Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Contents Page
Introduction 5
Mapping 11
The Database 17
Recommendations 40
Conclusions 42
Acknowledgements 43
Bibliography 43
Contact Addresses 46
N.B. The following 3 sections are in the full report on the accompanying disk
List of Figures
Figure 1: Map of 2005 and 2008 survey areas showing all sites end
Figure 2: Map of Wadi Deir (N Wadi Jarash) showing all sites end
Figure 3: Map of East of the City, northern area showing all sites end
Figure 4: Map of East of the City, southern area, and South Wadi Jarash,
showing all sites end
List of Plates
Plate 1: Aerial View of NW Necropolis, 2008 6
Plate 7: View (looking SW) of well exposed block quarry Site 034 15
Plate 9: Site 202 - niches cut into soft brecciated limestone immediately below
hard caprock horizon 16
Plate 10: View of Rendzina soil profile overlain by modern dumped material 17
Plate 14: Hypogaeum Site 299, with grave niche and relief panel 23
INTRODUCTION
A three week season of field survey of the Jarash Hinterland was carried out between
6 September and 25 September 2008. The 2008 season is the second season of a
project covering an intended area of 10 sq km centred on the Roman City of Gerasa.
The project is directed by Prof. David Kennedy (University of Western Australia) and
Fiona Baker (Firat Archaeological Services Ltd, Scotland) assisted by Paul Sharman
(Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology); David Connolly and Margaret
Struckmeier (Connolly Heritage Consultancy, Scotland); Anne Poepjes (University of
Western Australia); Don Boyer and Ann Boyer (Roman Archaeology Group, UWA),
Andrew Card (University of Western Australia) and Naomi Poepjes. Ina Kehrberg
(University of Sydney) is the ceramicist and finds specialist.
The 2005 survey area covered an area of 0.6 sq km on the west side of the ancient city
between the city wall and the top of the hill along which the Zahr al Saraw road runs
N-S. The field results of this survey, which recorded 223 archaeological sites, are
reported in the Jarash Hinterland Survey 2005 Season Preliminary Report
accompanied by the project database and all digital photographs, which has been
archived to the Department of Antiquities (DoA), Amman in accordance with DoA
requirements.
The 2008 survey area consists of the largely developed hillside to the N and NW of
the Roman city in Zhara as Siraw, beside the Suf road; the northern Wadi Jarash or
Wadi Deir as far as Birketein; the developed hillsides to the E of the main N-S road
Route 15 (old Irbid Road) that divides the ancient city in two and N of the new Irbid
road that runs E-W along the S side of the city, focussed on the land outside the
Roman city wall; and the southern Wadi Jarash. The 2008 survey area covered a total
area of 1.9 sq km and recorded 402 sites. The survey area has now encircled the
ancient city and the total area surveyed in 2005 and 2008 covers 2.5 sq km and has
recorded 625 sites.
The general JHS area is covered with limestone outcrops and has the deep red
rendzina soil or terra rossa that is common on the limestone outcrops in the northwest
of Jordan. The fields in both the north and south Wadi Jarash have more mixed
topsoil indicative of centuries of cultivation. The survey area comprises developed
land for domestic housing, waste ground, olive groves, fields and grazing land. A
great deal of construction work for new houses and roads is in progress within the
survey area.
The area around Jarash is currently being developed as the city expands and well over
one hundred new houses are built each year. The new development and expansion of
the city has escalated since about 2000 and it is because of this that the Jarash
Hinterland Survey (JHS) project was instigated. Very little survey or excavation
work has taken place outside the walls of the Roman city and the archaeological
resource outside the city walls is poorly recorded and little understood. In the face of
development, the JHS seeks to identify and record archaeological sites threatened
with destruction by the development work and to preserve the archaeological sites at
least by record.
Of the 223 sites surveyed in 2005, 188 of these sites were visited again in 2008 to
check on their condition. The sites not visited were mostly quarried outcrops. Of the
sites visited the condition of 121 sites remained unchanged, 31 had been damaged and
35 had been destroyed by new development. In summary, 65% of the sites visited
were unchanged after three years. This means that at least 30% of the sites recorded
in 2005 had been damaged or completely destroyed and from these figures we could
extrapolate that 10% of the archaeological sites within the immediate environs of
Jarash are being destroyed every year.
Of the sites that had been damaged since 2005, the NW Necropolis site (Sites 43 – 63
inclusive) shows the most overall damage. A short section on these sites is included
here.
During the 2005 season of the Jarash Hinterland Survey, a concentration of high
status Roman tombs were located in an area of open ground located 600m to the NW
of the Roman city walls. These are on the line of the Roman road leading out of the
NW gate. The surviving necropolis area measures approximately 200m N-S x 150m
E-W. The UTM co-ordinate for the site is E771636 / N3575954 (see Fig. 5).
This parcel of land belongs, at least in part, to the Department of Antiquities. It may
have been purchased as a result of the 1991 rescue excavations (Smadeh et al 1992).
The tombs and elements of tombs identified at this cemetery in 2005 were deemed to
be under threat from illegal excavation, quarrying and rubbish dumping. This site
was identified as one of the top three sites offering the greatest archaeological
potential and as most under threat out of the 217 sites identified by the 2005 survey.
This observation remains the same.
This site was first notified to the Department of Antiquities in 1982 and its
significance is further stated in an article in ADAJ (1992) by Smadeh et al. This
article primarily reports on salvage excavation of tombs immediately to the south,
which were destroyed by new housing development, but clearly illustrates the
necropolis and in particular 2005 Site 043, the Palmyrene tomb. Smadeh et al also
note that two sarcophagi pillaged from Site 043 in 1985 are actually at Jarash
Museum.
The 2008 survey visited the necropolis site and was dismayed to find the tombs had
been further damaged by bulldozers, which have been levelling parts of the site, and
by increased dumping of rubble and boulders on the site, which has shattered a
sarcophagus.
In order to protect the tombs from further damage and looting and to protect them in
the long term immediate and urgent action is required.
• Erection of a 2m high post and wire mesh fence around the site bedded into
concrete base pads. A breeze block wall is not recommended as it would
cause further ground disturbance and would also shield the site from view
allowing tomb robbers to operate unseen. The fence would prevent access to
the area by heavy machinery and stop dumping of rubble and rubbish.
• Clearance of dumped rubble and retrieval of Roman architectural and masonry
fragments under archaeological supervision. Architectural fragments to be
stored on the site and not removed form the site with a view to restoration in
the long term.
• Detailed photography of the site and all tombs once the modern disturbances
and dumps have been removed
• Scale drawings of the individual sites once the modern dumping has been
removed.
• Surface collection of pottery associated with the individual tombs
This preliminary work would allow the site to be protected form further damage and
for the modern disturbances and dumping to be removed so that the site could be
recorded in further detail before detailed archaeological excavation work may
commence.
• Small evaluation trenches or trial pits are not recommended at this site. It is
clear it is a high status necropolis and small trenches would only confuse the
picture further, as the site already has several robber trenches and the
architectural fragments and surface finds have been mixed from several tombs.
The Department of Antiquities has known about this important necropolis since
1982 – over 25 years. It is being actively robbed and destroyed and requires
IMMEDIATE protection.
The objectives of the JHS are to identify and record archaeological sites outside the
Roman city walls. The hinterland of Jarash has been subjected to very little field
survey or archaeological investigation. No city operates in isolation and its hinterland
provided the resources to support the existence of the settlement. The area outside the
city walls was also the place where the cemeteries or ‘cities of the dead’ were located.
Due to the extensive development now taking place the main objective of the JHS is
to provide a baseline survey identifying and locating as many of the archaeological
sites as possible before they are destroyed by development.
As the focus of extensive development is to the west of the Roman city, the first 2005
season of the JHS focussed its efforts there. The 2005 season, which lasted for two
weeks, identified 217 archaeological sites within a 2km x 400m area. These sites
include 67 rock cut tombs and 17 rock cut graves, 5 mausolea, 26 sarcophagi, 8
inscriptions and at least 31 quarry sites. Several artefact scatters were also located
including an area of kiln wasters indicating Late Byzantine and Umayyad pottery
production.
The 2008 survey area concentrated its efforts on the east of the city on the few
surviving pockets of undeveloped land amongst the houses. Based on the 2005
survey results and rapid speed of development the project determined that this was the
most important area to concentrate on, before any remaining evidence disappeared.
Rapid walkover field assessment was also undertaken along the Wadi Deir (N Wadi
Jarash) between Jarash and Birketein to the north of the city, and the northern part of
the southern Wadi Jarash was also subjected to detailed survey. Development is
starting to encroach upon both of these areas and is likely to speed up in the next few
years.
A total of 402 sites were identified by the 2008 survey within the 1.9 sq km area
surveyed. These include the frequent rock cut tombs and quarries one would expect
in the immediate environs of the city and architectural and artefact scatters indicating
settlement or religious activity outside the city walls, as well as water management
and mills (see table and discussion below).
The field survey was carried out by archaeologists walking intensively over the
landscape looking for archaeological sites of any period. When a site was located, its
position was marked by handheld GPS, colour digital photographs were taken and the
site was recorded by written description, measurements and sketches on a specifically
designed field recording form. If artefacts were present, these were collected to
provide dating evidence. The pottery will be examined by Dr Ina Kehrberg during
January 2009.
The field recording form is based on the JADIS record form and includes a section to
identify and assess the level of threat to the archaeological sites. Due to extensive
ongoing development almost every site has a high risk of being destroyed.
It was not possible to investigate the entire area as some parts have been entirely
developed and others are within enclosed gardens and private ground. The survey
concentrated on the open ground consisting of olive groves, fields, waste ground and
vacant plots as well as investigating all construction sites. Every opportunity to
investigate private gardens was taken where available and a number of sites were
recorded within gardens.
The Wadi Deir (N Wadi Jarash) was subjected a rapid walk-over assessment which
located a number of major sites. Further more detailed survey work is required here.
MAPPING
In 2005 the JHS team were kindly supplied with a copy of the Jarash Development
Plan by the Governor of Jarash. The plan of proposed development on the west side
of the city formed the base map for the survey area and has allowed the impact of
development on the archaeological resource to be identified and quantified.
In 2008 the survey team used enlarged Google Earth satellite aerial photographs as
field survey base maps. The Google images proved to be excellent base maps as they
showed all built up areas and land boundaries and allowed areas developed between
2003 and 2008 to be identified.
