Misplaced Pages

Decapolis: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editContent deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 12:36, 4 December 2021 editCitation bot (talk | contribs)Bots5,405,623 edits Add: s2cid, chapter-url, authors 1-1. Removed or converted URL. Removed parameters. Some additions/deletions were parameter name changes. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Abductive | #UCB_toolbar← Previous edit Latest revision as of 09:56, 29 October 2024 edit undoMonkbot (talk | contribs)Bots3,695,952 editsm Task 20: replace {lang-??} templates with {langx|??} ‹See Tfd› (Replaced 1);Tag: AWB 
(94 intermediate revisions by 53 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|Group of ten Hellenistic cities in the Levant}}
{{Other uses|Decapolis (disambiguation)}} {{Other uses|Decapolis (disambiguation)}}
{{more footnotes|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox country {{Infobox country
|native_name = {{lang|grc|Δεκάπολις}} | native_name = {{lang|grc|Δεκάπολις}}
|conventional_long_name = Decapolis | conventional_long_name = Decapolis
|common_name = Decapolis | common_name = Decapolis
|image_map = The-Decapolis-map.svg | image_map = The-Decapolis-map.svg
| map_caption = The ten cities of Decapolis marked in black
|era = <!-- ], ], ], ] -->
|empire = ] | era = <!-- ], ], ], ] -->
| empire = ]
|government_type = Client state
| government_type = Client state
|year_start = 63 BC
|year_end = AD 106 | year_start = 63 BC
|p1 = Coele-Syria | year_end = AD 106
| p1 = Coele-Syria
|flag_p1 = SeleucosCoin.jpg
|p2 = Hasmonean kingdom | p2 = Hasmonean kingdom
|flag_p2 = Menora Titus.png | s1 = Arabia Petraea
|s1 = Arabia Petraea | s2 = Syria Palaestina
| capital =
|flag_s1 = Vexilloid of the Roman Empire.svg
| common_languages = ], ], ], ], ]
|s2 = Syria Palaestina
| religion = ], ]
|flag_s2 = Vexilloid of the Roman Empire.svg
| event_end = ]'s annexation of ]
|capital =
| event_start = ]'s conquest of Syria
|common_languages = ], ], ], ], ]
| today = ]<br/>]<br/>]
|religion = ]
|event_end = ]'s annexation of ]
|event_start = ]'s conquest of Syria
|today=]<br/>]<br/>]
}} }}
{{coord|32.7167|N|35.8000|E|source:wikidata|display=title}}
The '''Decapolis''' (Greek: {{lang-grc|Δεκάπολις|Dekápolis|Ten Cities|label=none}}) was a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the ] in the southeastern ] in the first centuries BC and AD. They formed a group because of their language, culture, location, and political status, with each functioning as an autonomous ] dependent on Rome. They are sometimes described as a league of cities, although some scholars believe that they were never formally organized as a political unit.
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}


The '''Decapolis''' (Greek: {{langx|grc|Δεκάπολις|Dekápolis|Ten Cities|label=none}}) was a group of ten ] cities on the eastern frontier of the ] in the ] in the first centuries BC and AD. Most of the cities were located to the east of the ], between ], ], ], and ].<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Guy MacLean |title=For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE |date=2021 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-24813-5 |location=New Haven |pages=536}}</ref>
The Decapolis was a center of Greek and Roman culture in a region which was otherwise populated by Semitic-speaking people (], ], and ]). In the time of the Emperor ], the cities were placed into the provinces of ] and ]; several cities were later placed in ] and ]. Most of the Decapolis region is located in Jordan, except ] (in Syria), and ] and ] (in Israel).


The Decapolis was a center of ] and ] in a region which was otherwise populated by ], Arab ] and ].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kropp|first1=Andreas|last2=Mohammad|first2=Qasim|date=2006|title=Dion of the Decapolis: Tell al-Ash'arīin southern Syria in the light of ancient documents and recent discoveries|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/lev.2006.38.1.125|journal=Levant|volume=38|issue=1|pages=125–144|doi=10.1179/lev.2006.38.1.125|s2cid=162405924 |issn=0075-8914|quote=The Decapolis was a peculiar agglomeration of Hellenized cities placed between Jewish Palestine, Nabatean Arabia and the Hauran.}}</ref> The cities formed a group because of their ], ], ], location, and political status, with each functioning as an autonomous ] dependent on Rome. They are sometimes described as a league of cities, although some scholars{{who|date=July 2023}} believe that they were never formally organized as a political unit.
== Cities ==
] and ] of Gerasa (])]]
The names of the traditional Ten Cities of the Decapolis come from ].<ref>Natural History, 5.16.74</ref> They are:
# ] (]) in Jordan
# ] later ] also Dion, ] in Arabic, in Jordan
# Scythopolis (]) in Israel, the only city west of the ]
# ] (also Hippus or Sussita; Al-Husn in Arabic) on the Golan Heights
# ] (]) in Jordan
# ] (west of ]) in Jordan
# ], modern day ], the capital of ]
# Canatha (]) in Syria
# ], usually identified with ] in Jordan
# ], the capital of modern ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Decapolis-ancient-cities-Palestine |title=Decapolis - Ancient Greek League, Palestine |website=Encyclopædia Britannica Online Edition }}</ref>


