Abila

Transliterated Name	Language	Name
Abila	Greek	Ἄβιλα
Abila in the Decapolis	Greek	Ἄβιλα Δεκαπόλεως
Seleúkeia	Greek	Σελεύκεια
Raphana	Greek	Ραφάνα
Qweilbeh	Arabic	قويلبة‎
Qwwāīlībāh	Arabic	قووايليباه
Qwālībāh	Arabic	قواليباه

Introduction

Abila, ~15 km. NNE of Irbid, has a long history of habitation starting between 4000 and 1500 BCE. In Hellenistic times, it became one of the cities of the Decapolis. Habitation continued until Umayyad and other Islamic periods (W. Harold Mare in Stern et al, 1993). At a triapsidal basilica in Area A, a destruction layer was observed in excavations.

Identification

from W. Harold Mare in Stern et al (1993 v. 1)

Abila, one of the cities of the Decapolis, is known in Arabic as Quailibah. It is located about 15 km (c. 9.5 mi.) north-northeast of the modern city of lrbid in northern Jordan and about 4~5 km (3 mi.) south of Wadi Yarmuk. In relation to other nearby Decapolis cities, it is 18 to 20 km (11-12 mi.) east of Gadara (Umm Qeis), 9.5 km (6 mi.) north of Capitolias (Beit Ras), and abou t40 km (25 mi.) northeast of Pella. These Decapolis cities, together with ancient Hippos (Sussita), Dium, Scythopolis (Beth-Shean), Gerasa (Jerash), and Philadelphia('Amman), seem to have formed a solid block. That this city is Abila of the Decapolis is supported by ancient writers (Eusebius and Jerome) who place Abila 12 Roman miles east of Gadara, by the persistence of the name Tell Abila for one of the mounds at the site into modern times (see below), and by a stone inscription found on the site in 1984 that included the Greek name ΑΒΙΛΑ. Ptolemy (Geog. V, 14), in the second century CE, listed northern Jordan's Abila separately from the Lysanias Abila (west of Damascus). Surface sherding in 1980 showed that the site of Abila had a long archaeological history (from about 4000 BCE to 1500 CE), and excavation from 1980 to 1990 has confirmed this. Abila probably became part of the Decapolis at some time between Alexander's conquest and the zenith of Seleucid power (that is, c. 198 BCE). Polybius (Hist. V, 69~70) states that Antiochus III conquered Abila, Pella, and Gadara in 218 BCE. The New Testament Gospels mention the Decapolis (Mt. 4:25; Mk. 5:20, 7:31 ), but no Decapolis city is named specifically.

The name of the site from the fourth millennium to the first half of the first millennium BCE is not clear; however, it may have been a combination of the Semitic word abel (in Hebrew אנל, "meadow" and in Arabic, "grow green") and an accompanying noun. It is to be noted that several ancient cities with lush meadows and productive agricultural lands connected with the Jordan River and the Jordan Valley water system had the noun abel in their names-Abel-Beth-Maacah (2 Sam. 20:14~15; 1 Kg. 15:20; 2 Kg. 15:29) north of the Sea of Galilee, just west of the Jordan River; Abel Meholah (Jg. 7:22; 1 Kg. 4: 12) in the Jordan Valley south ofBeth-Shean; Abel Shittim (Num. 33:49) in the Jordan Valley east of the Jordan River and north of the Dead Sea; and Abel Keramim (Jg. 11:33) near modern Na'ur and in a wadi system leading down into the Jordan Valley and the Jordan River. Abila, with its perennial spring water and surrounding fertile agricultural land, is also connected with the Jordan River system: its water flows into the Yarmuk River and then into the Jordan River, just below the Sea of Galilee.

Description

from W. Harold Mare in Stern et al (1993 v. 1)

Abila of the Decapolis consists of two mounds: Tell Abila in the north and Khirbet Umm el-'Amad (the Ruins of the Mother of the Columns) in the south, with a large saddle depression between them. The area of the site is roughly 1.5 km (c. 1 mi.) long from north to south and 0.5 km (0.3 mi.) wide from east to west. Extensive surface ruins can be seen on Tell Abila, including an acropolis wall along the southern rim of the mound, to the north of which are the remains of a large Byzantine basilica. On the northern slope of Tell Abila are the ruins of a 5-m-high city wall.