At the commencement of the project it was necessary to produce a suitable scale map
of the survey area. The team had intended to use the 1977 1:50,000 UTM Sector 36
map as the primary map for the project coupled with rectified aerial photographs
(APs) to produce a base map for the survey area. However, when checking the co-
ordinates of fixed points on the ground with the GPS to assist with the rectification of
APs it became apparent that the GPS co-ordinates derived from satellites did not
agree with the UTM co-ordinates derived from the map. Further research determined
that the UTM map is inaccurate and that the co-ordinates taken from the map may be
up to 200m away from the co-ordinates obtained from the GPS. This is a known
problem encountered by other survey teams (for example, Mortensen 1993; Flanagan
& McCreery 1995). It should be noted that the error on the UTM map is variable,
both on this particular map sheet and across Jordan. Therefore, there is no formula
that can be applied to the GPS-derived co-ordinates to calculate the corresponding
UTM map co-ordinates.
The survey team used hand-held GPS (Garmin 60CSx, Garmin 60C and a Garmin
CS76) to locate the sites in the field. The GPS plots were cross checked by the field
surveyors against the annotated field maps to ensure that all sites are correctly located.
All co-ordinates given in this report are derived from GPS readings, using the WGS
84 co-ordinate system, and are the true UTM co-ordinates for the archaeological sites
identified. The accuracy of the GPS reading is usually within +/-5m, but occasionally
the accuracy was +/- 6m or 7m of the site. The level of accuracy is recorded in the
GPS field log.
It is important to note that the sites recorded by the survey should be located either
from the attached map only or by GPS. If one tries to locate the sites by co-ordinates
using the UTM Sector 36 S 1:50,000 map one will not find the sites as the UTM map
is inaccurate by up to 200m.
All levels are related to Aqaba sea level datum. However, because there are no
known spot height locations in the area of the Roman city or Jarash as a whole, it was
not possible to calibrate the GPS each day with atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the
elevation recorded for each site is not precisely accurate, but a rough guide only. The
field surveyors noted discrepancies in the elevation readings at a number of sites and
the elevations given should not be considered reliable.
The maps of the survey area that accompany this report has been produced from the
Jarash City Development Map combined with the 1978 1:2500 map sheet 2833A and
2834A, rectified APs and GPS satellite derived co-ordinates and imagery.
The geology of the area is limestone bedrock with frequent outcrops, many of which
have been quarried to some degree. There is considerable variation with the bedrock
ranging from quite fine grained limestone of good building stone quality to softer
limestone with inclusions, which is more prone to solution holes, filled with rendzina
or terra rossa soil and small concreted stones. There are also areas of very soft and
crumbly yellowish white marl, particularly to the NE of the ancient city in Al Howaz.
The soil is terra rossa or rendzina and is deep red brown in colour with high clay
content and good water retention properties. In some places a considerable depth of
soil, up to 2m, was exposed. It is clear that there has been considerable slope wash or
colluvial build up on the wadi and hill terraces, and alluvial deposition combined with
slope washed soils in the wadis, particularly the Wadi Deir to the north of the city.
The hillsides have been terraced for agriculture in several places but due to the urban
environment and ongoing development of the area for housing, the majority of the hill
terrace walls have been destroyed. The hill terrace walls are generally about 0.80m
wide and constructed of two facing courses of larger boulders filled with small stone
rubble, which probably represents field clearance. The cultivation terrace walls in the
southern Wadi Jarash are still largely intact and several of them were recorded by the
project. It is of note that white glazed earthenware of 19th – early 20th century date
was recovered from the soil profile underlying one of the terrace walls suggesting that
the walls we see today are relatively modern in date. However, it is likely that the hill
terrace cultivation walls have been rebuilt on numerous occasions and terrace walls
similar to those we see today existed in the Classical period.
It was noted that the wadi terraces in the south Wadi Jarash and the north Wadi Deir
were often more of a pale grey brown colour and tended to contain more pottery
sherds, suggesting a longer history of intensive cultivation including manuring and
ploughing in of stubble. While the grey brown soils contained more pottery sherds
indicative of settlement activity, the rendzina soils were not devoid of artefacts but it
was observed where deep profiles were exposed, pot sherds might only be present in
the uppermost metre of soil deposits. It was also noted that rendzina soil has been
imported into gardens and fields around the city, presumably because of its clay and
water retention properties, and a rendzina quarry was noted on the road from Jarash to
Mafraq.
By Don Boyer BSc (Hons), CPGeo, Fellow Aus. Inst. Mining & Metallurgy
The Roman city of Jarash straddles the Wadi Jarash, a south draining Wadi that is
incised into a flat lying sequence of limestone and related rocks of Cretaceous age.
This sequence extends into the surrounding hinterland for some distance. The
sequence typically comprises alternating layers of harder limestone and softer units,
each less than 10 metres thick. The harder units are well exposed, locally exhibiting
the sculptured pavements and karst scenery so typical of Cretaceous limestone
terrains. Caves have created locally as a result of natural weathering processes in
areas where a soft, friable limestone layer exists beneath harder ‘cap’ horizons.
Distinctive Rendzina soils (of ? Holocene age) are developed on terraces and any flat
lying areas on the limestone pavements, with thicker development on flatter areas
adjacent to the Wadi. These soils comprise deep red brown clay soil and limestone
nodules and fragments. The nodules have been observed to have a largely
concretionary origin. Given the absence of iron in the local geological environment,
the source of the iron is enigmatic to the author.
The local geological setting has clearly had an important impact on the development
of the Jarash area since pre-Roman times (and continues to do so today), in a number
of ways.
Topography
The flat lying limestone sequence, coupled with the variable hardness of the layers,
weathers into the distinctive hilly landscape dominated by many small terraces that
we see today in the undeveloped areas adjacent to the modern town. Over time these
natural terraces have been artificially expanded to create larger terraces better suited
to agriculture, especially the development of orchards.
Within the modern town additional terracing for housing development has been
created by reusing terraced orchard areas and by ‘benching’ into hillsides using heavy
earth moving equipment. This benching results in the creation of significant amounts
of spoil being deposited on terraced areas down slope, covering pre-existing terraces
(and any archaeology they may contain). The creation of terraces limits the effect of
down slope ‘soil creep’, potentially resulting in soils (and any contained archaeology)
remaining more or less in situ where not modified by human activity.
Resources
opportunistic and small scale, with evidence of individual block removal in small,
easily accessible areas.
Plate 7: View (looking SW) of well exposed block quarry Site 034
Quarrying of very large blocks and columns would be limited to the availability of
unusually thick units, and a column quarry was visited in one such location in the hills
above the village of Suf, approximately 5km north of Jarash (UTM coordinates
35.8902099.275E / 32.3225191.453N).
There is abundant evidence of block quarrying well beyond the limits of the study
area, perhaps reflecting the high demand created by the establishment of Roman
Jarash.
The water resources generated by water flowing within Wadi Jarash and subordinate
wadi’s draining into it, together with springs developed in the adjacent wadi banks
and hillsides, would have been a significant resource in historical times. They remain
so today, although flow rates appear to have been drastically reduced by over usage,
water diversion and possibly climate change over the past 2000 years. (Some
commentators such as Hirschfeld (2004) and others have determined that there was
higher rainfall in the 1st century BC and in the mid 4th century AD.)
Cultural
The presence of natural caves provides the opportunity for human adaptation and use.
The existence of alternating hard and soft limestone layers also provides the
opportunity for creating man-made tombs and other burial places, using the harder
limestone as a natural self-supporting cap or roof and the immediately softer unit
(often a breccia contain fragments of limestone and flint) amenable to excavation into
any desired shape. The harder limestone cap horizon is also amenable to the carving
of facades.
Plate 9: Site 202 - Underground view of rock cut tomb showing niches
cut into soft brecciated limestone immediately below hard caprock
horizon. Looking North
Agriculture
The combined existence of natural terracing and rich Rendzina soil presumably
focused farming activities in the immediate Jarash area and beyond in historic times
and continues to do so today. While areas of thicker soil profiles predictably support
more intensive agriculture, it has been observed that even a small patch of Rendzina
soil of a few square metres extent developed in a solution hollow within an exposed
limestone pavement can support a single olive tree.
Comments
and granite types, from outside of Jordan). Occurrences of basalt querns have
been noted in the survey, presumably sourced from northern Jordan, and the
author has also noted occasional examples of distinct rounded (and possibly
used as small hand querns) stones of magnetic, medium to course grained
olivine-bearing ultramafic rock, the source of which is uncertain.
• Rendzina soils exist at surface and have also been observed to infill shallow
solution holes and caves up to several metres beneath the present natural
surface. They represent a potentially useful and visible time marker separating
?pre-human and post-human occupation, especially on sites where the soil
profile has been disturbed by modern earthmoving and dumping.
• During the study it was noted at several locations that a number of tombs have
been excavated along a given horizon with particularly favourable rock
conditions. More detailed surveying and geological understanding could
potentially result in the capacity to predict the location of unexposed tomb
sites in spoil covered areas. Where appropriate, ground penetrating radar may
also assist in the location of shallow tombs with voids within c.3m of surface.
THE DATABASE
In 2005, the JHS had intended to use the JADIS database for recording the sites but
unfortunately, this was not possible. The JADIS database was created in the early
1990’s as an overall sites and monuments record for Jordan, with the intention that all
projects working in Jordan would supply their site data in a standard format for entry
into the database. However, due to technical difficulties and the ever-evolving nature
of computer databases, JADIS could not read or process data produced by more recent
software and versions of Access or other databases that have superseded that used for
JADIS.
It was therefore necessary for the JHS to create its own database and this work was
undertaken by David Connolly. The JHS database is an Access database and was
designed using all the JADIS codes for type site, site location etc. However, since
2005, a new overall sites and monuments record for Jordan, MEGA, is currently
under development. After discussions with Catreena Hamarneh of the Department of
Antiquities and MEGA project, it was concluded that the JHS dataset is compatible
with data migration into the MEGA framework.
A GIS system compatible with QGIS was requested by the Dept of Antiquities. Five
layers were created: Layer 1 is a raster map of the Jarash area, extending to 4km
around the city; Layer 2 is a polygon extent of the 2005 JHS survey area; Layer 3 is a
polygon extent of the 2008 JHS survey area; Layer 4 is point data on all surveyed
sites from the 2005 and 2008 JHS survey areas; Layer 5 are polygons of surveyed
scatters. Metadata consists of site number, site type and UTM co-ordinates. All of this
is held in the QGIS folder on the disk accompanying this report.
