Umm Qais Museum

Welcome to the heights of northern Jordan. You are standing in Umm Qais, officially recognized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization as one of the world's best tourism villages in the year two thousand and twenty two. …

We begin our physical exploration not among the classical columns of antiquity, but in the relatively recent past. You are currently standing before the entrance of the Umm Qais Museum, which is housed entirely within a…

Step inside the first of the two main exhibition rooms within the Beit Al Rousan museum. While the grand monuments outside capture the imagination with their sheer scale, it is here, among the smaller artifacts, that the intimate…

Moving into the second exhibition room of the museum, the focus shifts from the utilitarian ceramics of daily life to the monumental art and economic drivers of ancient Gadara. This space is a concentrated repository of the…

Stepping out from the quiet confines of the Ottoman museum complex, we now enter the vast, open expanse of the ancient archaeological park. You are standing on the Decumanus Maximus, the principal east to west thoroughfare of…

Just off the main colonnaded street lies the architectural crown jewel of Umm Qais: the breathtaking Western Theater. Constructed during the first and second centuries of the common era, this monumental structure is one of the…

Leaving the dramatic basalt curves of the Western Theater, we move onto a vast, flat expanse known as the Basilica Terrace. This enormous paved space serves as a striking visual timeline of the religious transformations that…

As we walk away from the civic center and head toward the northern edges of the site, we enter the realm of the necropolis, the city of the dead. In ancient Greco Roman culture, cemeteries were not hidden away, but were…

Heading eastward, about one hundred meters from the main intersection of the paved colonnaded streets, we arrive at the ruins of the city's vital water infrastructure. Here lie the remains of a traditional Roman bath complex and…

As our journey through ancient Gadara draws to a close, we make our way to the northern edge of the acropolis, near the rest house and the open terraces. This is the place to pause, rest, and absorb one of the most breathtaking…