Ruins at Jerash, part 2
Israel/Jordan Travelog 26
Jerash, Jordan - Friday, 24 Nov 2017, 1pm.
Just past Hadrian's Arch in the ruins at Jerash (see previous blog) is a hippodrome. This one not only has stands preserved but has the gates at one end.
Those gates, which look sort of like the gates in modern horse racing tracks, served exactly the same purpose 2000 years ago as today. Horses and chariots would burst out of them at the starting signal. The only thing that's different is they didn't have a starting gun then. I don't know what they used instead. A gong, maybe?
Further north is the South Gate to the city.
Yes, the South Gate is north of Hadrian's Arch, which is sort of the South-er Gate. It was added later, after the city was planned out.
Continuing north from the South Gate the road leads past some stables and remnants of storehouses to a large, col
Here I've climbed up a hill to the side of the plaza. You can see the scale of the space and the height of the columns by comparing the size of the adults standing at various places near the columns.
Further up this hill are the theater and the Temple of Zeus. Yes, in laying out this city the Romans blended their culture with the Hellenistic culture already existing in the area. Elsewhere in the ruins is a temple to Artemis, too.
Jerash, Jordan - Friday, 24 Nov 2017, 1pm.
Just past Hadrian's Arch in the ruins at Jerash (see previous blog) is a hippodrome. This one not only has stands preserved but has the gates at one end.
Those gates, which look sort of like the gates in modern horse racing tracks, served exactly the same purpose 2000 years ago as today. Horses and chariots would burst out of them at the starting signal. The only thing that's different is they didn't have a starting gun then. I don't know what they used instead. A gong, maybe?
Further north is the South Gate to the city.
Yes, the South Gate is north of Hadrian's Arch, which is sort of the South-er Gate. It was added later, after the city was planned out.
Continuing north from the South Gate the road leads past some stables and remnants of storehouses to a large, col
Here I've climbed up a hill to the side of the plaza. You can see the scale of the space and the height of the columns by comparing the size of the adults standing at various places near the columns.
Further up this hill are the theater and the Temple of Zeus. Yes, in laying out this city the Romans blended their culture with the Hellenistic culture already existing in the area. Elsewhere in the ruins is a temple to Artemis, too.