The JHS Database accompanies this brief text report on disk. The disk contains all
site records; GPS readings (site co-ordinates); all colour digital photographs and
illustrations; the finds list; QGIS (GIS information for all sites in QGIS format) and
the Preliminary Report on the Pottery and Small Finds from JHS 2005 by Ina
Kehrberg.
The survey area to the east of the city was extensively built up and is best described as
urban. This made it difficult to identify the underlying landscape because it has been
much altered. The northern part of the area consisted of hill terraces running around
the Tell Mustashfa (or Tell Jarash or Al Howaz) plateau on its N, W and S slopes and
terraces rising up the slope of the higher hill to the E. The southern part of the area
consisted of terraces on the NW, W and S slopes of a separate plateau (with a valley
between it and Tell Mustashfa), which dropped steeply down to the S to the wadi
bottom used by the new Irbid road.
Any areas of open ground that could be accessed by the surveyors were investigated,
including private gardens. The survey maps indicate land use and areas that could be
surveyed. In general, only rock cut tombs and quarries were located in this area but at
a much lower density than in the 2005 survey area on the west side of the city. This
difference in site frequency is a result of modern development and urban expansion.
Only the northernmost part of the southern Wadi Jarash was surveyed. Most of this
area is under cultivation, although modern buildings and the dumping of construction
waste are encroaching upon it. The wadi is a fairly narrow flat bed with terraces
rising steeply on the east and west sides. Only narrow fields were present at the
bottom of the slope with larger fields further up slope, particularly on the west side.
A very slight flow of water enters the wadi at its north end under the modern road
bridge, falling over a ten metre high limestone edge to the wadi bottom. The W side
of the edge had clearly been scoured by the force of what must have been a stronger
flow of water in the past. A natural spring was also observed issuing from the base of
the limestone edge on the W side of the wadi near here.
WADI DEIR
See Figures 2 and 5
The survey area to the north of the city was the area known as Wadi Deir (Deir
meaning ‘monastery’ in Arabic). This runs from north to south and is divided along
the same axis by the Roman road (under the modern road), which ran from the Jarash
City Walls to Birketein (which translates as ‘two pools’). The general topography of
the Wadi Deir consists of a flat alluvial plain which is narrow at either end and
broadens out in the middle. The east and west sides consist of long rocky limestone
outcrops which rise fairly steeply in places, effectively enclosing the wadi valley. The
wadi river ran from north to south on the east side of the Wadi, named by the Greeks
as Chrysorhoas (golden river), which is still in evidence as a dried up river bed.
The alluvial plain is mostly under cultivation, with field and orchard plots running E-
W across it. There is evidence for controlled land division in the past as on both sides
of the road a number of the fields are very evenly spaced, being approximately fifteen
metres wide. It is felt that these land parcels may have been created during the late
Ottoman period, created by or for the Circassians when they moved to Jarash from
south-eastern Russia to escape persecution in the late 19th century (Shami 1992).
Because of the close proximity to modern Jerash and the need for more water for
domestic purposes due to the rising population, water has now been diverted away
from Wadi Deir and the springs at Birketein have apparently dried up. This has
affected the agricultural potential of the Wadi and the fields now have very little
irrigation. Add to this the demand for more housing when land closest to Jerash can
command high prices, and the result has been the gradual encroachment of
construction into the Wadi fields.
NW OF THE CITY
See Figure 5
The survey area NW of the city walls was a continuation of the N end of the 2005
survey W of the city walls, and used the Suf road as its N boundary. This area was a
limestone hill with terrace edges. Although quite developed, building in this area is a
recent phenomenon, so there were still many open areas and orchards that could be
surveyed. The kinds of sites that survived were typical of the W of the city, mostly
comprising tombs and quarries, with sarcophagi, architectural fragments, occasional
cisterns, traditional houses and some dense artefact scatters. However, development
in this area is increasing and many of these sites may soon be lost.
QUARRIES
A total number of 45 quarry sites were recorded in the 2008 survey season. Most of
these sites were simple cut edges, dispersed along the natural limestone terrace
outcrops, with very few (Sites 250, 301, 304, 305, 306 and 326) providing evidence of
step quarrying, block cutting or block sizes. Of these 2008 sites, quarry Site 326 was
the most extensive and best preserved, the 17m long, 9m wide 2m high area contained
all of the types of evidence mentioned above. Therefore it is recommended that Site
326 should be preserved as the best example of this industry east of the Roman city.
It is clear that although quarries were noted throughout the survey area, they were less
frequent and less extensive than those noted on the west side of the ancient city in the
2005 survey season. This was partly because of the intensity of urban development
east of the city, but it was also noted that in general the limestone was of poorer
quality than in the west and therefore less amenable for use as building stone.
However, some of the softer limestone units were essentially marl, which would have
been extremely useful for making mortar and plaster. Indeed, at the N end of the
survey area to the east and south of the old Irbid road, the limestone was so soft that it
is still recognised as a place to quarry marl and this area is called ‘Al Howaz’, which
appears to translate as ‘lime marl’.
Rock-cut tombs
Many rock cut tombs were identified as such because they were inaccessible, and
therefore the interior design could not be identified. Many were also identified as
probable or possible rock cut tombs because the top of a wide right-angled recess was
visible in the bedrock, or because there was a wide and high vertical rock cut face,
sometimes with a lip at the base. Such features tended to be associated with
confirmed tombs, but of course the sites need evaluation to confirm that there is a
tomb present.
Plate 12: Tomb 236, with robbers’ spoil blocking intact door
Many of the 61 rock cut tombs identified by the 2008 survey were in poor condition,
especially those E of the city. This reflects the more intensive urban conditions E of
the city. Many were used as rubbish dumps, many had been truncated by road and
building construction and many had been robbed both in antiquity and recently.
Examples of recent tomb robbing are at the rock cut shaft tomb Sites 230 and 231,
which are situated in the W-facing limestone edge on the E side of the old Irbid road.
Here, tomb 230 had been entered first and a tunnel quarried had been quarried by the
robbers to break through into the adjacent tomb 231. We were told that in tomb 230
there had been a ledge for the body, a skull and other bones, pottery and glass, all of
which were broken and left there. In the robbers’ upcast outside the tombs, lots of
bone, some bronze fragments, a bronze bracelet in two pieces with a twisted design
and plain terminals, glass and pottery were observed and retrieved. It would be worth
completely excavating these sites and sieving the robbers spoil to retrieve any
remaining human bones and artefacts for analysis and the provision of dating
evidence.
The largest tomb encountered during the 2008 survey was Site 486, a multi-
chambered tomb cut into the N part of the limestone edge forming the W side of the
Wadi Deir. The rock cut entrance was rebated externally to receive masonry for a
built doorway. It was accessed by a rock-cut passage buried beneath a slope of soil
and trash. Indeed, the tomb is in active use as a rubbish dump, including soiled baby
nappies and all the internal surfaces are coated with black soot from fires for burning
rubbish or perhaps inhabitation. The entrance is towards the S end of the E side of the
2.60m high central chamber, which is sub-rectangular, measuring 12.1m N-S by
6.15m E-W, with approximately 11 chambers and recesses off it. Most of the side
chambers are roughly square, often with the remains of masonry doorways, rather
than elongated open niches for receiving sarcophagi and this is not typical of most
tombs recorded by the survey.
It is clear that the tomb has been adapted for reuse, evidenced not only by the removal
of walls between chambers and masonry doorways to create larger spaces resulting in
the need to build a limestone column in the central chamber to support the ceiling,
although some of the ceiling has collapsed, but also by the presence of an olive mill
stone 1.50m in diameter and 0.55m thick in the main chamber, close to the supporting
column. It seems likely that the chambers were reused for storage associated with the
olive press and wine installation and there are external features that are likely to be
associated with this also. The clearest of these is a circular plaster-lined vat 0.80m in
diameter and at least 1.60m deep, cut into the bedrock at the side of the passage down
to the tomb. There is a channel leading to this and there are faint traces of an adjacent
rectangular stone (?treading) tank also, although these are mostly obscured by soil
cover and vegetation. The final use of the tomb appears to be that of habitation,
evidenced by the soot-covered interior from fire smoke. This site should be cleared
and fenced off for protection.
Hypogaea
Only two confirmed hypogaeae were identified - again the lack of survival is because
of urban nature of E side of the town and in Wadi Deir because it was essentially the
alluvial plan that was surveyed. Tombs had clearly been cut in the limestone scarps
that flank the plain, but most of these were outside the 2008 survey area.
During the 2008 survey, the NW Necropolis site was revisited, and Site 052, which
had been recorded as a probable tomb because of local information and a façade with
a lip at its base, had now been broken into and is a confirmed hypogaeum. See the
Necropolis section below.
Those that survived the best tended to be ones that had been reused for habitation or
storage. One (Site 202) in the NW survey area had a metal door put into the original
doorway and the original stone door frame and steps down to the entrance had been
repointed with concrete. Although nothing remained in the niches, a rubble wall had
been built at one side of the tomb and the opposite side had suffered from roof
collapse and some modern quarrying, a complete decorated sarcophagus and lid
remained in situ to the right of the doorway. The lid had been wedged open so that
the contents could be rifled through, but more may remain.
Plate 14: Hypogaeum Site 294, showing grave niche and relief panel
The most exciting hypogaeum (Site 299) had also survived not only because it had
been used for habitation and storage, but also because four modern reinforced
concrete pillars had been inserted to support the ceiling to take the weight of the
house built above. This site not only comprised a large hypogaeum – site 299.3 - with
(empty) sarcophagus niches, small niches cut into the sides for lamps and the remains
of the doorway reused in the masonry, but also had a rock cut grave in an arched
recess (Site 299.1) flanking the approach to the tomb and a carved relief panel (Site
299.2) above the entrance. Although the panel was very weathered, the outlines of
three, perhaps four human figures in stylised poses can still be made out. Presumably
these figures represent the family that were buried in the tomb. No other carved
panels were found during the survey and the owner should be approached to arrange
an agreement that the panel will not be damaged.
Arcosolium
One arcosolium tomb was recorded in the 2008 survey, to the E of the city, Site 293.
This was a rectangular rock cut chamber with a damaged rock cut grave in an arched
niche to the rear and the scant remains of another to one side. The tomb was partly
full of soil and building rubble and has managed to survive (so far) at the edge of a
modern scarp cut through the limestone, below a bulldozed area and above an olive
grove on the S side of Tell Mustashfa. The owner of the land asked us to leave the
site, but as the only one of its type, in should be fenced off and protected from further
development.
