrendered to him, thus the Greek civilization reached it.
It attracted writers, artists, philosophers and poets in the Greek era such as: the satirist Menippus, the satirist Melagrus, and the eloquent orator Theodorus who lived between 14-37 AD.
In 63 BC, the Roman commander, Mumbai, occupied it from the Greeks and included it in the Decapolis League, which was established during the Greeks and Romans. It included ten cities in the area located at the junction of the borders of Jordan, Syria and Palestine, including: Jerash, Amila or Tabaqat Fahl in the Jordan Valley, and the city of Umm al-Jimal in northeastern Jordan.
During the first years of Roman rule, the Nabataeans and their capital Petra controlled the trade routes to Damascus in the north. However, Mark Antony was not satisfied with this situation, which was competing with the Romans, so he sent King Herod the Great at the head of an army to fight the Nabataeans. In the end, the Nabataeans gave up their trade routes in the north in 31 BC. In appreciation of Herod the Great's efforts, Rome granted him the city of Gadara, and the city reached the peak of its prosperity in the second century AD, with paved streets, temples, theaters and baths spreading throughout it. Melagrus likened the city of Gadara to Athens, a testimony that the city became the center of Hellenistic culture in the ancient Near East. Christianity spread slowly among the people of Gadara. Starting from the fourth century AD, the bishop of Gadara began attending the church councils in Nicaea, Chaldea and Ephesus. Gadara remained calm and stable until the year 162 AD when the Persians crossed the Euphrates River, invaded Syria and occupied its cities. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD) rose to resist the Persians and prepared armies. In the city of Umm Qais - Gadara - an inscription was found that was on the grave of one of the soldiers of the Fourteenth Battalion (Gamina) which refers to the battalion that reached Umm Qais. In 614, the Persian armies occupied it and destroyed its churches, and did not spare its inhabitants. In 635, the Islamic armies liberated it from the control of the Romans, led by Shurahbil bin Hasna, during the time of Caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab.
Arabius inscription, one of the Greek inscriptions in Umm Qais
When you enter the ancient city of “Umm Qais”, you are faced with a phrase engraved on the headstone that was erected on the grave of the great ancient poet “Arabius”, in which he addresses the guests, saying, “O you who pass by here, as you are now, I was, and as I am now, you will be, so enjoy life because you are mortal.”