Jerash Artemis Complex

ChatGPT Introduction

from Chat GPT GPT-5.1 Thinking, 15 November 2025
sources: Parapetti (1989), Brizzi et al. (2010)

The sanctuary of Artemis crowns the western hill of Jerash, dominating the city and the valley of the Chrysorhoas. Laid out above the main colonnaded street, it formed a monumental holy precinct focused on the cult of Artemis, patron goddess of Gerasa. A broad processional axis led worshippers from the urban centre up towards the hilltop temenos, emphasizing both the physical and symbolic separation between the sacred terrace and the bustling city below.

Access to the sanctuary was controlled by a monumental propylaea complex on the cardo, with towering columns and a richly decorated triple gateway. From here, a long stairway and terraced platforms climbed the slope to the temenos courtyard in front of the great temple. The temple itself, a peripteral building raised on a high podium, was conceived on an impressive scale in the mid second century CE, although architectural details suggest that its construction remained incomplete, even while the precinct was already in use.

Systematic investigations and restorations by Italian missions have clarified the sanctuary’s phasing and later history. They document the creation of the approach bridge and terraces, successive building and repair campaigns, and the transformation of parts of the propylaea area into Christian and later installations. The sanctuary of Artemis thus preserves a layered record of Jerash’s urban and religious development from the high Roman period, through Late Antiquity, and into the early Islamic centuries.

Aerial Views, Plans, Sections, and Photos

Aerial Views

Jerash Artemis Complex in Google Earth

Jerash Artemis Complex

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Fig. 1 Aerial View of

Figure 1

Sanctuary of Artemis: aerial view from 1986 (photo Antiquity Department of Jordan), from the East.

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Parapetti (1989b)

the Sanctuary of Artemis from Parapetti (1989b)

Plans

Site Plans

Normal Size

Site Plan of Jerash

Plan of Jerash. North is to the right.

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Holger Behr - Wikipedia - Public Domain

from Wikipedia

Magnified

Site Plan of Jerash

Plan of Jerash. North is to the right.

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Holger Behr - Wikipedia - Public Domain

from Wikipedia

Area Plans

Sanctuary of Artemis

Normal Size

Plate IV Plan of the

Plate IV

Excavations in the Temple Terrace: the Umayyad kiln complex (the structures of a Byzantine reuse of the area are outlined).

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Parapetti (1989b)

Sanctuary of Artemis from Parapetti (1989b)
Fig. 3.2 Plan of the

Figure 3.2

Jerash, Plan of the Sanctuary of Artemis

(plan by R. Parapetti)

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Baldoni (2018)

Sanctuary of Artemis from Baldoni (2018)

Magnified

Plate IV Plan of the

Plate IV

Excavations in the Temple Terrace: the Umayyad kiln complex (the structures of a Byzantine reuse of the area are outlined).

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Parapetti (1989b)

Sanctuary of Artemis from Parapetti (1989b)
Fig. 3.2 Plan of the

Figure 3.2

Jerash, Plan of the Sanctuary of Artemis

(plan by R. Parapetti)

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Baldoni (2018)

Sanctuary of Artemis from Baldoni (2018)

Area of the kilns and in the Area of the Temple Stairway

Normal Size

Fig. 8 Plan of soundings

Figure 8

Sanctuary of Artemis, soundings in the Area of the kilns and in the Area of the Temple Stairway

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Parapetti et al. (1986)

in the Area of the kilns and in the Area of the Temple Stairway from Parapetti et al. (1986)

Magnified

Fig. 8 Plan of soundings

Figure 8

Sanctuary of Artemis, soundings in the Area of the kilns and in the Area of the Temple Stairway

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Parapetti et al. (1986)

in the Area of the kilns and in the Area of the Temple Stairway from Parapetti et al. (1986)

Sections

Sanctuary of Artemis

Normal Size

Plate II Section

Plate II

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Parapetti (1989b)

from Parapetti (1989c)

Magnified

Plate II Section

Plate II

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Parapetti (1989b)

from Parapetti (1989c)

Photos

Normal Size

Fig. 3.41c Block separation

Figure 3.41c

Block separation and shearing (arrowed) in the outer wall west of the Artemis cella.