Down the slope of the northern rim ofKhirbet Ummel-'Amad is the cavea of an ancient theater, with the ruins of a basilica on a ledge directly to the east. On the crest ofUmm el-'Amad are the remains of a large rectangular building, once thought to be a temple but now shown to be another Byzantine basilica.

In the saddle area, just to the north and northeast of the theater cavea, are the massive ruins of a structure( s ). Farther east an ancient road runs east over an ancient bridge in Wadi Quailibah (on the east side of the site), through which a stream runs north to Wadi Yarmuk. The stream issues from the spring 'Ain Quailibah, which is located in the wadi at the bottom of the southern slope of Umm el-'Amad. Wadi Abila is north of the site. The necropolis cemetery areas are located along the wadis, mainly to the east, as well as to the south and north.

There is evidence of three underground aqueducts: the Khureibah aqueduct, which courses through the hill just to the south of 'Ain Quailibah (at the base of Umm el-'Amad's southern slope), and two Umm el-'Amad aqueducts, which run north from' Ain Quailibah under the eastern ledge of Umm el-'Amad (the upper aqueduct runs 1-3m higher up the ledge than the lower aqueduct) toward the central saddle depression

Exploration and Excavations

Survey and Excavation

from W. Harold Mare in Stern et al (1993 v. 1)

The site of Abila of the Decapolis was unknown for several hundred years until U. J. Seetzen visited it in 1806; later, in 1888, G. Schumacher spent a few days here, describing and drawing what he saw. In 1978, major inquiry began at Abila when W. H. Mare of Covenant Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, visited Abila while preparing an overview of several Decapolis cities in northern Jordan and southern Syria. In 1978, the site was uninhabited, except for groups of wandering Bedouin; parts of the site were being farmed.

In 1980, in cooperation with the Jordan Department of Antiquities and A. Hadidi, its director general, W. H. Mare surveyed the site to determine its periods of occupation. The investigating team used a time-controlled transect surface-sherd-collection technique in spaced north-south transects across the site.

Abila was inhabited at various times from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods to the Early Bronze Age; on through the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze ages; the Iron Age; the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods; and into the Umayyad and other Islamic periods. The heaviest concentration of finds was from the Byzantine and Umayyad periods, with lesser concentrations from the Roman period, Iron Age II, and Early Bronze Age. Evidence from the excavations, which were conducted every second year from 1982 to 1990, under Mare's direction, generally confirmed the findings of the 1980 survey

Excavations at Tell Abila from 1982-1990

from W. Harold Mare in Stern et al (1993 v. 1)

The 1982-1990 excavations at Tell Abila concentrated on what in 1980 was called the public building (area A), located just to the north of the acropolis wall; excavation was also carried out in the areas to the immediate east and west of the building, as well as on the exposed section of the city wall on the northern slope of the mound. Extensive excavation of the "public building" exposed sizable portions of a triapsidal sixth-century CE basilica (the apses were on the east), about 32 by 18m, built on and in connection with an earlier building (a temple or an earlier church). The basilica's foundations were extensive; below them a probe reached Early Bronze Age loci. Rows of twelve columns each flanked the nave, which, along with its side aisles, was paved with opus sectile lozenges of red and white limestone and white marble. To the west, beyond the entrance, an extensive mosaic floor in a geometric pattern was found. Just adjoining the basilica to the east and northeast, a trench 7 to 8 m deep (area AA) was excavated; earlier Roman and Hellenistic walls and soil loci (as evidenced by the pottery) were uncovered. In the deeper parts of the trench Iron and Bronze Age walls and pottery were found, with a predominence of Middle and Early Bronze loci and pottery sherds. Additional evidence from periods prior to the Byzantine were found in an expansion of this deep probe to the east. At the northern city wall on the northern slope of Tell Abila, a probe (area F) was put in perpendicular to and inside the 5-m-high wall, to test its construction and date: the evidence showed that the wall had been added to in the Byzantine and Umayyad periods. However, based on associated pottery found in the earlier courses, down to its foundation course, the lower part of the wall dated to the Hellenistic and Iron ages.

