By Josh Pullman
Students conquer the Temple of Zeus at Jarash during their Week 2 field trip to the north of Jordan (Photo by J. Pullman)
Gadara
What a free for all! We were unleashed on this site, to crawl over every available surface, climb its pillars and simply wander. Free range historical parks are the best sort. The West Theatre being a highlight with its dark basalt construction and high backed seats. The octagonal church saw a great deal of action as well, as we took turns posing on the limestone columns that lined its periphery.
With the size of the site I missed a great deal, unfortunately. The North Amphitheatre and the museum leap to mind. No regrets here however, as what I did get to see was a fascinating mixture of Roman and Ottoman buildings and ruins. An altogether satisfyingly tactile experience.
Ajlun Castle
The spacious, cool, and enormous castle, built by Saladin’s nephew to protect against the crusaders, was fascinating in terms of architecture and preservation. It had been rebuilt multiple times in history, and more recently renovated by the Department of Antiquities but provided an adequate idea of the dimensions of such a fortress. It would have been interesting to see even a single fully furnished room but I assume such details don’t exist, sadly.
A dry moat around 15 metres deep provided a steep drop for any climbing along the walls of the structure. The Castle also boasted an interesting museum with various pieces of pottery, jewelry, and stone tablature from the region.
Given the winding construction, I felt like I was in the Escher painting ‘Relativity,’ as I would frequently encounter people on hidden levels above or below me, with little explanation as to how they got there. It made for some great photo opportunities, and there were always new nooks and crannies to explore, most leading to out of the way staircases, or new levels of the castle.
Jarash
Jarash, the epitome of the Roman provincial city. The soaring walls of The Temple of Zeus to the sun strewn steps leading to The Temple of Artemis. No holds barred here as they allow complete freedom to visitors, and we were able to climb high into the sky across the walls and halls of 2000 year old ashlar constructions. Fortunately no casualties were to be had and we made off with some glorious photo’s and fantastic memories. Unfortunately it was incredibly hot, even in the little shade to be had when we arrived. Apparently Jarash is famously warm, and despite our supervisors warnings it still took us by surprise.
In particular, the walls of the Temple of Zeus held the majority of us enraptured on high for half an hour or more as we snapped photos like mad people. It was the only place to catch a breeze in all Jarash and we made good use of it. Words can’t do this edifice justice.
We moved on to the Temple of Artemis where half of the class was inexplicably fascinated with a stray cat sunning herself on a large rock. The ruins here were by and large complete as far as its walls went, and so it gave a sense of the old grandeur, especially once you reach the ‘nave’, and imagine the large statue of Artemis that would have dominated the temple at the time of its construction.
We came, we saw, we climbed all over it!