Decapolis

[1] The Decapolis was a center of Hellenistic and Roman culture in a region which was otherwise populated by Jews, Arab Nabataeans and Arameans.[2] The cities formed a group because of their language, culture, religion, location, and political status, with each functioning as an autonomous city-state dependent on Rome.The Decapolis region is located in modern-day Jordan (Philadelphia, Gerasa, Pella and Gadara), Israel (Scythopolis and Hippos) and Syria (Raphana, Dion, Canatha and Damascus).When Pompey reorganized the region, he awarded a group of these cities with autonomy under Roman protection; this was the origin of the Decapolis.The Decapolis was probably never an official political or economic union; most likely it signified the collection of city-states which enjoyed special autonomy during early Roman rule.Mark 5:1-10 emphasizes the Decapolis' gentile character when Jesus encounters a herd of pigs, an animal forbidden by Kashrut, the Jewish dietary laws.[13] The Decapolis came under direct Roman rule in AD 106, when Arabia Petraea was annexed during the reign of the emperor Trajan.[9] In the later Roman Empire, they were divided between Arabia and Palaestina Secunda, of which Scythopolis served as the provincial capital; while Damascus became part of Phoenice Libanensis.Some were abandoned in the years following Palestine's conquest by the Rashidun Caliphate in 641, but other cities continued to be inhabited long into the Islamic period.
Roman theatre and cardo of Scythopolis ( Beit She'an , Israel)
The oval forum and cardo of Gerasa ( Jerash , Jordan)
The Decapolis at the time of Plinus t.E. and before 106 A.D
The Decapolis at the time of Plinus t.E. and before 106 A.D
The provinces of the East in the year 400
Decapolis (disambiguation)Koine GreekAramaicArabicHebrewHellenistic religionImperial CultPompeyTrajanArabia PetreaCoele-SyriaHasmonean kingdomArabia PetraeaSyria PalaestinaIsraelJordanHellenisticRoman EmpireSouthern LevantJordan Rift ValleyJudaeaItureaNabataeaRoman cultureNabataeansArameanslanguageculturereligioncity-statePalaestina SecundaPliny's Natural HistoryJerashGadaraUmm QaisDion (Tell Ashari)AydounRaphanaJordan RiverBeit She'anHipposSussitaCanathaJebel HauranJebel al-DruzQanawatDamascusAz (al) SanamaynBaniasLysaniasAbila LysaniaeSouq Wadi BaradaTarichaeaSinnabraYardenitOnomasticonJabiyahJosephusEdward PlumptreHellenistic periodAlexander the GreatPtolemaic dynastySeleucid Empirecalendar eraPompeian eraHerodian kingdomHerodian tetrarchyRoman province of JudeadecumanuskalybeRoman roadsNew TestamentMatthewministry of JesusdisciplesGentilesMark 5Kashrutdemon-possessed manArabiaPhoenice LibanensisPompeian calendar eraByzantineChristianityEusebiusapostlesFirst Jewish–Roman WarbishopsRashidun CaliphateJewishJewish practice of circumcisiongenital mutilationassimilative nature of Hellenic civilizationcultural blending and borrowingSemitic godsPhoenicianDusharaHeptapolisDoric hexapolisPentapolisTetrapolisTripolisBulletin of the History of MedicineJohns Hopkins University PressWikisource1911 Encyclopædia BritannicaWayback MachinePhiladelphia (Amman)Gerasa (Jerash)Gadara (Umm Qais)Region Ampeloessa/Capitolias (Beit Ras)Region Ampeloessa /Abila (in Wadi Queilbeh)Pella (Tabaqat Fahl)Damascus (Dimashq)Canatha (Qanawat)Raphana (Ar-Rafi'ah)Region Abilene/Abila-Lysanea (Souq Wadi Barada)Region Paneas/Caesarea-Phillipi (Banias)Region Trachonitis (El-Musmije, Ezra,Ez Szanamain, Ard el Batanea)region Gabe/Tel Jabiah/Lake of Gabe(el Bajje) (Muzeirib/ Tell Jabiah)Hippos (Sussita)Scythopolis (Beit She'an)Region Arca/Tarichaea-Philoteria (Tiberias/Yardenit)