Excavations at Tell Umm el-'Amad

from W. Harold Mare in Stern et al (1993 v. 1)

On Umm el-'Amad, the southern mound, at the location of a number of surface architectural fragments (a structure Schumacher suggested was a temple), excavation from 1984 to 1990 revealed a seventh-century CE triapsidal basilica (41 m long and 20m wide) with two rows each of twelve columns flanking the nave. Both the nave and the two side aisles were paved with opus sectile lozenges; some sections had a special design executed in red and black limestone and white marble. Evidence at the entrance to the basilica pointed to one large central door and two flanking doors. Here the area was decorated with a large red Euboean marble column; a porch with four massive columns extended farther west. Extensive sections of mosaic in geometric designs and some with floral heart motifs were found in the porch area and in the side rooms on the south of the basilica. This basilica also seems to have been built on the foundation of an earlier structure.

Aerial Views and Plans

Aerial Views

Abila in Google Earth

Abila in Google Earth

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Aerial Photo showing
Aerial View of Abila

Areas
- A–Byzantine Church
- AA–Deep Probe
- B–Byzantine Monastic Complex/“Theater Cavea”
- C–Bath Complex
- D– Byzantine Church
- DD–Byzantine Church
- E–Byzantine Church
John Brown University
excavation areas from The Abila Archaeological Project at John Brown University
Basilica at Abila as seen in

Basilica at Abila

Click on image to open the site in a new tab in google maps

Google Maps

a satellite view from google maps

Plans

Normal Size

Excavation Areas from

Abila: map of the excavation areas and cemeteries.

Stern et al (1993 v. 1)

Stern et al (1993 v. 1)
Abila Site plan from

Abila: plan of the site

Stern et al (2008)

Stern et al (2008)
Fig. 8 Plan of Basilica and

Fig. 8

Synthesis of Wall structures on the south portion of Tell Abila and the Area A Excavation Data

Mare (1984)

Area A from Mare (1984)
Plan of Basilica at Abila

Plan of Basilica at Abila

Stern et al (2008)

from Stern et al (2008)

Magnified

Abila Site plan from

Abila: plan of the site

Stern et al (2008)

Stern et al (2008)
Fig. 8 Plan of Basilica and

Fig. 8

Synthesis of Wall structures on the south portion of Tell Abila and the Area A Excavation Data

Mare (1984)

Area A from Mare (1984)
Plan of Basilica at Abila

Plan of Basilica at Abila

Stern et al (2008)

from Stern et al (2008)

Phasing

Area A

from Mare (1984)
based on ceramics

Phase	Period	Notes
1	Modern and Post Umayyad
2	Umayyad
3	Byzantine
.4a	Pre-Byzantine - Roman
.4b	Pre-Byzantine - Hellenistic
.4c	Pre-Byzantine - Iron IIC

Phase 2 Earthquake - 8th century CE

Mare (1984) observed a destruction layer in a triapsidal basilica in Area A:

On the preserved surface of the apse and in much of the region on both sides of the apse was a layer of plaster that, due to the Umayyad pottery sherds found there, suggests that the church was destroyed and the plaster surfaces laid subsequent to the time of the Umayyad conquest in A.D. 636. The evidence of violent earthquake activity was possibly responsible for the displacing of ashlar blocks may suggest a date for the church's destruction on into the eighth century, possibly due to the earthquake of A.D. 746 [JW: actually 749]which caused great destruction at nearby Tiberias and Jerash.

This dating, though imprecise, indicates that one of the 749 CE Sabbatical Year Quakes could have caused this destruction.

Phase 2 Earthquake - 8th century CE

Effect	Location	Image(s)	Description
Collapsed Walls	Basilica Fig. 8 Synthesis of Wall structures on the south portion of Tell Abila and the Area A Excavation Data Mare (1984) Plan of Basilica at Abila Stern et al (2008)		The evidence of violent earthquake activity was possibly responsible for the displacing of ashlar blocks may suggest a date for the church's destruction on into the eighth century, possibly due to the earthquake of A.D. 746 [JW: actually 749] which caused great destruction at nearby Tiberias and Jerash. - Mare (1984)
Displaced masonry blocks	Basilica Fig. 8 Synthesis of Wall structures on the south portion of Tell Abila and the Area A Excavation Data Mare (1984) Plan of Basilica at Abila Stern et al (2008)		The evidence of violent earthquake activity was possibly responsible for the displacing of ashlar blocks may suggest a date for the church's destruction on into the eighth century, possibly due to the earthquake of A.D. 746 [JW: actually 749] which caused great destruction at nearby Tiberias and Jerash. - Mare (1984)

