Across Syria
We crossed the Jordan again into a region famous in Biblical times for its oaks, wheat
fields, and well-nourished herds. We found the ruins of Jerash, one of the 10 cities of
the Decapolis, and Jerash the second. Archaeologists tell us that Jerash was once the
center of some 250,000 people. But today only a village of 3,000 marks this great center
of culture, and the country about it is sparsely populated with seminomads. The ruins of
this once-powerful city of Greek and Roman culture are buried to a depth of 13 feet with
erosional debris Washed from eroding slopes. We searched out the sources of water that
nourished Jerash and found a series of springs protected by masonry built in the
Graeco-Roman times. We examined these springs carefully with the archaeologists to
discover whether the present water level had changed with respect to the original
structures and whether the openings through which the springs gushed were the same as
those of ancient times. We found no suggestion that the water level was any lower than it
was when the structures were built or that the openings were different. It seems that the
water supply had not failed.
When we examined the slopes surrounding Jerash we found the soils washed off to bedrock
in spite of rock-walled terraces. The soils washed off the slopes had lodged in the
valleys. These valleys were cultivated by the seminomads who lived in black goat-hair
tents. In Roman times this area supplied grain to Rome and supported thriving communities
and rich villas, ruins of which we found in the vicinity.
In the alluvial plains along the Orontes River, agriculture supports a number of
cities, much reduced in population from those of ancient times. Water wheels introduced
from Persia during or following the conquests of Alexander The Great (300 B. C.) were
numerous along the Orontes. There were hundreds, we were told, in Roman times, but today
only 44 remain. They are picturesque old structures both in their appearance and in the
groans of the turning wheel as they slowly lift water from the river to the aqueduct to
supply water for the city of Hama. These wheels are more than 2,000 years old. But no part
of a wheel is that old, because the parts have been replaced piecemeal many times through
the centuries.
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