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Jerash - Umayyad House

Jerash Umayyad House

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Introduction
Introduction

Gawlikowski (1992) excavated a house in quarter NE of the south Tetrapylon of Jerash in 1983. Excavations indicated that the house was in use from the 7th - 9th centuries CE.

Jerash - Introduction Webpage

Aerial Views and Plans
Aerial Views and Plans

Aerial Views

  • Jerash Umayyad House in Google Earth
    Jerash Umayyad House

    click on image to explore this site on a new tab in Google Earth

Plans

Site Plans

Normal Size

  • General Plan of Jerash
    Plan of Jerash. North is to the right.

    Holger Behr - Wikipedia - Public Domain
    from Wikipedia
  • Fig. 2 - Plan of Umayyad
    Figure 2

    Plan summarising the principal urban features of Umayyad Jarash.

    1. Umayyad mosque
    2. possible Islamic administrative centre
    3. market (suq)
    4. South Tetrakonia piazza (built over)
    5. Macellum, with Umayyad–Abbasid rebuilding, and south cardo, encroached by structures;
    6. Oval piazza domestic quarter with fountain;
    7. Zeus temple forecourt (kiln, monastery?)
    8. hippodrome and Bishop Marianos church, eighth century use
    9. church of SS Peter and Paul and Mortuary Church (Umayyad construction date?)
    10. churches of SS Cosmas and Damianus, St George and St John theBaptist, with Umayyad–Abbasid occupation and iconoclastic-effected mosaics (later eighth century)
    11. Christian complex of two churches (Cathedral to the east with stairs from the street, St Theodore’s to the west), mid-5th to late 6th century Bath of Placcus (north of St Theodore’s) and houses west of St Theodore’s with extensive Umayyad occupation including a kiln and oil press
    12. Artemis compound used for ceramic manufacture
    13. Synagogue church with iconoclastic-effected mosaics
    14. North Theatre, also industrialised with kilns
    15. the 1981 ‘mosque’
    16. central Cardo with blacksmith’s shop and offices

    Map modfied from R.E. Pillen in Zayadine (1986).

    Walmsley and Daamgaard (2005)
    Jerash from Walmsley and Daamgaard (2005)
  • Fig. 13 - Early Islamic
    Figure 13

    Early Islamic Jerash

    8th to 13th century CE

    Rattenborg and Blanke (2017)
    Jerash - 8th to 13th century CE - from Rattenborg and Blanke (2017)

Magnified

  • Fig. 2 - Plan of Umayyad
    Figure 2

    Plan summarising the principal urban features of Umayyad Jarash.

    1. Umayyad mosque
    2. possible Islamic administrative centre
    3. market (suq)
    4. South Tetrakonia piazza (built over)
    5. Macellum, with Umayyad–Abbasid rebuilding, and south cardo, encroached by structures;
    6. Oval piazza domestic quarter with fountain;
    7. Zeus temple forecourt (kiln, monastery?)
    8. hippodrome and Bishop Marianos church, eighth century use
    9. church of SS Peter and Paul and Mortuary Church (Umayyad construction date?)
    10. churches of SS Cosmas and Damianus, St George and St John theBaptist, with Umayyad–Abbasid occupation and iconoclastic-effected mosaics (later eighth century)
    11. Christian complex of two churches (Cathedral to the east with stairs from the street, St Theodore’s to the west), mid-5th to late 6th century Bath of Placcus (north of St Theodore’s) and houses west of St Theodore’s with extensive Umayyad occupation including a kiln and oil press
    12. Artemis compound used for ceramic manufacture
    13. Synagogue church with iconoclastic-effected mosaics
    14. North Theatre, also industrialised with kilns
    15. the 1981 ‘mosque’
    16. central Cardo with blacksmith’s shop and offices

    Map modfied from R.E. Pillen in Zayadine (1986).

    Walmsley and Daamgaard (2005)
    Jerash from Walmsley and Daamgaard (2005)
  • Fig. 13 - Early Islamic
    Figure 13

    Early Islamic Jerash

    8th to 13th century CE

    Rattenborg and Blanke (2017)
    Jerash - 8th to 13th century CE - from Rattenborg and Blanke (2017)

Area Plans

Early Islamic Jerash

Normal Size

Magnified

Umayyad House

Normal Size

  • Fig. 1 - Plan of the
    Fig. 1

    Plan of the Umayyad House (7th century CE). from A. Ostrasz.

    Gawlikowski (1992)
    Umayyad House from Gawlikowski (1992)

Magnified

  • Fig. 1 - Plan of the
    Fig. 1

    Plan of the Umayyad House (7th century CE). from A. Ostrasz.

    Gawlikowski (1992)
    Umayyad House from Gawlikowski (1992)

Chronology
7th century CE Earthquake - based on rebuilding evidence

Plans

Plans

  • General Plan of Jerash
    Plan of Jerash. North is to the right.

    Holger Behr - Wikipedia - Public Domain
    from Wikipedia
  • Early Islamic Jerash from Rattenborg and Blanke (2017)
    Early Islamic Jerash

    Rattenborg and Blanke (2017)
  • Fig. 1 - Plan of the Umayyad House
    Fig. 1

    Plan of the Umayyad House (7th century CE). from A. Ostrasz.

    Gawlikowski (1992)
    from Gawlikowski (1992)

Discussion

Gawlikowski (1992:358) reports that the Umayyad house was built on level ground after an earthquake. They discuss its date of construction below:

The construction is well dated by the numismatic findings: on one hand coins of Constantius II (641-668), the last Byzantine coins having been used in Syria-Palestine, found within the fill (at depth and on the surface), and on the other hand Arab-Byzantine coins minted at Scythopolis (Beisan) and Jerash itself, "sealed" under the ground of the House. The exact dating of the latter coinage is not assured, but it is reasonable to place it around the middle of the 7th century, if not later (Bates, 1976). Therefore, I propose that the the earthquake that preceded construction as the one that struck Syria-Palestine in June 658, according to the testimony of Theophanes (Grumel 1958:479; Kallner-Amiran 1950-51:226). A recent discovery by J. Seigne corroborates our identification: the collapse of the vaulted corridor of the lower terrace of Zeus buries under the rubble a herd of goats; the age of a kid indicates that the cataclysm took place in May-June and moreover a Byzantine currency with an Arab countermark indicating the beginning of Muslim government (Seigne, unpublished report of 1984, kindly communicated by the author).
The archaeoseismic evidence is based on rebuilding evidence. No seismic effects from a 7th century CE earthquake are mentioned.

8th century CE Earthquake

Plans

Plans

  • General Plan of Jerash
    Plan of Jerash. North is to the right.

    Holger Behr - Wikipedia - Public Domain
    from Wikipedia
  • Early Islamic Jerash from Rattenborg and Blanke (2017)
    Early Islamic Jerash

    Rattenborg and Blanke (2017)
  • Fig. 1 - Plan of the Umayyad House
    Fig. 1

    Plan of the Umayyad House (7th century CE). from A. Ostrasz.

    Gawlikowski (1992)
    from Gawlikowski (1992)

Discussion

Gawlikowski (1992) report that the Umayyad house was destroyed towards the end of the 8th century by another earthquake which they dated, based on pottery, to after 770 CE.

Notes and Further Reading
References

Gawlikowski, 1992, Installations Omayyades à Jérash, Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 04