Phase 2 Earthquake - 8th century CE

Earthquake Archeological Effects chart

Earthquake Archeological Effects (EAE)

Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224)

of Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224)

Effect	Location	Image(s)	Description	Intensity
Collapsed Walls	Basilica Fig. 8 Synthesis of Wall structures on the south portion of Tell Abila and the Area A Excavation Data Mare (1984) Plan of Basilica at Abila Stern et al (2008)		The evidence of violent earthquake activity was possibly responsible for the displacing of ashlar blocks may suggest a date for the church's destruction on into the eighth century, possibly due to the earthquake of A.D. 746 [JW: actually 749] which caused great destruction at nearby Tiberias and Jerash. - Mare (1984)	VIII +
Displaced masonry blocks	Basilica Fig. 8 Synthesis of Wall structures on the south portion of Tell Abila and the Area A Excavation Data Mare (1984) Plan of Basilica at Abila Stern et al (2008)		The evidence of violent earthquake activity was possibly responsible for the displacing of ashlar blocks may suggest a date for the church's destruction on into the eighth century, possibly due to the earthquake of A.D. 746 [JW: actually 749] which caused great destruction at nearby Tiberias and Jerash. - Mare (1984)	VIII +

The archeoseismic evidence requires a minimum Intensity of VIII (8) when using the Earthquake Archeological Effects chart of Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224).

References

Articles and Books

Fuller, M. J. (1987). Abila of the Decapolis: A Roman-Byzantine City in Transjordan, Washington University.

Mare (1984) The 1982 Season at Abila of the Decapolis Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 28

Mare et al (1987) The 1986 Season at Abila of the Decapolis Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 31

Mare, H., 2004, Excavations at Abila of the Decapolis, Northern Jordan

Websites

The Abila Archaeological Project at John Brown University

Neathery Fuller and Michael Fuller (2018). "Abila of the Decapolis". With photos and excavation details.

Search for Abila at ADAJ

Bibliography from Stern et. al. (1993 v. 1)

G. Schumacher, Abila of the Decapolis, London 1889

Briinnow-Domaszewski, Die Provincia Arabia; H. Bietenhard, ZDPV79 (1963), 24-58

G. W. Bowersock,JRS61 (1971), 219-242

A. Spijkerman, The Coins of the DecapolisandProvinciaArabia,Jerusalem 1978

W. H. Mare(etal.), BA 44(1981), 179-180; 45 (1982), 57-58

id., LA 31 (1981), 343-345

34 (1984), 440-441

37 (1987), 397-400

38 (1988), 454-457; 40 (1990), 468-475

id., Near East Archaeological Society Bulletin n.s. 17 (1981), 5-25

18 (1981), 5-30

21 (1983), 5-68

22 (1983), 5-64

24 (1985), 7-1 09

25 (1985), 35-90

26 (1986), 5-70

27 (1986), 25-60

28 (1987), 35-75

29 (1987), 31-88

30 (1988), 29-106

31 (1988), 19-66

32-33 (1989), 2-64

34 (1990), 2- 41

35 (1990), 2-56

36 (1991)

id., ADAJ26 (1982), 37-83

28 (1984), 39-54

29 (1985), 221-238

31 (1987), 205-219

35 (1991), 203-221

id., AJA 88 (1984), 252

91 (1987), 304-305

93 (1989), 260

95 (1991), 314- 315

id., Archiv fur Orientforschung 33 (1986), 206-209

id., Akkadica Supplementum 3 (1986), 114, 232

8 (1989), 472 -486

id., RB 96 (1989), 251-258

M. J. Fuller, Abila Reports, Florrisant Valley, Mo. 1986

id., Abila oft he Decapolis: A Roman-Byzantine City in Transjordan 1-2 (Ph.D. diss., Washington Univ. 1987; Ann Arbor 1991)

R. H. Smith, Pella of the Decapolis 1-2, Wooster, Ohio 1973-1989

A. McNichol eta!., Pella in Jordan 1, Canberra 1982

A. Barbetand C. Vibert-Guigue, Les Peintures des necropoles Romaines d'Abila et du nord de Ia Jordanie (Bibliotheque Archeologique et Historique 130), Paris 1988.