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Boyer (2022)

and shearing and through-going cracks in the outer wall west of the Artemis cella from Boyer (2022)

Magnified

Fig. 3.41c Block separation

Figure 3.41c

Block separation and shearing (arrowed) in the outer wall west of the Artemis cella.

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Boyer (2022)

and shearing and through-going cracks in the outer wall west of the Artemis cella from Boyer (2022)

Temple Stairway Earthquake - 8th century CE

Discussion

References

Parapetti et al. (1986)

3. The Area of the Temple Stairway

from M.C. Bitti in Parapetti et al. (1986:191-192)

... The hollow G in the N-W corner dropped down underneath the north wall of the podium where a stone is missing. The pottery finds, of the same type as those in the cistern, were here associated with a bronze coin of Hadrian.

At the centre of the area there was a hollow 0.15 m deep and plastered in lime mortar, served by an inlet and an outlet channel, presumably connected with the clay-working process. Once the plastered bottom was removed, a pit H (1.46 m deep, 1.05 × 0.53 m) was uncovered. The earth which filled it up presented the same characteristics found in the other foci, as well as the same materials. Of particular note is a large amphora (Pl. IX.1), some round moulded lamp fragments, kalathoi, and plates, all datable to the 1st–2nd century A.D. (Fig. 9 nos. 1, 2).

The second step of the bedrock probably corresponds to the starting point of the intermediate of the three flights which originally made up the stairway, while its easternmost edge presents a clear cut against which the irregular block foundations of the first steps of the stairway were identified (Fig. 11.1).

None of the sherds in the area can be dated prior to the 7th century A.D. (large grey basins with combed and cut decoration, cups with large umbilical bottom, cooking pots, jars, painted plates and lids (Fig. 9 nos. 13, 16, 17), and above all many of the so-called "Jerash type" lamps, badly fired (Pl. IX.2)).

Finally we removed the two above-mentioned column drums. Like the other two lying further south, they were probably part of the column of the N-E corner of the Temple pronaos, which perhaps collapsed during the earthquake of 746 A.D., after which the activity of the pottery ceased. Below, the soil became dark and compacted with fragments of Umayyad pottery, pertaining to the same shapes found in kiln D and in the area just described.

The outside face of some blocks of the east wall of the N-S channel, a segment of which was earlier identified, came to light to the east at (600.23) level. They were identifiable for the presence of calcareous concretions due to water infiltration. Underneath these (599.93) a layer of cemented pottery fragments and rubble was identified, which arrived at the level of the starting of the original stairway.

Two periods of use of the area examined became evident from a comparative study of the structures and materials brought to light. The terminus post quem of the first is given by the Roman pottery associated with the Hadrian coin, which perhaps establishes the moment in which the pits in the bedrock were filled in, in order to build the stairway leading up to the pronaos.

The second seems restricted to a short period (first half of the 8th century A.D.), according to the homogeneity of the finds.

Some problems remain, however, and relevant amongst these is the lack of evidence datable between the 2nd century A.D. (obviously cancelled by later occupation) and the 8th century (after the earthquake of 746 A.D.), which would bear witness to occupation leading up to and following the activity of the kiln. It is to be hoped that future work, during which it is planned to investigate as far as the southern wing of the podium and to remove the present-day stairs, will give us the final evidence necessary to complete the overall picture of the different phases of life in the area under examination.

Parapetti (1989c)

English

from Parapetti (1989c:10)

Above the rock surface, a single level of Umayyad occupation is recognizable throughout the rooms. This was sealed by the collapse of the vaults of the original Roman structures, which were then damaged by the earthquake of 747. This event inevitably caused the simultaneous dragging of the buildings along the eastern edge of the Byzantine elevation of the Intermediate Terrace: evidence of this is the hanging section of a large apsidal structure adjacent to chapel²⁰ (b) (Plate II). Among the earth that covered the rubble of the vaults, a fragment of a crescent-shaped altar table made of Anatolian marble is noteworthy.

