North Gate - Jerash

ChatGPT Introduction

from Chat GPT 4o, 22 June 2025
sources: Wikipedia (Jerash)

The North Gate of Jerash marks the northern terminus of the ancient city's urban grid and served as a formal entrance for those arriving via the road from Pella and other northern cities of the Decapolis.

The gate's architecture consists of a single broad passage flanked by two rectangular towers. Though less elaborate than the triple-arched Hadrian’s Arch, the North Gate nonetheless reflects Roman military and civic architecture. Its alignment with the Cardo Maximus underscores its role in controlling and channelling movement through the city.

Although portions of the superstructure have collapsed, portions of the towers and stone foundations remain in situ. The gate offers a glimpse of Jerash’s defensive perimeter and its interaction with regional road networks. Archaeological excavations and reconstructions have clarified its plan and function, and it remains one of the lesser-visited but strategically important landmarks in Jerash’s cityscape.

Jerash - Introduction Webpage

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Aerial Views, Plans, and Drawings

Aerial Views

Jerash North Gate in Google Earth

Jerash North Gate

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Plans and Drawings

General Plan of Jerash

Plan of Jerash. North is to the right.

Holger Behr - Wikipedia - Public Domain

from Wikipedia
Plate XIX - Drawing of a Restored

Plate XIX

North Gate, South Elevation, Restored

A.H. Detweiler

Kraeling et al (1938)

North Gate from Kraeling (1938)
Plate XVII - Plan of the North Gate

Plate XVII

North Gate, Plan

A.H. Detweiler

Kraeling et al (1938)

from Kraeling (1938)

Dedicatory Inscription Earthquake (?) - Early 2nd century CE

Discussion

References

Description of the Inscription

from Kraeling et al (1938)

Plate CIII a.

56/57 (115 A.D.)

Kraeling et al (1938)

5. The North Gate

56/57. Six fragments (one in two pieces) of the dedicatory inscription of the North Gate, which was inscribed on twin panels on the northern and southern faces of the gate above the arch. The panels were 2.92 m. x 0.72 m. in the recessed portion. As the inscriptions were identical, a composite text is given here. A and B came from the southern face, C, D, E, and F (the underlined parts of B) from the northern. Monumental alphabet, letters 0.075-0.09 m., interval 0.04 m. Ph., sq. (of A, B, C, D). PI. CIII, a.

A. D. 115.

Abel, RB, XXXVI, 1927, pp. 250-252, no. 1 (A, B) [AE, 1927, no. 147; SEG, VII, no. 844]
Stinespring, BASOR, 54, April 1934, pp. 21-24, fig. 15 (C, D, F).

Greek Text of Inscription from North Gate

Kraeling et al (1938)

Trajan's 19th tribunicia potestas began December 10, 114, and his 9th acclamation as imperator belongs to the early part of the following year. If he was really called κτίστην here (the restoration of Abel), the reference must have been to a new constitution or other favors granted to Gerasa, of which nothing is otherwise known. The city cannot have become a colony until the third century (179, 191), for the inscriptions would not have been silent concerning this distinction. The term κτίστην could hardly have been used of Trajan as the founder of the province of Arabia (about A.D. 105), as Abel suggests. For C. Claudius Severus (also in 252-257) cf. PIR, II², pp. 246 f., no. 1023.

References

Articles and Books

Russell, K. W. (1985). "The Earthquake Chronology of Palestine and Northwest Arabia from the 2nd through the Mid-8th Century A.D." Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research 260: 37-59.

Excavation Reports

Kraeling, C. (1938) Gerasa: City of the Decapolis, American Schools of Oriental Research. - can be borrowed with a free account at archive.org

Kraeling, C. (1938) Gerasa: City of the Decapolis, American Schools of Oriental Research. - open access at Hathi Trust

Jerash - North Gate