MAUSOLEA
Only one mausoleum was located for certain, which was at the southwest end of the
Wadi Deir at the foot of the limestone outcrops on the hillslope. The mausoleum Site
469 was excavated by Aida Naghawy and Abd al Majeed Mujalli in c 1982 (pers
comm). The front (ENE face) of the mausoleum no longer exists, having been
truncated by house construction. What remains is three sides of a room or cella, with
the rear cut into the slope of the hillside behind. Within this are four square pillars,
which had voussoired arches based on springers spanning the gaps between them. The
rear one of these survives. There are the scant remains of a springer on the NNW face
of the NW pillar, indicating that there may have been a barrel vault between the
pillars and the wall of the cella. Much lime plaster survives on the pillars and some
on the internal wall faces, indicating that the whole interior was plastered and,
presumably, painted. In one corner of the cella wall, traces of a moulded plaster
column survived indicating plaster trompe d’oeils and decorative features. A large
undecorated sarcophagus has been placed on its end near the SSE wall and the horned
lid, which has been broken in two, lies below the surviving arch. The sarcophagus
has been rebated to take the lid and the lead plugs survive around the rim as do the
receiving holes around the edge of the lid.
This site should be cleared and restored and fenced off to protect it from encroaching
development.
Just to the N of Site 469, the remains of a rectilinear structure (Site 473), similar in
build to the cella wall of the mausoleum, was visible. This should be evaluated
because it is possible that this is the remnants of another mausoleum.
The Palmyrene type mausoleum (Site 43) in the NW Necropolis near the Suf road was
revisited and further damage was noted. See the Update on the 2005 Survey section
above.
SARCOPHAGI
15 sarcophagi (including fragments and lids) were found during the survey. A few of
these were still inside the tombs (e.g. see Hypogaeum Site 202 above) or despite
having been moved were still in immediate association with the burial site (e.g. see
Mausoleum Site 469 above). Some had been kept as garden ornaments, for example a
plain, roughly chiselled child’s sarcophagus and plain lid, Site 209, on a garden
terrace. (Internally the sarcophagus was only 0.80m long, 0.25m wide and 0.19m
deep.) However, most had been cleared, often broken, and dumped elsewhere,
completely divorcing them from their context, clearly indicating the lack of
understanding and appreciation of Cultural Heritage in the local area.
The sarcophagi varied in size and all were made of limestone. As in 2005, in many
cases only two or three faces were finely dressed and the other face left rough,
indicating that these sarcophagi were not to be viewed on all sides and would have
been placed against a wall.
Some sarcophagi were plain, but others were carved. The quality of decoration
varied. A number of symbols were carved in relief on the sarcophagi sides. These
are:
• Wreath, various details, some with flowing ‘ribbons', while others were almost
just plain circles, some with leaf details and some plain
• A crescent with three knobs was the most common design, probably a stylised
axe (Fisher 1938, 562)
• Circular rosette with petals
The sarcophagi lids were either plain or had projecting horns at the corners. All had
straight edges and pointed tops.
ROCK-CUT GRAVES
Only four rock-cut graves were found for certain (Sites 286, 364.1 and 364.2), two
more possible such graves (Sites 356 and 364.3) and the rock-cut grave in a niche,
Site 299.1, flanking hypogaeum Site 299.3 (see Hypogaea section above), which was
more of an external arcosolium than a plain rock-cut grave. Site 286 was a flanking
pair of graves, and Sites 364.1, 364.2 and 364.3 also lay together. Grave Site 286 also
lies in close association with rock cut tombs (Sites 287, 288, 290 and 291). The
graves were rebated at the top in order to receive a lid. Presumably this type of burial
was of lower status than burials in tombs or sarcophagi.
Plate 17: Rock-cut graves Site 286 to left of tomb entrance Site 287
The small number of this type of grave found in 2008 probably reflects the urban
nature of the east side of the city, rather than a real distribution pattern. The rarity of
these sites means that Sites 364.1 and 364.2, and especially Site 286, because of the
graves’ association with tombs, should be preserved. The graves and the tombs here
should be preserved as a group and it should be noted that there is a high risk of
development here that could destroy them in the next year or so.
ROMAN MILESTONES
Four milestones and two milestone bases were found in an orchard to the east of the
modern road to and some 50m S of Birketein (and, roughly, one Roman mile N of the
North Gate of Gerasa). Two lay on either side of a modern concrete water channel.
That of Septimius Severus (422) lay just east and was wedged against the channel
with most of the text visible. The second (424) was on the west side, was further
from the channel and under a tree. It was dirty and the text - though visible - was
difficult to decipher and the inscription was on both sides of the column. The third
milestone (423) was totally buried in the orchard c. 30m to the SW and close to the
fence by the road. Ploughing had damaged the upper surface of 423. Traces of
weathered inscription were visible as it was dug out. The fourth, 427, lay next to the
farm building, beside two milestone base blocks (426).
Apart from milestone Site 423, they have all been recorded, transliterated and
discussed by Sandrine Agusta-Boularot, Adnan Mujalli and Jacques Seigne in a
publication already (Agusta-Boularot et al, 1998). The third milestone, Site 423,
would not have been noted by the French team because it was completely buried. It
should be noted that all of the published pieces had been moved from where they
were located in the published photographs. Because of this, milestones 422, 423 and
424 were moved by Abd Al-Majeed Mujalli to his DoA offices within Roman Jarash
for safekeeping. He plans to retrieve the remaining milestone fragment, 427, and the
two bases soon. It is hoped that the inscription on milestone 423 will be recorded and
transliterated in the future.
INSCRIPTIONS
Apart from those on the milestones (see Milestone section above), four inscriptions
were located by the survey. In Wadi Deir at Site 462 two Greek inscriptions and
architectural fragments were located just to the north of the new Medical Centre and it
was clear that they had been disturbed by the new development and dumped outside
its precinct. No archaeological work was undertaken during the construction of the
new Medical Centre despite its close proximity to the North Gate of the ancient
Jarash. These two inscriptions and the architectural fragments have been collected by
Abd al Majeed Mujalli and are now safely at the Department of Antiquities office
inside Jarash. Abd al Mujeed intends to search through the rubble and spoil heaps
from the construction of the medical centre to look for more inscriptions and
architectural fragments. It is of interest that Fisher noted that ‘a short distance north
of the North Gate is a temple sacred to Nemesis. Only foundations and eight
Corinthian columns of the portico, now fallen…’ (Fisher 1938, 25). There is no
mention of the evidence for the Nemesis dedication, so we cannot be certain that he
did not mistake the Octagonal Church for a temple, but there is the possibility that the
Medical Centre has been built on this temple site. If the DoA had undertaken
archaeological monitoring of the site when the centre was built, this information
would not have been lost.
A third Greek inscription was noted reused within the fabric of the City wall (Site
245) and an Abbasid inscription was located in a small orchard to the NW of the city
(Site 271). It is hoped that the latter will be retrieved.
Plate 19: Inscription from Site 462 (the other is on report cover)
ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENTS
Architectural fragments were located throughout the survey area and squared Roman
masonry had been reused in many structures particularly in field terrace walls in both
Wadi Deir and in South Wadi Jarash, which probably date from when the Circassians
settled in Jarash in the late 19th-century, or later.
thresholds, but there were also a few pieces of a moulded architrave from around a
doorway (e.g. Sites 333.2 and 456b). The second most numerous type of fragments
were column drums, usually limestone, but occasionally red granite. In two areas in
particular there was a concentration of high quality column drums (along with other
architectural fragments), in Wadi Deir close to the Octagonal Church and in the wadi
channel below it, and Sites 341, 389 and 390, which all appear to derive from a
classical building that was used as a source of gravestones for use in the old
Circassian cemetery (Site 390) and was destroyed when the Jarash Ladies’ Institute
was constructed (see Monumental Structures section below). There were 16 columns
from around the cemetery area, including one limestone twisted flute column and one
red granite column. There were 5 red granite column drums and 5 limestone ones
(Sites 445, 448, 450a-d, 456a, 457, 459) that look as if they came from the Octagonal
Church, which should be retrieved and placed back within the confines of the
excavated area, along with the other associated pieces of monumental masonry (Sites
451, 454, 456a, 458, 460, .461a-b).
Plate 21: bulldozed architecture site 389, with detail of one of columns
Other fragments of interest included Site 329, which had a sculpted face with a raised
circular rosette with a 6-pointed sharp petal design, flanked by vertical stripes and the
remains of a flying bird with a pomegranate at its beak.
ARTEFACT SCATTERS
A total of 79 artefact scatters were recorded. In the mainly built-up area east of the
City Wall ceramic, artefact and flint collections were carried out around associated
sites, particularly in the environs of tombs. Area collections were also carried out on
the few remaining areas of open ground, such as orchards and ploughed patches of
land. However, most of the scatters were very low density, essentially ‘background
noise’. In this area, the only scatter of note was within the old Circassian graveyard
(Site 390), close to the Roman city wall. Along with a dump of monumental
masonry, there was an unusually high concentration of tesserae including two made of
glass and a large pottery assemblage was collected, which, taken in conjunction with
the associated architectural fragments, strongly suggests a building of some
importance was located in the immediate vicinity (see Monumental Structure section
below).
In the southern Wadi Jarash, a higher concentration of ceramics was present in the
terraced fields due to the more open nature of the landscape. However, it should be
noted that this area would most probably be affected by slope wash and the
introduction of soil for terracing purposes.
Wadi Deir (Wadi Jarash north) revealed three interesting areas of pick up to the east
of the Jarash to Birketein road. The first of these areas (Site 449) represented a
collection in the orchard directly to the east of the remains of the Octagonal Church.
This assemblage contained an assortment of marble fragments, which have now been
assessed by geologist, Don Boyer. There is a strong possibility that these fragments
would have been used as flooring material (Opus Sectile) within the Octagonal
Church itself. The second notable area (Site 444) lies to the north of the Octagonal
Church. This artefact scatter had a remarkably rich ceramic assemblage considering
the small field that it was collected from. This field lay adjacent to a large platform
with a tomb underneath it (Site 447), which may represent the site of a farm, villa or
monumental structure. A third area of interest was represented by ceramic and
artefact collections potentially associated with the foundations of two structures (Sites
405 & 406), possibly Roman buildings, later re-built by the Circassians. Both
collections revealed similar ceramic and artefact assemblages, including tesserae and
Roman glass, although it should be noted that Site 406 has been used as a modern
dump.