Footnotes

20 illegible in my copy - a reference starts with a P and the year of 1983 (?)

Italian

from Parapetti (1989c:10)

Al di sopra del piano di roccia e riconoscibile in tutta gli ambienti un solo livello di occcupazione omayyade. Questo e sigillato dal crollo delle volte delle strutture romane originarie impulabde quindi al terremoto del 747. L'evento provoco l'inevitabile simultaneo trascinamento di quanto edificaato presso il margine orientale del rialzamento bizantino della terrazza Intermedia: prova ne e il troncone pensile di una struttura absidata di notevoli dimensionei adiacente alla cappella²⁰ (b) (tav. II). Tra la terra che ricopriva le macerie delle volte e da segnalare una mensa d'altare lunata frammentaria di marmo anatolico.

Footnotes

20 illegible in my copy - a reference starts with a P and the year of 1983 (?)

Boyer in Lichtenberger and Raja (2025)

from Boyer in Lichtenberger and Raja (2025:Table 2.2)

Century (AD)	Event (AD) attribution by original author	Reliability of interpreted evidence	Likely attributable seismic event (AD)	Locality	Plan ref.	Reference
8th	747	Medium	747–749	Artemis complex	4	Parapetti 1989, 10; Parapetti and others 1986, 191–92.

Temple Stairway Earthquake - 8th century CE

Seismic Effect	Location	Image(s)	Description
Collapsed Column ?	The Area of the Temple Stairway of the Artemis Complex Plan of Jerash. North is to the right. Click on image to open in a new tab Holger Behr - Wikipedia - Public Domain Plate IV Excavations in the Temple Terrace: the Umayyad kiln complex (the structures of a Byzantine reuse of the area are outlined). click on image to open in a new tab Parapetti (1989b) Figure 3.2 Jerash, Plan of the Sanctuary of Artemis (plan by R. Parapetti) click on image to open in a new tab Baldoni (2018)		"Finally we removed the two above-mentioned column drums. Like the other two lying further south, they were probably part of the column of the N-E corner of the Temple pronaos, which perhaps collapsed during the earthquake of 746 A.D., after which the activity of the pottery ceased. Below, the soil became dark and compacted with fragments of Umayyad pottery, pertaining to the same shapes found in kiln D and in the area just described." - M.C. Bitti in Parapetti et al. (1986:191-192)
Collapsed Valut	Artemis Complex Plan of Jerash. North is to the right. Click on image to open in a new tab Holger Behr - Wikipedia - Public Domain Plate IV Excavations in the Temple Terrace: the Umayyad kiln complex (the structures of a Byzantine reuse of the area are outlined). click on image to open in a new tab Parapetti (1989b) Figure 3.2 Jerash, Plan of the Sanctuary of Artemis (plan by R. Parapetti) click on image to open in a new tab Baldoni (2018)		"Above the rock surface, a single level of Umayyad occupation is recognizable throughout the rooms. This was sealed by the collapse of the vaults of the original Roman structures, which were then damaged by the earthquake of 747. This event inevitably caused the simultaneous dragging of the buildings along the eastern edge of the Byzantine elevation of the Intermediate Terrace: evidence of this is the hanging section of a large apsidal structure adjacent to chapel20 (b) (Plate II). Among the earth that covered the rubble of the vaults, a fragment of a crescent-shaped altar table made of Anatolian marble is noteworthy." - Parapetti (1989c:10)

Temple Stairway 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)

