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34-580: Umm Qais is located 28 km north of Irbid and 120 km north of Amman . It expanded from the ruins of ancient Gadara, which are located on a ridge 378 metres (1,240 ft) above sea level, overlooking the Sea of Tiberias , the Golan Heights , and the Yarmouk River gorge. Strategically central and located close to multiple water sources, Umm Qais has historically attracted a high level of interest. Gadara

68-625: A müdür ) and villages ( karye , each governed by a muhtar ). Revisions of 1871 to the administrative law established the nahiye (still governed by a müdür ) as an intermediate level between the kaza and the village. The term was adopted by the Principality of Serbia (1817–1833) and Principality of Montenegro (1852–1910), as nahija ( Serbian Cyrillic : нахија ). Spelled in Persian: ناحيه , it may refer to following settlements: This article about geography terminology

102-707: A hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csa), common in the Levant region. Summers are hot at days with warm nights, while winters are cool and wet, with two snowy days on average. Irbid is divided into 23 city districts forming smaller cities within the metropolitan sphere of influence of Irbid: Many villages surround the city of Irbid including: As of 2007, there were 70,000 registered students in Irbid's 10 universities, community colleges and institutes, of whom 8,000 were international students from 47 countries. This high concentration of institutions of higher education has played

136-666: A Byzantine church building in Umm Qais. Since 2005, the Orient Department of the German Archaeological Institute under the direction of Claudia Bührig has been active at Gadara. The team has uncovered Egyptian and Greek imported pottery, stamped amphorae , and a Seleucid fortress, among other things. In 2015, the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and Yarmouk University collaborated to better preserve

170-533: A final 'a', which might indicate an official version of the name. Artifacts and graves in the area show that Irbid was inhabited in the Bronze Age . Pieces of pottery and wall stones found at Tell Irbid were estimated to be made in the year 3200 B.C. A city wall dated to around 1300-1200 BC. In the Hellenistic period, Irbid, then known as Arabella was a major trade center. Before the advent of Islam , Arabella

204-595: A fortress and "the strongest of all places in the region". The Roman-Seleucid War (192–188 BCE) 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

238-407: A key role in carving a unique identity of the city. The largest universities in Irbid are: Private Schools in Irbid (sorted by alphabetical order): Most of the city's economy is based on the services sector, that is directly or indirectly related to the higher education institutions in the city, as an example there are 26 book publishing companies in the city. The number of internet cafes per capita

272-491: A regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan , it is a second-level division while in Syria , Iraq , Lebanon , Jordan , Xinjiang , and the former Ottoman Empire , where it was also called a bucak , it is a third-level or lower division. It can constitute a division of a qadaa , mintaqah or other such district -type division and

306-399: Is Al-Arabi. Established in 1945, it is one of the oldest athletic clubs in the country. As of 2008, there are 22 cultural and sport clubs registered in Irbid. Irbid hosted the 1999 Pan Arab Games . Irbid is twinned with: Nahiya A nāḥiyah ( Arabic : نَاحِيَة [ˈnaːħijah] , plural nawāḥī نَوَاحِي [naˈwaːħiː] ), also nahiyeh , nahiya or nahia , is

340-460: Is home for two campuses of Balqa Applied University and several private colleges. University Street, which defines the western border of the Yarmouk University campus, is popular with locals as well as with the occasional foreign visitors who stop by to relax in any of its numerous restaurants and cafés that open late into the night. Though not usually a major tourist destination itself, Irbid

374-572: Is home to two notable museums: the Museum of Jordanian Heritage and the Jordan Natural History Museum, both on the campus of Yarmouk University . Furthermore, Irbid's strategic location in northern Jordan makes it a convenient starting point for tourists interested in seeing the northern Jordan Valley ; visiting Umm Qais , Beit Ras ( Capitolias ), Pella , Ajloun , Umm el-Jimal and other historical sites; or traveling on to Syria . Irbid

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408-460: Is situated in northern Jordan, on a fertile plateau . As of 2010, the city of Irbid encompassed an area of 30 km , with residential areas making up 74.3% of the total area, followed by the Services areas occupying 9.5%, then Empty or unoccupied areas of 7.7%, then 4.2% is classified as Commercial areas, and 3.3% as Industrial areas, and finally gardens occupied 1% of the total city area. Irbid has

442-550: Is sometimes translated as " subdistrict ". The nahiye ( Ottoman Turkish : ناحیه ) was an administrative territorial entity of the Ottoman Empire , smaller than a kaza . The head was a mütesellim (governor) who was appointed by the Pasha . The kaza was a subdivision of a sanjak and corresponded roughly to a city with its surrounding villages. Kaza s, in turn, were divided into nahiye s (each governed by

476-565: Is the capital and largest city of Irbid Governorate . It has the second-largest metropolitan population in Jordan after Amman , with a population of around 2,003,800. As a city, Irbid is Jordan's third-largest, after Amman and Zarqa . Irbid is located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) north of Amman on the northern ridge of the Gilead , equidistant from Pella , Beit Ras ( Capitolias ), and Um Qais , and approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of

510-589: Is the highest in the world that took Irbid to the Guinness Book of World Records . Irbid is considered the cultural capital of Jordan. There is one Qualifying Industrial Zone in Irbid. The Irbid-based club Al-Hussein (Irbid) was ranked fourth in the Jordanian football premier league in the year 2008. Its home matches are held in Prince Hasan Youth City's Stadium . The other major football club in Irbid

544-468: The nahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Kinana, part of the Hauran Sanjak . It had 21 households and 15 bachelors; all Muslim , in addition to 3 Christian households. The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products; including wheat, barley, summer crops, fruit trees, goats and bee-hives. The total tax was 8,500 akçe . In 1806 Ulrich Jasper Seetzen visited Umm Qais and identified it as

