Jerash

    We travelled one and a half hours north today to the city of Jerash, 15 miles from the Syrian border.  This site holds the best preserved Roman city in the world. A combination of super clean air and a lack of rainfall has resulted in beautifully preserved ruins. The huge site is about one mile square,  dotted with many wonderful buildings and ruins, many in superb condition despite being over 2000 years old. 

    Each side of Jerash has a beautiful entrance gate with 3 arches, the center for the chariots and the sides for pedestrians. The well preserved streets were paved on the diagonal to prevent chariot wheels from getting caught in the gaps. Water and sewer lines run underneath. The column lined streets were open to the sun with the roofed shops lining each side. Public fountains spouted water out of stone lions mouths. 

    The Romans loved their theater and this one was perfectly preserved and a wonderful size. Seats were numbered for reserve seating. The Romans lived well. 

    Jerash is lobbying  for membership to become a Unesco World Heritage Site, something it very much deserves. The current crisis in Syria and Iraq has profoundly affected tourism , we found the site almost empty. Our guide said each time there is a Mideast crisis, tourists stop coming. but, he said this time it's by far the worst. He said Amerca and the West have looked the other way as the Syrian government slaughters its own people. The massive influx of refugees ( we were near a camp holding several hundred thousand ) is crushing tiny Jordan with no end in sight. It's not a good situation. Our guide thanked us for coming to Jordan and asked me to tell my fellow Americans that Jordan is our friend. 

Hadrians South Gate

Pieces of the puzzle to be reassembled 

Roman engineering has stood the test of time 

This perfectly preserved column top looks like is was carved 20 years ago.

Wild hollyhocks grew every where.