To the west of the Jarash to Birketein road two sites were identified as especially
noteworthy. The first came from the west end of an orchard (sherd scatter Site 494)
which contained a high concentration of tesserae. This may be associated with Site
495 nearby, comprising two large piles of stones, some dressed, and an area of
smaller rubble in the surrounding area. Abd al-Majeed Mujalli also confirmed that
this was the site of an inscription, perhaps a temple, retrieved some time before by the
Department of Antiquities. The second and most intriguing site was sherd and
artefact scatter Site 523, lying mainly within the boundary of a small terraced orchard
with recently built terrace walls. This site contained a variety of ceramic sherds of
different types and periods, including many large Umayyad bowl sherds and one
fragment of a Jarash bowl. Three kiln wasters were identified also. Thirty-three
tesserae were also collected along with clay tiles, basalt rubbers, marble, glass and
one fragment of mother of pearl, possibly an inlay.
The area to the north-west of the City Wall represented a continuation of the 2005
survey. Having returned first of all to assess the condition of the Necropolis (Sites 43
– 63) it was decided after seeing evidence of further tomb robbing that Site 44 should
have a further pick up. The majority of the ceramics retrieved from the robbers’
upcast were of the same Late Roman/Early Byzantine storage jar type with a gypsum
coating that had been collected in 2005. Another site of interest in the northwest area
was a large orchard with a partially collapsed area of terrace wall (Site 204), which
had many pottery sherds within it and in its collapse onto the lower terrace. The
collection included one kiln tile with glaze on it. A further collection was undertaken
on the lower level (Site 263) where four kiln wasters were found and an adjacent
scatter (Site 254) also contained a substantial amount of pottery.
Few flints were found in the 2008 survey area as a whole and it was found that the
flint and chert (lower silica content) was predominately debitage with a few cores and
very few tools. This may indicate that much of the prehistoric landscape in the town
has been masked and / or removed by Roman and later occupation and modern
construction works.
The remains of a stone water channel constructed of individual U shaped blocks was
located in the Wadi Deir to the north of the City. This site (Site 400), which
comprised 23 blocks, was scattered over a large area with many of the blocks built
into later agricultural terrace walls. It appears that some of them may have had a
terracotta water pipe laid into the channel. Traces of bitumen and lead were also
noted in some of the channel blocks, perhaps to hold the pipe in place. There are two
different sizes of blocks and it is thought that this difference may reflect the supply of
domestic water to the City and the supply of irrigation water for agricultural purposes
in the wadi. In the limestone edges flanking the Wadi Deir, Sites 485 and 487
comprised traces of water channels cut into the bedrock, catching and controlling
surface water shed from the slopes above.
Eighteen cisterns, three rock-cut basins and one spring were located by the survey.
Four of the cisterns were inaccessible, with a modern capping and need further
investigation to assess how old they are. A few cisterns were simply rock-cut and had
feeder channels leading into them (e.g. Sites 351 and 484). There was one bell-
shaped cistern, which was at least 3 metres deep (Site 352). Sites 204 and 274 were
large rectangular plaster-lined tanks. For example, Site 274 was 6.00m long, at least
3.20m wide and at least 2.20m deep. It had a rock-cut inlet in which the remains of a
lead pipe was visible.
Two plaster-lined cisterns reused rock-cut tombs (Sites 212 and 251). Cistern Site
251, which reused a rock-cut tomb (Site 252), was located in the garden of a private
house, and was excavated by Abd Al-Majeed Mujalli’s workmen. It consisted of a
plaster lined subterranean chamber and had a superstructure constructed of dressed
limestone blocks into which channels to feed into the cistern had been cut. There was
also a plaster lined basin associated with it. An in situ ceramic water pipe, complete
with lead filter was found leading in to the top of the cistern. Two complete grey clay
square tiles and numerous ceramics were also found here, as was a Roman coin,
although all these finds are part of the later backfilling of the cistern.
It is difficult to interpret the 3 rock-cut basins. Site 339 was 0.5m in diameter and
only 0.2m deep, with a small channel leading into it, whereas Site 356 was 0.55m in
diameter, 0.45m deep and had a small channel leading out of it. Basin Site 253 was
larger, being 1.4m in diameter and 0.7m deep with a further shallow depression at its
base. Such features have many possible functions, such as receptacles for liquids, or
for grinding or processing foodstuffs and so on (cf Younker 1995, 685).
One spring (Site 349) was noted in the South Wadi Jarash, issuing from the base of
the limestone scarp at the W side of the wadi, not far south of the presumed site of the
Roman water gate. This has a derelict concrete channel leading from it into some
ruined concrete water tanks. It is still in use as a source of irrigation water for the
lower terraces and fields in the bottom of the wadi. The bluff from which this spring
issues is significantly scoured, showing how strong the water flow used to be,
presumably in rainy seasons (cf Fisher 1938, 14). The force of the water would have
been massively increased by falling over the 10m high cliff to the N, which is
mentioned by several writers as where the Roman water gate was located, now below
the road across the wadi (Fisher 1938, 12-13; Browning 1982, 207-8; Khouri 1986,
53)
Mills
Surface water that would naturally have run off into the wadi appears to have been
controlled and collected, not only as a supply of drinking and irrigation water, but also
to power water mills.
Two definite mills have been located in the south Wadi Jarash (Site 001 from 2005
and Site 505 from 2008). We were told of another between the two, but the survey
did not reach this to confirm it. There was another probable mill / water management
system (Site 393) near the foot of the waterfall close to the presumed location of the
Roman water gate in the south Wadi Jarash and some masonry that may be the
remains of two mills were located in the Wadi Deir (Sites 465 and 467).
Site 393 consists of two massive walls some 3m thick, 6m high and up to 6m long,
built against the limestone edge on the E side of the wadi. The walls are battered back
and terminate at their W (wadi) ends in a tower-like fashion. These walls (or piers)
are set at an oblique angle to each other and are built of large, squared limestone
blocks, well-set in a Roman-looking fashion, and include some reused Roman
masonry. The massive N wall or pier has two vertical slots on each side of it, which
may have held a wooden installation. It is clear that considerable volumes of water
have poured over both structures, evidenced by thick limestone concretions. The S
wall had been rebuilt on at least two occasions as well as buttressed, perhaps
necessitated by the force of water flowing over it.
There were two smaller walls, parallel to each other, of similarly built of squared
Roman-looking blocks that appeared to be of the same primary phase as the massive
wall piers. These were set at right angles to the N pier, running between and beyond
the W end of pier. They are likely to be the two long sides of the same building.
These walls have been rebuilt and adapted with Ottoman style coursed rubble walls,
in order to create another building. A photograph from the late 1970s shows that one
of these later walls had a large arch in it, which has now collapsed, as well as traces of
other walls (Browning 1982, fig 136, 209). It also shows that the N wall pier stood
higher than it does today and that it may have been stepped on the surface – possibly a
water channel. The site is now truncated and covered with dumped rubble from the
construction of the new bridge, which hampers interpretation, but we think that it is a
mill, perhaps Roman, that has been rebuilt in the Ottoman period. We also observed a
rock-cut water channel running along the E side of the wadi just to the north of the
bridge, which appears to be at the right level for diverting water to power a mill at the
location of Site 393.
Mill Site 393 is downstream from Site 403, located in a 15m wide part of the wadi,
confined by steep banks and limestone outcrops on either side. The constituent parts
of the site are 505.1 - the mill aqueduct with penstock tower and internal chute (see
McQuitty 1995), 505.2 - probable remains of mill housing, 1.8m to the S of the end of
the aqueduct, and 505.3 - a well-built wall some 5m to the E of the end of the
aqueduct, which may form one side of the mill lade, or perhaps housing. Much of the
wadi side of the mill is obscured by trees and thick scrub, obscuring the possible
housing, lade and the water outlet at the base of the tower. We were told that there
used to be a water channel leading along the W side of the wadi to the aqueduct, but
that this has since been taken away. Certainly, there has been recent cutting and re-
terracing along the line of the suitable contour for this. The differing styles of
construction of the constituent parts, from squared Roman-style blocks to coursed
Ottoman style rubble, indicate a multi-phase use of the mill site.
Mill sites are very difficult to date, and ones that have a Roman appearance have been
shown to be 19th-century (McQuitty 1995, 746). There is evidence for such mills to
have been built and used anywhere between the Classical Ottoman periods (McQuitty
1995, 746-749; Greene 1995, 760-761), and for the restoration of derelict mills in the
Late Ottoman period (Rogan 1995). All of these scholars emphasise the need to
excavate mill sites in order to understand their development and date. The sites
recorded by the 2008 survey are prime candidates for excavation, especially with the
rapid pace of development and extensive dumping at Jarash, which could cause them
to be destroyed in the near future.
Water Management
Although the evidence for water collection, supply and management at Jarash has
been much truncated by modern development, enough has been discovered so far to
indicate that it is typical of what one could expect from studies of other areas in
Jordan (e.g Abujaber 1995; Abudanh 2007). There appears to be three levels to the
system at Jarash. The first is at a municipal level, where the water from perennial
springs and rivers is collected and large rectangular reservoirs are built, such as the
one located some 1.17m NW of the city walls at the head of the wadi on the W side of
Zhara al Siraw (observed by David Kennedy, Don Boyer and David Connolly while
flying over it) and the even larger one at Birketein. From these, at the second level,
water was led through channels to the centres of population. Smaller channels appear
to capture surface water, or divert water from the perennial supplies to be used for
irrigation purposes or powering mills. At the third level, water is used at a domestic
scale, with supplies being diverted or collected in cisterns. These different levels of
water management are well-suited to the climate and still used today (Abujaher 1995,
741-744).
MONUMENTAL STRUCTURES
At least two monumental structures can be inferred, at Site 462 and Site 389. At Site
462 two high quality Greek inscriptions and several architectural fragments including
an arch were located in spoil from the construction of the new Medical Centre. The
inscriptions and arch stone have been removed to the DoA office inside Jarash (see
Inscriptions section above). The inscriptions were obviously set into a larger
structure, evidenced by recessed sockets and lead sealing at fixing points suggesting a
structure of some significance. It is of interest that Fisher noted that ‘a short distance
north of the North Gate is a temple sacred to Nemesis. Only foundations and eight
Corinthian columns of the portico, now fallen…’ (Fisher 1938, 25). There is no
mention of the evidence for the Nemesis dedication, so we cannot be certain that he
did not mistake the Octagonal Church for a temple, but there is the possibility that the
Medical Centre has been built on this temple site. If the DoA had undertaken
archaeological monitoring of the site when the centre was built, this information
would not have been lost.