Seismic Effect	Location	Image(s)	Description	Intensity
Collapsed Column ?	The Area of the Temple Stairway of the Artemis Complex Plan of Jerash. North is to the right. Click on image to open in a new tab Holger Behr - Wikipedia - Public Domain Plate IV Excavations in the Temple Terrace: the Umayyad kiln complex (the structures of a Byzantine reuse of the area are outlined). click on image to open in a new tab Parapetti (1989b) Figure 3.2 Jerash, Plan of the Sanctuary of Artemis (plan by R. Parapetti) click on image to open in a new tab Baldoni (2018)		"Finally we removed the two above-mentioned column drums. Like the other two lying further south, they were probably part of the column of the N-E corner of the Temple pronaos, which perhaps collapsed during the earthquake of 746 A.D., after which the activity of the pottery ceased. Below, the soil became dark and compacted with fragments of Umayyad pottery, pertaining to the same shapes found in kiln D and in the area just described." - M.C. Bitti in Parapetti et al. (1986:191-192)	V+?
Collapsed Valut	Artemis Complex Plan of Jerash. North is to the right. Click on image to open in a new tab Holger Behr - Wikipedia - Public Domain Plate IV Excavations in the Temple Terrace: the Umayyad kiln complex (the structures of a Byzantine reuse of the area are outlined). click on image to open in a new tab Parapetti (1989b) Figure 3.2 Jerash, Plan of the Sanctuary of Artemis (plan by R. Parapetti) click on image to open in a new tab Baldoni (2018)		"Above the rock surface, a single level of Umayyad occupation is recognizable throughout the rooms. This was sealed by the collapse of the vaults of the original Roman structures, which were then damaged by the earthquake of 747. This event inevitably caused the simultaneous dragging of the buildings along the eastern edge of the Byzantine elevation of the Intermediate Terrace: evidence of this is the hanging section of a large apsidal structure adjacent to chapel20 (b) (Plate II). Among the earth that covered the rubble of the vaults, a fragment of a crescent-shaped altar table made of Anatolian marble is noteworthy." - Parapetti (1989c:10)	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

Boyer, D. D. (2022) Water Management in Gerasa and its Hinterland: From the Romans to AD 750 , Brepols Publishers

Baldoni, D. (2018). A Byzantine thermopolium on the Main Colonnaded Street in Gerasa . In A. Lichtenberger & R. Raja (Eds.), The Archaeology and History of Jerash: 110 Years of Excavations, Jerash Papers, 1 (pp. 15-37). Turnhout: Brepols.

Bitti M. C., (1986) Arcaheological Research in the sanctuary of Artemis: the area of the Temple Stairway , Jerash Archaeological Project 1981-1983, I, Amman, pp. 191-192

Lichtenberger, A. and Raja, R. (ed.s) (2025) Jerash, the Decapolis, and the Earthquake of AD 749 The Fallout of a Disaster Belgium: Brepols.

Parapetti, R., Fontana, M. V., Pierobon, R., Bitti, M. C., & Lazzarini, M. L. (1986). The Italian activity within the Jerash Project 1982-83 . In F. Zayadine (Ed.), Jerash Archaeological Project, 1: 1981-1983 (pp. 167-203). Amman: Department of Antiquities of Jordan. - open acess at archive.org

Parapetti R., (1989a), (AJH 188). Jerash, The sanctuary of Artemis, in Homès-Fredericq and J.B. Henessy (eds), Archaeology of Jordan II.1 Field Reports. II.1 Surveys and Sites.

Parapetti, R. (1989b) Scavi e restauri italiani nel santuario di Artemide, 1984-1987 (Jerash) . Syria, 66, 1-39.

Parapetti, R. (1989c) Scavi e restauri italiani nel santuario di Artemide, 1984-1987 . In F. Zayadine (Ed.), Jerash Archaeological Project II: 1984-1988 - open acess at archive.org

Earthquake Damage in Jerash between the 1st and 19th centuries CE

Map

from Lichtenberger and Raja (2025)
Table 2.2 List of seismic damage

Table 2.2

List of seismically induced damage recorded in Gerasa where the relaibility of the evidence is considered to be medium or high

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Lichtenberger and Raja (2025)

in Jerash between the 1st and 19th centuries CE from Lichtenberger and Raja (2025)

Figure 2.6

Plan of ancient Gerasa showing the location of earthquake-damaged sites referred to in Table 2.2

(after Lichtenberger, Raja, and Stott 2019.fig.2)

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Lichtenberger and Raja (2025)

Table

from Lichtenberger and Raja (2025)
Fig. 2.6 Map of seismic damage

Figure 2.6

Plan of ancient Geras showing the location of earthquake-damaged sites referred to in Table 2.2

(after Lichtenberger, Raja, and Stott 2019.fig.2)