578-561: The Syrian border. Irbid was built on successive Early Bronze Age settlements and was possibly the biblical Beth Arbel and the Arbila of the Decapolis , a Hellenistic league of the 1st-2nd century BCE. The population of Irbid swelled in the late 19th century, and prior to 1948 it served as a significant centre of transit trade. The city is a major ground transportation hub between Amman, Syria to

612-623: The Yarmouk River is the southern end of the Golan Heights , Syria , under Israeli occupation since the Six-Day War in 1967. Mount Hermon bordering Lebanon is visible in the distance on clear days. At Beit Rousan , now housing a visitor Centre and a museum, Greek statues and Christian mosaics discovered during archaeological excavations of ancient Gadara are exhibited. Irbid Irbid ( Arabic : إِربِد ), known in ancient times as Arabella or Arbela (Άρβηλα in Ancient Greek ),

646-593: The British and French plan to divide the region following the end of the British and French Mandates. The village's school was opened in 1922 by HRH King Abdullah I of Jordan making it the third oldest school in Jordan after those in Salt and Kerak . By 1961 the population of Umm Qais was 1,196 inhabitants. During the 1967 Arab-Israeli war Umm Qais' strategic location put it on the front line of conflict again. Heavy shelling from

680-642: The Christianisation of the Eastern Roman Empire , Gadara retained its important regional status and became for many years the seat of a Christian bishop . The Battle of Yarmouk in 636 CE a short distance from Gadara, brought the entire region under Arab-Muslim rule. On 18 January 749 CE much of the city was destroyed by the Galilee earthquake . Whilst the city was extensively damaged, archaeological evidence of limited reconstruction, including conversion of

714-531: The Golan Heights and aircraft bombing damaged both the village and the ancient city. The underground Roman mausoleum below the five-aisled basilica in the west of the ancient was discovered by accident by the Jordanian army and the large intact underground chamber was used as a temporary field hospital during the conflict. In 1974 the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology uncovered the ruins of

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748-581: The Jewish kingdom of his ally, Herod . After King Herod's death in 4 BCE, Gadara became part of the Roman province of Syria . 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

782-468: The Roman Aqueduct of Gadara in Umm Qais. This project was completed in 2018, strengthening the largest remaining subterranean Roman aqueduct. Many visitors come to Umm Qais on day trips from the capital, Amman, roughly 110 kilometres (68 mi) to the north, to see its extensive ruins and enjoy its panoramic views. The Sea of Galilee and Tiberias , Israel , are visible, and just across the valley of

816-472: The area. In 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers named as Irbid , situated in the nahiya (subdistrict) of Bani Juhma, part of the Hauran Sanjak . It had 72 households and 35 bachelors; all Muslim . The villagers paid a fixed tax-rate of 25% on agricultural products; including wheat (22,500 akçe ), barley, summer crops, fruit trees, goats and bee-hives; in addition to a market toll. The total tax

850-701: 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. 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 . 33 years later Augustus attached it to

884-416: The large five aisle basilica church into a mosque indicates the continued settlement of the site at least into the 11th Century. By the 13th Century the site is noted in historic sources under the new name of "Mukais" a local term meaning border place or customs house and from which the modern name of Umm Qais gradual derived. In 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers named as Mkeis , situated in

918-516: The location of ancient Gadara, describing the Ottoman settlement and the tombs and other monuments still visible on the surface. The ancient ruins at Um Keis were recorded again by western visitors in 1816 and 1838. By 1899 Schumacher, visiting the site as part of his survey work for the Hijaz railway records the village had expanded significantly with the construction of larger houses, noting also that many of

952-456: The military colony was founded on a pre-existing fortified site. 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

986-478: The network of rock cut tunnels included 2,900 access shafts, and a single 106 km section represents one of the most significant hydro-engineering accomplishments of the ancient world. During the Severan period (193–235 CE) 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

1020-540: The north, and Mafraq to the east. The Irbid region is also home to several colleges and universities. The two most prominent universities are Jordan University of Science and Technology and Yarmouk University . The original spelling was probably ארבאל, a name that also appears in Hosea 10:14. This name persisted among Jews and was later transmitted to the Arabs. Greek sources from the same periods also confirm this, often featuring

1054-525: The tombs recorded by early visitors were no longer present. Umm Qais's most impressive building, the Ottoman governor's residence known as Beit Rousan, "Rousan House", dates to this period of expansion in the Late Ottoman period. In 1920 the Madafa and Hosh (courtyard) of Hajj Mahmoud al Rousan's house in Umm Qais hosted a conference of Arab leaders from across the middle east to draw up a treaty in response to

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1088-471: Was 38,116 akçe . In 1838, Eli Smith noted Irbid (Arbela) as being a place with Sunni Muslim . The Jordanian census of 1961 found 44,585 inhabitants in Irbid. Irbid today combines the bustle of a provincial Middle Eastern town and the youthful nightlife of a typical college town. The city is home to four major universities: Yarmouk University, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid National University and Jadara University. In addition, it

1122-522: Was a centre of Greek culture in the region during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The oldest archaeological evidence at Umm Qais, extends back to the second half of the third century BC. 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

1156-515: Was famous for producing some of the best wines in the ancient world. The area in the region had extremely fertile soil and moderate climate, allowing the growing of high quality grapes. After the Muslim conquests, the city came under the rule of the Rashidun Caliphate and became known as Irbid, at which time it shifted from wine to olive oil production. Wheat was also an important product in

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