The second monumental structure is represented by Site 389 (see plate 21) which is a
pile of classical masonry including several plain column drum fragments of different
diameters, a twisted column fragment, column base and various other limestone
architectural fragments. A large number of tesserae including glass tesserae were also
recovered from this dump. It appears that this dump of masonry and rubble, which
looks quite fresh, originated from the construction of the Jerash Ladies Society
immediately to the east which was built in 2001. There are also many architectural
fragments including column fragments used as gravemarkers in the Circassian
cemetery, into which this dump of masonry fragments has been deposited. At the NE
corner of the cemetery the ground is quite a lot higher suggesting there may be a
platform in this area, some of which may survive. It is also of note that there are two
columns, one limestone and one red granite, outside the entrance to the Jerash Ladies
Society complex and these are believed to have been found during the excavations for
the new building. It seems likely that there was a monumental structure located here,
just outside the City Wall, perhaps a church.
PLATFORMS
Four distinct platforms were located in the rapid walk-over survey of the Wadi Deir at
Sites 405, 406, 408 and 447. These sites have been recorded in the database as
farmstead / hamlet as there is no appropriate MEGA / JADIS box for platforms. The
platforms range in size from 15m x 15m to 47m x 29m and stand up to 1.5m high.
Sites 447 and 406 show good stretches of well built monumental sized limestone
block walls but generally the purpose and function of the platforms and the extent of
masonry is unclear. Sherd and artefact scatters were present on all of the platforms.
It is of note that Site 447 has a large rock cut tomb (Site 446) underneath it on the east
side. The tomb was inaccessible. While the preliminary interpretation is that the
platforms may represent occupation sites it is equally possible, indeed perhaps more
likely, that they may represent platforms for monumental structures, such as mausolea
or temples.
McCown noted that the road from Gerasa to Birketein, to which these platforms are
adjacent, was a Via Sacra and was marked by the remains of hypogaea, mausolea and
funerary temples of which standing columns, fragments of stone blocks and
inscriptions remained in the late 1920s and 1930s. (McCown 1938, 159).
Only two definite olive oil presses and / or wine installations were identified by the
survey, both in the Wadi Deir. The clear olive press installations are at Site 486 and
Site 430 (see the reuse of site 486 in rock-cut tomb section). Sites 471 and 522 are
also possible olive or wine presses but the sites require clearance and excavation so
that they can be properly assessed. A further possible wine installation was noted at
Site 204 in the NW where the edge of a plastered rectangular cut was just visible
above soil level. The project anticipates that olive and wine press installations will be
more frequent further out from the ancient urban centre.
Traditional Houses
Seven traditional houses, including Sites 219, 225, 249 and 362, were noted during
the survey although more are located inside the walled city. The surveyors were
surprised to be told by local informants that several of these buildings, characterised
by mud and straw mortar and plaster and traditional mud roofs, were often only c.60
years old. The building techniques exhibited in these buildings were in use for
several centuries throughout the later Medieval and Ottoman period and seem only to
have disappeared in the mid 20th century. The majority of the traditional houses date
to the Circassian settlement of Jarash in the late 19th century.
Due to the time involved in recording the traditional houses the project made a
conscious decision to only note their presence with the one exception of Site 225,
which was recorded in detail. These buildings are in general falling into advanced
decay or partially demolished. It is important that the surviving traditional buildings
of Jarash are recorded, protected and retained. They are an essential element of the
history of Jarash and add much to the urban landscape.
Agricultural Terraces
Agricultural field terrace walls were noted in both the north Wadi Deir and the south
Wadi Jarash and also in the occasional patches of open ground in the NW and E
survey areas. Indeed, agricultural field terrace walls are a ubiquitous feature of the
landscape around Jarash. Examples of the terrace walls in the south Wadi Jarash were
recorded in detail at Sites 397 and 501 so that general observations could be made on
reuse of Classical masonry, construction details etc. The terrace walls have been
rebuilt on numerous occasions and a white earthenware pottery sherd of 19th century
date was recovered from the soil profile under one of the terrace walls, Site 501,
providing a terminus post quem for the construction of the wall. However, it is likely
that the agricultural terrace walls have been rebuilt on many occasions over the last
two millennia.
11 cave or possible rock shelter sites were noted during the survey of the East side of
the city. Several of these shad been revealed by new road cuttings. None of the sites
located during the 2008 season were particularly convincing and indeed several of
them may be natural solution holes within the limestone bedrock (see Geological
Notes by Don Boyer).
Quarries 31+ 45 76
Rock Cut Tombs 67 64 131
Rock Cut Graves 17 7 24
Mausolea 5 2 7
Sarcophagi 26 15 41
Inscriptions 8 3 11
Artefact Scatters 10 79 89
Caves / Rock Shelters 2 11 13
Traditional Houses 2 7 9
Mills and Water management 9 29 38
Architectural Fragments 34 98 132
Milestones 0 4 4
Olive / Wine Presses 0 5 5
Platforms 0 4 4
Monumental Structures 0 2 2
Other 16 20 36
The South Wadi Jarash with its mills and the Wadi Deir (North Wadi Jarash) were the
areas with the greatest survival of least damaged sites, although it should be noted that
development is already encroaching along the Wadi Deir from Jarash and will only
increase. Wadi Deir contains evidence of one of the major water supplies to the
Roman city and of monumental structures, both upstanding and represented by
scatters of architectural fragments and inscriptions (some of which are the product of
unmonitored construction in the last few years). The presence of such significant
buildings is not surprising, given the importance of the road from Gerasa to Birketein
and more were in evidence only 70 years ago (McCown 1938, 159).
Rock-cut tombs of various kinds were present throughout the survey area (except on
the alluvial plain of Wadi Deir), cut into the limestone scarps and terraces of the
landscape. These tombs often overlooked roads out of Gerasa and, as has already
been noted, the major tombs and mausolea are very close to these thoroughfares
(Smadeh et al, 1992).
The most distressing result of the 2008 survey was the observation that approximately
30% of the sites recorded in 2005 have since been destroyed or damaged with no
intervention at any of them from the Department of Antiquities despite the
recommendations of the 2005 report.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The survey has revealed that ongoing development around the ancient city is causing
archaeological sites to be destroyed with no archaeological record. Assessment of the
sites recorded in the 2005 survey indicate that approximately 10% of the
archaeological sites around Jarash are being destroyed every year. This is a shocking
statistic. In order to preserve Jordan’s archaeological heritage the following
recommendations should be implemented:
CONCLUSIONS
• Continuation of field survey to identify sites in the Jarash City area (10 square
km area). It would probably take a further four survey seasons of three weeks
duration to complete this.
• Excavation of identified sites that are directly under threat or of high
significance
• Use of ground scanning radar / geophysical prospecting to try and locate
tombs not visible on the surface. An initial season of assessment of the
hillslope to the S and W of tomb Site 100 is recommended, where Sites 095
and 098 suggest other mausolea may be present.
• Identification of research topics – e.g. Tomb typology; geophysical
applications; kiln site – pottery typology, etc.
• Obtain a colour copy of The Jordan Urban Regeneration and Tourism
Development Plans for the City of Jarash March 2004 Scott Wilson for
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
• Obtain a map showing land owned by Department of Antiquities.
• Ina Kehrberg is expected to study the 2008 season ceramics in the next few
months, probably 2009. Therefore, they have been left in the Department of
Antiquities store at Jarash
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The JHS Team are grateful to Dr Fawwaz al Khraysheh, Director of the Department
of Antiquities of the HK of Jordan for his approval and support. The Team wish to
offer their most sincere thanks to Mr Abd al-Majeed Mujalli, Head of Restoration at
Jarash who acted as the Department of Antiquities representative to the project for all
of his invaluable practical assistance, expertise and kind hospitality. Thanks are also
due to His Excellency the Governor of Jarash; and to Abu Abila, Jarash Inspector of
Antiquities. The Team would also like to thank the people of Jarash for their
hospitality and assistance during fieldwork.
The JHS project is directed by Prof David Kennedy, Professor of Classics and
Ancient History at the University of Western Australia and Fiona Baker, Director of
Firat Archaeological Services Ltd, Scotland. The team members are Paul Sharman
(Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology) surveyor; David ‘Rat’ Connolly
(Connolly Heritage Consultancy) who dealt with mapping and created the database;
Andrew Card, Anne Poepjes, Don Boyer and Ann Boyer (University of Western
Australia) field surveyors and Margaret Struckmeier (Connolly Heritage Consultancy)
surveyor and finds processing and cataloguing and Naomi Poepjes (data entry). Ina
Kehrberg is the finds and pottery specialist.
The Project is funded by private donation from Mr Don Boyer for which the team is
very grateful and also in part by the University of Western Australia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Map: UTM Sheet 36 Jarash, 1:50,000 Sheet 31541 Series K737 Edition 3-DMA,
1977. Grid Zone 36S.
Abudanh, F 2007 ‘The Water Supply Systems in the Region of Udruh’, SHAJ IX
(2007), 485-496. DoA, Amman.
Abu Dayyeh, A S & Ulayan, Y 2004 ‘Historical and Archaeological Study on Olive
Oil Production in Antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean in Light of the
Abdun Press Installation’, SHAJ VIII (2004), 29-39. DoA, Amman.
Abujaber, R S 1995 ‘Water Collection in a Dry Farming Society’, SHAJ V (1995),
737-744. DoA, Amman.
Agusta-Boularot, S, Mujjali, A & Seigne, J 1998 ‘Un “nouveau” Gouverneur
d’Arabie sur un Milliaire inedit de la Voie Gerasa/Adraa’, Melanges de
L’Ecole Francaise de Rome: Antiquite 110 (1998.1), 243-260.
Browning I 1982 Jerash and the Decapolis Chatto and Windus, London
Fisher, C S 1938 ‘Description of the Site’ in Kraeling 1938, 11-26.
Fisher, C S 1938 ‘Tombs: the South-West Cemetery,’ in Kraeling 1938, 549-571.
