Nowadayr Umm Qais in Jordan used to be called Gadara, founded about 300 B.C. and was one of the ten cities united at the time as the Decapolis.
These ancient cities of hellenistic origin were founded by Greek merchants, to the east of Jordan River. They didn’t represent an official group, but were united by the similarities in language and the same origin. Although they were attached to the Roman Empire, they had certain autonomy in regard to it. They represented a cultural counterpoint in a region where the Semitic influence predominated, composed by Nabataean, Aramaic and Judaic cultures.
Gadara became famous for being home to the famous miracle of the pigs performed by Jesus. As said in the Bible, after having crossed the Sea of Galilee, Jesus arrived at Gadara, finding a man possessed by a legion of demons who terrorized the city. Jesus ordered the demons to leave the body of the man and transfer themselves to the body of pigs that grazed on the hills. It was told there was about two thousand pigs there. After his command, the demons entered the pigs and then suddenly ran down the hills, at last drowning themselves in the sea, freeing the city and the possessed man from the subjection of the demons.
Little remained of this ancient Greek-Roman city. Built in basaltic stones, it has buildings of a characteristic dark grey color. There are still remnants of a circular church, apparently erected to celebrate the miracle of Jesus, built over an even more ancient tomb, very mysterious.
In this archeological site, one can see the typical roman main avenue, flanked on both sides by adorned pillars.
After the Christian period, the city was conquered by the Arabs and finally was abandoned after an earthquake in 747 A.D.
(This post is an excerpt from my book “Jordan´s Historical Treasures”, from 2014, ISBN 978-85-67911-01-4)
Photos, video and text by Marcelo Ozorio
