Gerasa is an ancient city built in the hills of Gilead, in what is present-day Jerash, Jordan, approximately 28 miles north of Amman. The ruins of the ancient city comprise the most complete and best preserved Roman city in the Near East. The archaeological remains of Gerasa were rediscovered in 1806 by Ulrich Jasper Seetzen and have been excavated consistently since the 1920s.
Gerasa was first an ancient Roman city between the 1st and 4th centuries CE and then saw a revival as a Byzantine city after Constantinople was established as the capital of the Byzantine Empire in 330 CE.
Sources:
The Archaeology and History of Jerash: 110 Years of Excavations. Edited by Achim Lichtenberger and Rubina Raja. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2018.
Khouri, Rami G. Jerash: A Brief Guide to the Antiquities. Amman: Al Kutba, 1988.
Rautmann, M., and J. M. C. Bowsher. "Gerasa." Grove Art Online. 2003; Accessed 17 Oct. 2019. https://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/view/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.001.0001/oao-9781884446054-e-7000031479.