Flanagan, J W & McCreery, D W 1995 'Location of GPS Antenna at ACOR Trimble
Pathfinder Community Base Station' in the website of the excavations at Tell
Nimrin, South Shuna, Jordan. The web address is
http://www.cwru.edu/affil/nimrin/menu/nimrin.htm. The precise location is
http://www.cwru.edu/affil/nimrin/data/geol/g95_0002.pdf
Gardiner, M & McQuitty, A 1987 ‘A water-mill in Wadi El Arab, North Jordan and
Water Mill Development’, PEQ 119.1 (1987), 24-32.
Glueck, N 1939 ‘The Earliest History of Jerash’, BASOR 75 (1939), 22-30.
Glueck, N 1951 ‘Explorations in eastern Palestine IV’, AMSOR XXV-XXVIII
(1945-49). ASOR, New Haven, Connecticut.
Greene, J A 1995 ‘The Water Mills of the Ajlun-Kufranja Valley: the Relationship
of Technology, Society and Settlement’, SHAJ V (1995), 757-765. DoA,
Amman.
Hanbury-Tenison, J W 1987 ‘Jarash region Survey 1984’, ADAJ 31 (1987), 343-390.
Hirschfeld Y 2004 ‘A climatic change n the early Byzantine period? Some
archaeological evidence.’ PEQ 136, 133-149.
The Jordan Urban Regeneration and Tourism Development Plans for the City of
Jarash March 2004, Scott Wilson for HK of Jordan Ministry of Tourism and
Antiquities.
Kennedy, D & Bewley, R 2004 Ancient Jordan from the Air, CBRL, London.
Kennedy, D 2004 ‘Settlement in the Jarash Basin and its Wider Context: A Proposal
for Fieldwork and a Research Project to Interpret and Explain Settlement
and Landuse in North-West Jordan’, SHAJ VIII (2004), 197-215., DoA,
Amman.
Kennedy D L 2007 Gerasa and the Decapolis: A Virtual Island in Northwest
Jordan. Duckworth, London
Khouri R 1986 Jerash: A frontier city of the Roman East. Longman.
Kirkbride, D V W 1958 ‘Notes on a Survey of Pre-Roman Archaeological Sites near
Jerash’, Bulletin of the Institute of Archaeology 1 (1958), 9-20. London.
Kraeling C H 1938 Gerasa: City of the Decapolis American Schools of Oriental
Research, New Haven, Connecticut.
Leonard, A 1987 ‘The Jarash – Tell El-Husn Highway Survey’, ADAJ 31 (1987),
343-390.
McCown, C C 1938 ‘The Festival Theatre at the Birketein’, in Kraeling 1938, 159-
167.
McQuitty, A 1995 ‘Water-Mills in Jordan: Technology, Typology, Dating and
Development’, SHAJ V (1995), 745-751. DoA, Amman.
Mortensen, P 1993 'The Archaeological Mapping of sites in the Mount Nebo Area.
The 1993 Survey' pp.462-3 in Ricerca Storico-Archeologica In Giordania
XIII, 1993.
Parapetti, R 1985 ‘Jerash-Gerasa: Urban Environment of Two Antagonistic Towns’,
SHAJ II (1985), 243-247. DoA, Amman.
Rogan, E L 1995 ‘Reconstructing Water Mills in Late Ottoman Transjordan’, SHAJ
V (1995), 685-691. DoA, Amman.
CONTACT ADDRESSES
Director
Professor David Kennedy, BA (Manchester), D. Phil (Oxford), FSA, FAHA
M205, Classics and Ancient History
School of Humanities
University of Western Australia
WA Australia
E: dkennedy@cyllene.uwa.edu.au
Tel: + 61- 8-6488-2150
Fax: + 61 -8-6488-1182
Co-Director
Fiona Baker
Firat Archaeological Services Ltd
Hillcroft
Station Road
Rhu, by Helensburgh G84 8LW
Scotland
E: Fiona@scottish-archaeology.com
Tel: 00 44 436 820 334
David Connolly, Paul Sharman, Margaret Struckmeier all c/o Fiona Baker
Anne Poepjes, Naomi Poepjes, Don Boyer, Andrew Card and Ann Boyer
all c/o David Kennedy
Dr Ina Kehrberg
Department of Archaeology
University of Sydney
NSW 2006 Australia
E: ina.kehrberg-ostrasz@usyd.edu.au
Tel: +61 2 90365 5022
The Jarash Hinterland Survey 2008 (JHS08) was a continuation of the assessment and
characterisation project started in 2005. Due to the different types of landscape
encountered in this survey varying approaches were taken to ceramic and artefact
collection.
In the mainly built-up area east of the City Wall ceramic, artefact and flint collections
were carried out around associated sites, particularly in the environs of tombs. Area
collections were also carried out on the few remaining orchard fields that are to be
found in this now mostly developed part of Jarash.
Most of the other open areas in this sector were waste ground or had been used for
dumping, therefore it was decided that these were too contaminated for collection to
take place.
A potential site for further investigation lies within the old Circassian graveyard (Site
390). A dump of monumental masonry, earth and artefacts (Site 389) is located
almost adjacent to the east City Wall. The assemblage retrieved from here may
represent a significant structure, now destroyed, and it contains an unusually high
concentration of tesserae (Bags 470 & 588, Crate 13) as well as two glass tesserae
(Bag 589, Crate 20). A large pottery assemblage was collected (Crate 15) which,
taken in conjunction with the associated architectural fragments, strongly suggests a
building of some importance.
In the southern Wadi Jarash a higher concentration of ceramics was present in the
terraced fields due to the more open nature of the landscape. However, it should be
noted that this area would most probably be affected by slope wash and the
introduction of soil for terracing purposes.
Wadi Deir (Wadi Jarash north) revealed three interesting areas of pick up to the east
of the Jarash to Birketein road. The first of these areas represented a collection in the
orchard (Site 449) directly to the east of the remains of the Octagonal Church. This
orchard revealed an assortment of marble fragments (Bags 530 – 534, Crate 13) which
have now been assessed by geologist, Don Boyer. There is a strong possibility that
these fragments would have been used as flooring material (Opus Sectile) within the
Octagonal Church itself.
The second notable area (Site 444) lies to the north of the Octagonal Church. This
artefact scatter revealed a remarkably rich ceramic assemblage considering the small
field that it was collected from. This field lay adjacent to a large platform with a tomb
underneath it (Site 447), which may represent a farm or villa site. Apart from the
large amount of pottery from this site (Bags 400 – 406, Crate 13), no other artefacts
apart from three tesserae were found.
A third area of interest was represented by ceramic and artefact collections potentially
associated with the foundations of two structures (Sites 405 & 406), possibly Roman
agricultural buildings, and later re-built by the Circassians. Both collections revealed
similar ceramic and artefact assemblages, including tesserae and Roman glass (Site
405, Bags 329 – 333 & 381 – 382; Site 406, Bags 340 – 342, 379, 380 & 389 – 393),
although it should be noted that Site 406 has been used as a modern dump.
To the west of the Jerash to Birketein road it was decided, where possible, to collect
from every field. There were some exceptions to this as there were intensive
vegetable allotments and a few locked orchards with no access. Over this whole
stretch, two sites were identified as especially noteworthy. The first came from the
west end of an orchard (sherd scatter Site 494) which contained a high concentration
of tesserae (Bag 695, Crate 13). This may be associated with Site 495 nearby,
comprising two large piles of stones, some dressed, and an area of smaller rubble
throughout the soil in the surrounding area. Abd al-Majeed Mujalli also confirmed
that this was the site of an inscription, retrieved some time before by the Department
of Antiquities (DOA). Site 495 may be the site f a temple.
The second and most intriguing site was sherd and artefact scatter Site 523, lying
mainly within the boundary of a small terraced orchard with recently built terrace
walls. This site contained a variety of ceramic sherds (Bags 576 - 582, 684 - 687,
Crate 19) of different types and periods, including many large Ummayad bowl sherds
and one fragment of a Jarash bowl (Bag 581). Three kiln wasters were identified also
(Bags 582 & 691, Crate 19). Thirty-three tesserae were also collected along with clay
tiles, basalt rubbers, marble, glass and one fragment of mother of pearl, which may be
an inlay. (Bags 573 – 575, 688 in Crate 19; Bags 583-585, 689 and 690 in Crate 13
and Bags 586 and 587 in Crate 20). At the time it was decided not to do a gridded
pick-up from this area until the assemblage had been looked at more closely by Ina
Kehrberg.
The area to the north-west of the City Wall represented a continuation of the 2005
survey. Having returned first of all to assess the condition of the Necropolis (Sites 43
– 63) it was decided after seeing evidence of further tomb robbing that Site 44 should
have a further pick up. The majority of the ceramics retrieved from the robber’s
upcast were of the same Late Roman/Early Byzantine storage jar type with a gypsum
coating that had been collected in 2005.
A cistern in the northwest area located in the garden of a private house and now used
as a family rubbish dump (Site 251) could potentially reveal some interesting dating
information. Excavated by DoA workmen, it was found to contain an in situ ceramic
water pipe, complete with lead filter (Bag 837, Crate 11) and two complete grey clay
square tiles (Bag 838, Crate 11). Numerous ceramics were also excavated from the
cistern as was a Roman coin (Bag 843, Crate 20) but all these finds are part of the
later backfilling of the cistern, which shows two phases of use.
The final site of interest in the northwest area was a large orchard with a partially
collapsed area of terrace wall (Site 204). This wall had many pottery sherds within it
and also in its collapse on to the lower terrace, where more large sherds were
collected (Bag 243 – 246 & 248, Crate 14), including one kiln tile with glaze on it
(Bag 247, Crate 14). A further collection was undertaken on the lower level (Site
263) where four kiln wasters were found (Bag 284, Crate 15) and an adjacent Site
254, also an artefact scatter also contained a substantial amount of pottery (Bags 269-
273, Crate 14).
Flint also formed part of the collection policy over the whole survey area. It was
found that the flint and chert (lower silica content) was predominately debitage with a
few cores and very few tools.
Given the large amount of construction work that has taken place around Jarash it is
becoming more difficult to find sites that have very little contamination. A number of
fields in Wadi Deir seem to have had new soil spread on them and as a result of
terracing around newly built houses, soil has been moved around, making it difficult
to ascertain whether the ceramics and artefacts are still in situ. Many open areas have
already been scarped out in advance of road building and construction work, leaving
little or no artefacts to collect.