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Lichtenberger and Raja (2025)

in Jerash between the 1st and 19th centuries CE from Lichtenberger and Raja (2025)

Century (AD)	Event (AD) attribution by original author	Reliability of interpreted evidence	Likely attributable seismic event (AD)	Locality	Plan ref.	Reference
1st–3rd		Medium	112	North-west aqueduct	5	Passchier and others 2021.
3rd–early 4th		Medium	363	Zeus Temple	13	Egan and Bikai 1998, 598.
3rd–early 4th		Medium	551	East cavea of Hippodrome	14	Ostrasz 1989, 74–76.
6th	Late 6th	Medium	551	Lower terrace, Zeus Temple	12	Rasson and Seigne 1989, 151; Egan and Bikai 1998, 598; Rasson-Seigne and Seigne 2019.
7th	633–660	High	659	Propylaea Church	16	Brizzi, Seipo, and Baldoni 2010, 356–57.
7th	659/660	High	659	Macellum	10	Uscatescu 2019, 22, table 2.2.
7th	660	Medium	659	Taberna, thermopolium	6	Baldoni 2018, 26–27; 2019, 121–22.
7th	659/660	Medium	659	Hippodrome	14	Kehrberg and Ostrasz 1994, 546–47.
7th	659/660	Medium	659	Zeus Temple–Naos corridor	12	Rasson-Seigne and Seigne 2019, 168.
8th	749	High	747–749	Umayyad Mosque	9	Rattenborg and Blanke 2017.
8th	749	High	747–749	House adjacent to Mosque	3	Rattenborg and Blanke 2017, 319–24.
8th	749	High	747–749	Propylaea Church	16	Brizzi, Seipo, and Baldoni 2010, 358.
8th	749	High	747–749	North-West Quarter, various	1	Jørgensen 2018; Lichtenberger and Raja 2019a, 277–78; 2019b.
8th	749	High	747–749	South Decumanus, east side	8	Walmsley 2007, 259–61.
8th	747–749	High	747–749	Beside aqueduct (site JWP111)	18	Boyce 2022, 74.
8th		Medium	747–749	Bishop Marianos Church	15	Gawlikowski and Musa 1986, 141.
8th	747	Medium	747–749	Artemis complex	4	Parapetti 1989, 10; Parapetti and others 1986, 191–92.
8th	749	Medium	747–749	Zeus Temple, various sites	13	Seigne 1986, 247; 1989, 322; Rasson-Seigne and Seigne 2019.
8th	749	Medium	747–749	Bishop Isaiah Church	2	Clark 1990, 176.
8th	749	Medium	747–749	Hippodrome	14	Ostrasz 2020, 33.
8th	749	Medium	747–749	Large East Baths	17	Lepaon, Turshan, and Weber-Karyotakis 2018.
9th	Post-770	High	854	Umayyad House, South Decumanus	7	Gawlikowski 1986, 113.
9th	9th	High	854	Congregational Mosque	9	Rattenborg and Blanke 2017, 321.
9th	9th	Medium	854	South-West Quarter	11	Rattenborg and Blanke 2017, 324; Blanke 2018, 44.
11th–13th	11th–13th	Medium	?	Zeus lower terrace	12	Rasson-Seigne and others 2018, 74–75.
19th	1837	Medium	1837	City area (Earthquake witnessed)		Lindsay 1838, 107.

Image

from Lichtenberger and Raja (2025)
Fig. 2.6 Map of seismic damage

Figure 2.6

Plan of ancient Geras showing the location of earthquake-damaged sites referred to in Table 2.2

(after Lichtenberger, Raja, and Stott 2019.fig.2)

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Lichtenberger and Raja (2025)

in Jerash between the 1st and 19th centuries CE from Lichtenberger and Raja (2025)

Table 2.2

List of seismically induced damage recorded in Gerasa where the relaibility of the evidence is considered to be medium or high

Click on Image to open in a new tab

Lichtenberger and Raja (2025)

Wikipedia pages

Jerash

from wikipedia - click link to open page in a separate tab

Temple of Artemis

from wikipedia - click link to open page in a separate tab