In the time of the Emperor ], the cities were incorporated into the provinces of ] and ]; several cities were later placed in ] and ]. The Decapolis region is located in modern-day ] (Philadelphia, Gerasa, Pella and Gadara), ] (Scythopolis and Hippos) and ] (Raphana, Dion, Canatha and Damascus).
Damascus was further north than the others and so is sometimes thought to have been an "honorary" member. ] stated that Scythopolis was the largest of the ten towns.<ref>, accessed 6 December 2016</ref> §Biblical commentator ] therefore suggested that Damascus was not included in Josephus' list.<ref>Plumptre, E. H., in on Matthew 4, accessed 6 December 2016</ref> According to other sources, there may have been as many as eighteen or nineteen Greco-Roman cities counted as part of the Decapolis.

==Cities==
The names of the traditional ten cities of the Decapolis come from ].<ref>Natural History, 5.16.74</ref> They are:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!City
!Comments
!Location
|-
|]
|Capital of modern Jordan
|{{flagicon|Jordan}} ], Jordan
|-
|]
|
|{{flagicon|Jordan}} ], Jordan
|-
|]
|
|{{flagicon|Jordan}} ], ]
|-
|]
|West of ]
|{{flagicon|Jordan}} Tabaqat Fahl, ]
|-
|]
|Sometimes also identified with ]
|{{flagicon|Syria}} Tell Ashari, Syria
|-
|]
|Usually identified also with Raepta and Arpha<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kleb |first=Jens |date=2022 |title=Raphana of the Decapolis and its successor Arpha - The search for an eminent Greco-Roman City |url=https://peercommunityjournal.org/item/10_24072_pcjournal_201/ |journal=Peer Community Journal |language=fr |volume=2 |doi=10.24072/pcjournal.201 |s2cid=254729593 |issn=2804-3871|doi-access=free }}</ref>
|{{flagicon|Syria}} Ar-Rafi'ah, Syria
|-
|]
|Only city west of the ]
|{{flagicon|Israel}} ], ]
|-
|]
|Mentioned by Pliny as Dio Hippos, usually this entity is divided into Dion and Hippos. The Aramaic name of Hippos was ]
|{{flagicon|Israel}} ], ]
|-
|]
|A city rich on water, at the north-western slope of the ] (Mons Al-Sadamus, ])
|{{flagicon|Syria}} ], Syria
|-
|]
|Capital of modern Syria<ref>{{cite web|title=Decapolis - Ancient Greek League, Palestine|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Decapolis-ancient-cities-Palestine|website=Encyclopædia Britannica Online Edition}}</ref>
|{{flagicon|Syria}} Damascus, Syria
|-
| colspan="3" |Pliny also mentions in his enumeration important regions around and between the cities
|-
|Trachonitis
|the ]/Leja, including the surroundings from ] (west) until the ] (Batanaea Plain) in the east of it.
|{{flagicon|Syria}} el-Mushmije, Ezra, Khalkhale, Syria
|-
|Paneas
|The region around ]/Caesarea Phillipi
|{{flagicon|Syria}} Banias, Syria
|-
|Abilene
|The small realm of ], see ]
|{{flagicon|Syria}} ], Syria
|-
|Arca
|The western part around the See of Galilee with ] (]: Ταριχαία or Ταριχέα) and at its southern end.
|{{flagicon|Israel}} ], ], ]
|-
|Ampelloessa
|Usually identified with ] also known as "Abila Viniferos", 12 miles east of Gadara (see ]) and Capitolias
|{{flagicon|Jordan}} Abila, Beit Ras, Ard el-Karm, Jordan
|-
|Gabe
|Region of Gabe, later also known as ]
|{{flagicon|Syria}} Muzeirib / Nawa, Syria
|}
Damascus was further north than the others and so is sometimes thought to have been an "honorary" member. ] states that Scythopolis was the largest of the ten towns.<ref>, accessed 6 December 2016</ref> Biblical commentator ] suggests that this is the reason why Damascus was not included in Josephus' list.<ref>Plumptre, E. H., in on Matthew 4, accessed 6 December 2016</ref> According to other sources, there may have been as many as 18 or 19 Greco-Roman cities counted as part of the Decapolis.