Ceramics were extracted from a soil profile (Site 475) at a development site on the
west side of the Jarash to Birketein road. The uppermost metre of deposit was
recently redeposited soil from the building
site immediately to the east, which overlay c.
1m depth of in situ rendzina soil. A local
man showed the survey team a complete
flask of late Roman/early Byzantine date that
had been recovered from this construction
site. The flask was photographed (opposite)
but not retained.
2354 diagnostic sherds and 68 small finds (glass, marble and 2 coins) were collected
in the JHS05 season as well as 3 large crates of pottery slag and wasters from Site 94.
Overall c.3000 artefacts form a reasonable basis for quantitative analyses. The
majority of the sherds and small finds fit typologically into pre-Islamic periods but
three distinctly defined chronological clusters of assemblages have been identified.
• Site 094 (a dense sherd scatter including many wasters) belongs to the Late
Byzantine - Umayyad period, possibly focussed in the late 6th and early 7th
century although further analyses is required to refine the initial assessment.
• Site 42.2 contains an even scatter of Late Hellenistic to Late Byzantine sherds
in keeping with the other earlier sites but also has a reasonable number of
Mamluke and other Late Islamic plain pottery, including a large number of
pottery sherd tools, that could equally be dated to the Ottoman period.
• The third defined chronological cluster is the largest, fitting within the Late
Roman to Late Byzantine periods of the city, roughly dating from the earlier
3rd to the earlier 7th century AD. Sites from this category include Sites 16, 21,
44 and 220, as well as Sites 74, 75 and 133 – 138 (which are all hypogaea),
which represent Late Roman and Late Byzantine dates indicating two separate
periods of deposition.
The broadest spectrum of equally represented generic pottery types range from the
Late Hellenistic, Early Roman, Roman, Late Roman and Early Byzantine period and
include the imports Late Hellenistic Grey Ware, Rhodian amphorae fragments,
Eastern Terra Sigillata and African Red Slip wares. These are not evenly spread
throughout the survey area and dominate in clusters at separate sites such as Sites 107,
132, 139-144, 93, 115, 5, 57, 84, 25 and 100. Pre-dating these sites are Site 93 with
predominantly Late Hellenistic and early Roman sherds of the end 2nd century to 1st
century BC – 1st century AD and Site 107, which is predominantly Early Roman and
Roman or 1st – 2nd century AD.
In summary, the surface collection reflects that the Jarash hinterland has been
occupied at various locations and at varying degrees from the Late Hellenistic to the
Islamic period. A few Iron Age sherds were also collected but the earliest periods
seem to focus on the Late Hellenistic – Roman necropolis phase and early urban
spread, followed by a geographical and chronological shifting into Late Antiquity
concentrating on three major cultural groups, those of the Late Roman and Early
Byzantine; the end of the Byzantine and Early Islamic / Umayyad period and a final
small concentration of the Late Islamic period. This pattern reflects the pattern within
the walled city of Gerasa and later Jarash.
Standard Jordanian Chronology of the Classical Periods relevant to the history of the site
Early Roman (including Nabataean 63 BC – AD 135)
EROM I 63-37 BC (also referred to as Late Hellenistic, depending on
the nature of the context and deposit)
ER II 37-4 BC (ditto)
ER III 4 BC-AD 73
ER IV AD 73-135
LR II 193-235
LR III 235-284
LR IV 284-324
Early Byzantine (AD 324 – 491)
EBYZ I 324-363
EB II 363-392
EB III 392-450
EB IV 450-491
Late Byzantine (AD 491 – 640)
LBYZ I ca 491- 527
LB II 527-565
LB III 565-614
LB IV 614-ca 640
L/BYZ-UM ditto: mainly for glass (standard reference for 6-8th c. plain glass)
and pottery body sherds of coarse ware [storage jars, basins, etc]
and some common ware jars
The Jarash Hinterland Survey completed the second season of a multi-season project
with the objective of surveying a 10 km sq area centred on the ancient city of Gerasa
during September 2008. The area surveyed included the urbanised east side of the
ancient city, outside the city walls, part of the south Wadi Jarash and the north Wadi
Deir as far as Birketein and an urbanised area to the NW of the ancient city. The total
area now covered by the survey amounts to 2.5sq km and now encircles the ancient
city. A total of 625 sites have been recorded.
Urban development and expansion is happening at a rapid pace at Jarash and the
objectives of the survey, in response to this rapid development, are to record the
archaeological sites of the Gerasa hinterland before they are destroyed by
development and to contribute this information to our understanding of Gerasa . Sites
that were recorded in 2005 were revisited to determine survival rates and over 30% of
site recorded just three years ago have been destroyed. This indicates that the
archaeological sites outside the ancient city wall are being destroyed at a rate of 10%
per year.
Over 100 fine quality architectural and sarcophagus fragments were located in all
survey areas around the city on bulldozer dumps and on waste ground or re-used in
later walls. A weathered and defaced bas relief of three figures was located above
the entrance to a hypogeaum tomb.
In the Wadi Deir the scattered remains of the water channels that brought water to
Gerasa were recorded along with four olive / wine press installations and two possible
mills. Two mills were recorded in the south Wadi Jarash, one of them possibly
Roman in origin.
Over 75 rock cut tombs were located, some of them robbed only recently and a few
that may still be intact. Four distinctive artificial platforms located in the Wadi Deir
may be platforms for mausolea or funerary temples or perhaps even farmsteads.
Some 45 quarry sites and around 20 cisterns were also located throughout the survey
area.
Seven traditional houses of late 19th – early 20th century date were recorded by the
project and a separate project to record these fast disappearing structures should be
undertaken and indeed the traditional houses should be restored and preserved.
A new Roman Milestone was located and recovered near to the three previously
reported in 1998 one Roman mile N of Gerasa and all four milestones have been
recovered for safe keeping by the Department of Antiquities.
The NW necropolis of Gerasa where a highly elaborate Palmyrene style tomb and
other high status tombs were first recorded in 1992 has suffered further bulldozer
damage, levelling and robbing despite the 2005 recommendations that this site be
given immediate protection.
While the survey has been successful in identifying many new sites we think only c.
50% are visible due to soil build up. It is also very depressing work to find significant
archaeological sites destroyed by development with no archaeological intervention in
advance or during new construction works. We urge the Department of Antiquities to
introduce a system where all new excavation and development works are evaluated by
archaeologists in advance of and monitored during development.
293
££
N <>
Burial Site
Sarcophagus
249
294
247
357
362
359
££ 308
Q Q
358
354 356
Structure 355
££ Artefact Scatter
Q 350
351
353
££
352
Q Quarry 311
Inscription
316.1
Cistern 317
Q
Water Channel
316.2
+
-- Terrace Wall 319
318
314
+
322
+ Other
Areas subjected to 315 +
323
Walkover survey
361
+
Area of 2005 survey ££
££ 313
366 320
365
0 500m
360
££
££
Q 312
Q
321
+
QQ 364
363
Q+
367
372
373
329
349
396 Q 382
341
397 391 Q 377
026 500 334 389
502 ££
Q 025
027 517 ££ ££
398
££ 388
384
519££ ££ 396
££ 501 399
385
507 ££
518
££ 512
511
££ ££
390
506 ££ ££ 504
££ 335
337
££ 506 ££
££503 510
509 ££
508.1
508.2 ££
££ 513 342
+
339
336
508.3
££
££ <> 340
338
££ 516
505 ££ 343
508.4
515
££ 514
££ ££ 347
££ 346
££
££
345
££
££
££ 344
££
Q
223 ££ 452
<>
<>
443 ££ 446
453 454
221 Q ££ 220
££
217
£
££
447 ££
£ 448
455
££
215 ££
££
222
444 ££ 445
456
<>
214
451 450
213 ££
212 ££
Octagonal ££ 449 457
474
££
Church ££ 458
££ 459
££££ ££
££££ ££ 478 461
246
211
273
273 471
+ 473
££
££
475
462
235
236
237
Q
Q
224
270
+
472 238
271 226
266
Q 469
239
278
280
267
Q 268 ££
££ 470
233 240
Q 279
265 232
231
234 Q 277
230
Q 264
269
274
227
Q 229
228 Q 281
304
QQ
+ 241
284 ££
££ Q
292
283
Q 295
298
305
Q 306
243
291
290
Q
289
288
Q
287
242 286
+ 244
N <>
Burial Site
Sarcophagus 310
££
££ Artefact Scatter 302 Q ££
££ 308
357
Q Quarry 249
294
362
359
247
Inscription 248
Q Q
358
354 356
Cistern
355
351
353
+ Other
Areas subjected to
Walkover survey 316.1
317
Area of 2005 survey 316.2 Q
318 322
0 500m 319
314
323 +
315 +
361
+
££
££ 313
366 320
365
££ Q 312 321
+
Q 3: Location plan of survey, East City (North)
360 ££ Figure
QQ 364
363
Q+367
372
373
329
Figure 2: Location plan of survey, Wadi Deir (North Wadi Jerash)
Key to Symbols
N <>
Burial Site
Sarcophagus
429
428
400.20
Architectural Element
Q 529
Structure ££
££ 528
££ Artefact Scatter
££
Q Quarry
Inscription Q ££ 527 425
524
££
Cistern
526 ££ <> 525 422
-- Terrace Wall
424
+ Other
Areas subjected to
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420
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Areas subjected to
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Area of 2005 survey 251
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203
266
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071 073 Figure 5: Location plan of survey, West City (NorthWest)
113 Q
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Jarash Hinterland Survey 2008 Season
SITE LIST
JHS 05 and JHS 08 Site List and Coordinates
UTM Zone 36S
Finds Notes
All of the above finds have been deposited in the Department of Antiquities
storeroom at Jerash. JHS08 have a copy of this list signed by the Inspector in charge
of finds (Akram). All 5 coins were individually checked in and have been placed in
one bag.
Please note that Site No. 000 means there is no find spot. Three of the coins were
donated to the project by local people we met during the survey.
Note that all finds from Site 343 are actually from Site 342. The artefacts pick-up
from Site 344 is missing and not entered into the database.
The lithics have been given a preliminary non specialist assessment and are described
in the notebook included in Crate 13, which also notes bag and crate numbers.
Fragments of marble (mostly Opus Sectile fragments) have descriptive labels in the
bags, notes by Don Boyer (geologist).
A letter from David Kennedy and a letter from Dr Fawwaz al Khraysheh are required
before the finds can be removed from the storeroom for study.
The primary field records of the project are held by Anne Poepjes in Jarash.