Bibliography from Stern et. al. (2008)

Main publications

M. J. Fuller, Abila of the Decapolis: A Roman-Byzantine City in Transjordan (Ph.D. diss., Washington University 1987), Ann Arbor, MI 1993

A. Barbet & C. Vibert-Guigue, Les peintures des necropoles romaines d’Abila et du nord de la Jordanie (Bibliothèque archéologique et historique 130), Texte, Paris 1994

J. D. Wineland, Ancient Abila: An Archaeological History (BAR/IS 989), Oxford 2001

ibid. (Reviews) NEAS Bulletin 48 (2003), 61–63. — AJA 108 (2004), 138–139.

Studies

W. H. Mare, ABD, 1, New York 1992, 19–20

id., Aram 4 (1992), 57–77

6 (1994), 359–379

7 (1995), 189–215

id., LA 42 (1992), 361–366

44 (1994), 630–634

id. (et al.), NEAS Bulletin N.S. 37 (1992), 2–38

38 (1993), 1–59

39–40 (1995), 66–104

41 (1996), 2–36

42 (1997), 25–44

44 (1999), 11–12

id., SHAJ 4 (1992), 309–314

5 (1995), 727–736

7 (2001), 499–508

id., AJA 97 (1993), 312

98 (1994), 301; 99 (1995), 307

100 (1996), 371

101 (1997), 339

102 (1998), 406

103 (1999), 276–277

104 (2000), 340; 105 (2001), 445–446

id., ADAJ 38 (1994), 359–378

40 (1996), 259–269

41 (1997), 277–281

303–310

43 (1999), 451–458

id., ASOR Newsletter 44/2 (1994), n.p.

45/2 (1995), 30

46/2 (1996), 20

47/2 (1997), 40; id., Occident and Orient 3/2 (1997), 28–29

id., OEANE, 1, New York 1997, 5–7

id., Artifax 14/2 (1999), 5

M. J. & N. Fuller, Aram 4 (1992), 157–171

B. de Vries, AJA 96 (1992), 537–538

J. D. Wineland, Aram 4 (1992), 329–342

W. Winter, ibid., 357–369

id., NEAS Bulletin 37 (1992), 26–36

R. Wenning, ZDPV 110 (1994), 1–35

A. Barbet, 5th International Colloquium on Ancient Mosaics (Bath, England, 5–12.9.1987), Ann Arbor, MI 1995, 43–56

R. W. Smith, JRA 10 (1997), 307–314

G. M. Cohen, American Journal of Numismatics 10 (1998), 95–102

T. M. Weber, Gadara-Umm Qes I: Decapolitana Untersuchungen zur Topographie, Geschichte, Architektur und der Bildenden Kunst einer “Polis Hellenis” im Ostjordanland (Abhandlungen des Deutschen-Palästina-Vereins 30), Wiesbaden 2002, 465–481

Gadara-Gerasa und die Dekapolis (Zaberns Bildbände zur Archäologie

Antike Welt Sonderbände

eds. A. Hoffmann & S. Kerner), Mainz am Rhein 2002

BAR 29/1 (2003), 50

U. Hübner, Saxa Loquentur, Münster 2003, 97–100; A. Lichtenberger, Kulte und Kultur der Dekapolis: Untersuchungen zu numismatischen, archäologischen und epigraphischen Zeugnissen (Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 29), Wiesbaden 2003

B. Lucke, Occident and Orient 8/1 (2003), 14–16

Y. Elitzur, Ancient Place Names in the Holy Land: Preservation and History, Jerusalem 2004, 173–174

J. Häser, SHAJ 8 (2004), 155–159

S. Kerner, Men of Dikes and Canals: The Archaeology of Water in the Middle East. International Symposium, Petra, 15–20.6.1999 (Orient Archäologie 13

eds. H. -D. Bienert & J. Häser), Rahden 2004, 187–202

C. Menninga, NEA 67 (2004), 40–49

M. S. Shannaq, SHAJ 8 (2004), 405–407

www.abila.org (dead link)

Wikipedia pages

Abila (Decapolis)

from Wikipedia

Decapolis

from Wikipedia