Umm el-Jimal is a large village located in northern Jordan less than 10 km from the Syrian border. It is located in the Hauran, the northern desert region of the country. Despite this aridity, Umm el-Jimal is surprisingly well suited for agriculture, and its livelihood and economy is largely derived from agricultural and pastoral sustenance. The ruins of an ancient village lie in the midst of modern Umm el-Jimal. The ruins date from the Nabataean through the Abbasid periods. The earthquake of circa AD 749 did major damage, but the community survived well into the Abbasid period. In the early twentieth century the area was repopulated by the Druze and then the Bedouin Msa'eid tribe. Main article: Gadara Gadara was a centre of Greek culture in the region during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.[2] The oldest archaeological evidence at Umm Qais, extends back to the second half of the third century BC.[3] and the site appears to have been founded as a military colony by Alexander the Great's Macedonian Greeks. However, the site's name "Gadara" is not Greek in origin, but rather a Greek version of a local Semitic name meaning "fortifications" or "the fortified city" suggesting the military colony was founded on a pre-existing fortified site.[4] Located on the boundary between Seleucid and Ptolemaic territory, the city was strategically important and was repeatedly the focus of military conquests throughout the succession of Syrian Wars between 274 - 188 BCE. The city's military importance during this period was noted by the Greek historian Polybius' describing it in 218 BCE as a fortress and "the strongest of all places in the region". The Roman-Seleucid War (192 - 188BCE) weakened Seleucid control over the region devolving autonomy in Palestine and trans-Jordan to the Hasmonean, Iturean and Nabatean kingdoms whose rivalries continued to make Gadara a strategically important city and the focus of continued conflict. In 98 BCE the Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus subjected the city to a 10 month siege, wresting control of the city and the trade routes to the ports of the Eastern Mediterranean that passed through it from the Nabateans.[5][6] The Nabatean response culminated in Nabatean King Obdas 1st' decisive victory over Jannaeus at the Battle of Gadara in 93 BCE. In 63 BCE, Roman general Pompey conquered the region, Gadara was rebuilt and became a member of the semi-autonomous Roman Decapolis.[7][8] 33 years later Augustus attached it to the Jewish kingdom of his ally, Herod. After King Herod's death in 4 BCE, Gadara became part of the Roman province of Syria.[9] To supply larger populations Gadara, and the neighbouring Decapolis cities of Adraa (Dera'a, Syria) and Abila (Qweilbeh, Jordan) undertook construction of a water supply system of 170 km of aqueduct tunnels connecting the cities to springs throughout southern Syria and an artificially constructed lake at Dille. Constructed between 90 - 210 CE the network of rock cut tunnels included 2,900 access shafts, and a single 106km section represents one of the most significant hydro-engineering accomplishments of the ancient world. During the Severan period (193 – 235CE) the city underwent a rapid expansion westwards and many of the large civic monuments still visible on the site today date to this period and attest to an increase in importance and prosperity. After the Christianisation of the Eastern Roman Empire, Gadara retained its important regional status and became for many years the seat of a Christian bishop.[10] The Ajlun Governorate has a population of over 176,080 widespread in 27 villages and towns over an area of about 420 km². The population is mainly composed of the following Muslim tribes: Al-Gharaibeh, AlQudah, Al-Share, Al-Zghoul, Al-Momani, Al-Smadi, Al-Shwayyat, Al-Freihat, Al-Khatatbah, Alnawateer, Al-Karraz, and others. Muqattash, Haddad, Iwais, Eisouh and Rabadi are the main Christian tribes in Ajloun. Although Christians are a minority in the overall governorate, they form about more than half of the population in Ajloun city; most Christians reside in Ajloun city along with Muslims of the Al-Smadi tribe. Other tribes are distributed in the other districts of the governorate. Ajloun Governorate has four seats in the national parliament, one of which is dedicated for the Christian minority. Jerash ( Ǧaraš; Ancient Greek: Γέρασα Gérasa) is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located 48 kilometres (30 mi) north of the capital city Amman. The earliest evidence of settlement in Jerash is in a Neolithic site known as Tal Abu Sowan, where rare human remains dating to around 7500 BC were uncovered.[2] Jerash flourished during the Greco and Roman periods until the mid-eighth century CE, when the 749 Galilee earthquake destroyed large parts of it, while subsequent earthquakes contributed to additional destruction. However, in the year 1120, Zahir ad-Din Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus ordered a garrison of forty men to build up a fort in an unknown site of the ruins of the ancient city, likely the highest spot of the city walls in the north-eastern hills. It was captured in 1121 by Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, and utterly destroyed.[3][4] Then, the Crusaders immediately abandoned Jerash and withdrew to Sakib (Seecip); the eastern border of the settlement.[5][6] Jerash was then deserted until it reappeared by the beginning of the Ottoman rule in the early 16th century. In the census of 1596, it had a population of 12 Muslim households.[7] However, archaeologists found a small Mamluk hamlet in the Northwest Quarter[8] which indicates that Jerash was resettled before the Ottoman era. The excavations conducted since 2011 have shed light on the Middle Islamic period as recent discoveries have uncovered a large concentration of Middle Islamic/Mamluk structures and pottery.[9] The ancient city has been gradually revealed through a series of excavations which commenced in 1925, and continue to this day.[10] Jerash today is home to one of the best preserved Greco-Roman cities, which earned it the nickname of "Pompeii of the East".[citation needed] Approximately 330,000 visitors arrived in Jerash in 2018, making it one of the most visited sites in Jordan.[11] The city hosts the Jerash Festival, one of the leading cultural events in the Middle East that attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year.[12] The Umayyad desert castles, of which the desert castles of Jordan represent a prominent part, are fortified palaces or castles in what was the then Umayyad province of Bilad al-Sham. Most Umayyad "desert castles" are scattered over the semi-arid regions of north-eastern Jordan, with several more in Syria, Israel and the West Bank (Palestine). Amman, Arabic ʿAmmān, biblical Hebrew Rabbath Ammon, ancient Greek Philadelphia, capital and largest city of Jordan. It is the residence of the king and the seat of government. The city is built on rolling hills at the eastern boundary of the ʿAjlūn Mountains, on the small, partly perennial Wadi ʿAmmān and its tributaries. Modern Madaba, 30 km southwest of Amman, continues an urban tradition that can be traced back at least 4,500 years. The ancient settlement, now mostly buried beneath the modern town, lies on a natural rise created by branches of the Wadi Madaba. On and around the tell are the remains of the classical town, represented most notably by the churches and mosaic pavements that have brought Madaba so much fame. The earliest reference to Madaba occurs in the Bible (Numbers 21:30) as part of a lament describing the conquest of a series of Moabite cities including Madaba by the Amorite King Sihon of Heshbon. Al-Karak lies 140 kilometres (87 mi) to the south of Amman on the ancient King's Highway. It is situated on a hilltop about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level and is surrounded on three sides by a valley. Al-Karak has a view of the Dead Sea. A city of about 32,216 people (2005[1]) has been built up around the castle and it has buildings from the 19th-century Ottoman period. The town is built on a triangular plateau, with the castle at its narrow southern tip