Near Irbid: Umm Qeis & Al-Hamma

Umm Qeis was the biblical Cadara, where Jesus exorcised a sinner’s demons into a herd of pigs which stampeded down the hill to drown in the Sea of Galilee. This thriving Decapolis city, once a resort for Romans vacationing at Al-Hamma’s therapeutic hot springs, was renowned for its theaters, writers, philosophers, and, among low-brows, for its orgiastic extravagances. The city was probably founded sometime in the 4th century BC and was later ceded by Caesar Augustus to Herod the Great, but it perished in the Jewish Rebellion of 66-70 AD.

Today, much of the Roman amphitheater survives; covered passageways stand in the back, and the six-foot, headless marble goddess that once sat at the front of the stage has moved inside. Nearby, squat, square pillars litter the ruins of the bathhouse; at one time they bolstered the bath floors to allow steam to circulate underneath. In front of the theater stand the columns of a Byzantine Church. A gatekeeper will show you around and explain the sights—a tip will be expected. (Open daily. Knock at the church door.)