Jerash, Jordan

Jerash جرش Gerasa (Ancient Greek)
City
The Roman city of Gerasa and the modern Jerash (in the background).
Nickname(s): Pompeii of the East, The city of 1000 columns
Jerash
Coordinates: 32°16′20.21″N 35°53′29.03″E / 32.2722806°N 35.8913972°E / 32.2722806; 35.8913972
Country	Jordan
Province	Jerash Governorate
Founded	7500 - 5500 BC.
Municipality established	1910
Government
• Type	Municipality
Elevation	600 m (1,968 ft)
Population (2015)
• Total	city (50,745), Municipality (237.000 est)
Time zone	GMT +2
• Summer (DST)	+3 (UTC)
Area code(s)	+(962)2
Website	http://www.jerash.gov.jo

Coordinates: 32°16′20.21″N 35°53′29.03″E / 32.2722806°N 35.8913972°E / 32.2722806; 35.8913972

Jerash (Arabic: جرش, Ancient Greek: Γέρασα), is the capital and the largest city of Jerash Governorate, Jordan, with a population of 50,745 as of 2015. Located 48 kilometres (30 mi) north of the capital of Jordan, Amman.

The history of the city is a blend of the Greco-Roman world of the Mediterranean basin and the ancient traditions of the Arab Orient. The name of the city reflects this interaction. The earliest Arab/Semitic inhabitants, who lived in the area during the pre-classical period of the 1st millennium BCE, named their village Garshu. The Romans later Hellenized the former Arabic name of Garshu into Gerasa. Later, the name transformed into the Arabic Jerash.

The city flourished into the mid-eighth century CE, when the 749 Galilee earthquake destroyed large parts of it, while subsequent earthquakes (847 Damascus earthquake) along with wars and turmoil contributed to additional destruction. However, In the early 12th century, by the year 1120, Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus ordered a garrison of forty men stationed in Jerash to convert the Temple of Artemis into a fortress. It was captured in 1121 by Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, and utterly destroyed. Then, the Crusaders immediately abandoned Jerash and withdrew to Sakib (Seecip); the eastern border of the settlement.