==History== ==History==
=== Hellenistic era === ===Hellenistic period===
], Israel)]]
Except for Damascus, the Decapolis cities were by and large founded during the ], between the death of ] in 323 BC and the Roman conquest of ], including Judea in 63 BC. Some were established under the ] which ruled Judea until 198 BC. Others were founded later, when the ] ruled the region. Some of the cities included "Antiochia" or "Seleucia" in their official names (''Antiochia Hippos'', for example), which attest to Seleucid origins. The cities were Greek from their founding, modeling themselves on the Greek ].
Except for Scythopolis, Damascus and Canatha, the Decapolis cities were by and large founded during the ], between the death of ] in 323 BC and the Roman conquest of ], including ] in 63 BC. Some were established under the ] which ruled Judea until 198 BC. Others were founded later, when the ] ruled the region. Some of the cities included "Antiochia" or "Seleucia" in their official names (''Antiochia Hippos'', for example), which attest to Seleucid origins. The cities were Greek from their founding, modeling themselves on the Greek ].


In 63 BC, the Roman general ] conquered the eastern Mediterranean. The people of the Hellenized cities, who were under the rule of the Jewish ],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Millar |first=Fergus |title=The Roman Near East: 31 BC–AD 337 |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-674-77886-3 |edition= |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=39 |chapter=For the moment it is enough to recall that when Pompey had acquired the area for Rome in the 60s, he had made a deliberate point of liberating all those cities in this area which had been under Jewish rule (following conquests by the Hasmoneans), and had made them part of the province of Syria. |quote=}}</ref> welcomed Pompey as a liberator. When Pompey reorganized the region, he awarded a group of these cities with autonomy under Roman protection; this was the origin of the Decapolis. For centuries the cities based their ] on this conquest: 63 BC was the epochal year of the ], used to count the years throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods.
The Decapolis was a region where two cultures interacted: the culture of the Greek colonists and the indigenous Semitic culture. There was some conflict. The Greek inhabitants were shocked by the Semitic practice of ], while various elements of Semitic dissent towards the dominant and assimilative nature of Hellenic civilization arose gradually in the face of assimilation.


===Autonomy under Rome===
At the same time, cultural blending and borrowing also occurred in the Decapolis region. The cities acted as centers for the diffusion of Greek culture. Some local deities began to be called by the name '']'', from the chief Greek god. Meanwhile, in some cities Greeks began worshipping these local "Zeus" deities alongside their own ''Zeus Olympios''. There is evidence that the colonists adopted the worship of other Semitic gods, including ]n deities and the chief Nabatean god, ] (worshipped under his Hellenized name, ''Dusares''). The worship of these Semitic gods is attested to in coins and inscriptions from the cities.
Under Roman rule, the cities of the Decapolis were not included in the territory of the ], its successor states of the ], or the ]. Instead, the cities were allowed considerable political autonomy under Roman protection. Each city functioned as a polis or ], with jurisdiction over an area of the surrounding countryside. Each minted its own coins. Many coins from Decapolis cities identify their city as "autonomous," "free," "sovereign," or "sacred"—terms that imply some sort of self-governing status.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Mare |first=Harold W. |editor-first=David Noel |editor-last=Freedman |title=Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible |publisher=William B. Eerdman's Publishing Company |date=2000 |pages= |chapter=Decapolis |isbn=0-8028-2400-5 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/eerdmansdictiona0000unse/page/333 }}</ref>


] and ] of Gerasa (], Jordan)]]
The Roman general ] conquered the eastern Mediterranean in 63 BC. The people of the Hellenized cities welcomed Pompey as a liberator from the Jewish ] kingdom that had ruled much of the area. When Pompey reorganized the region, he awarded a group of these cities with autonomy under Roman protection. This was the origin of the Decapolis. For centuries the cities based their ] on this conquest: 63 BC was the epochal year of the ], used to count the years throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods.
The Romans left their cultural stamp on all of the cities. Each one was eventually rebuilt with a Roman-style grid of streets based around a central ] and/or ]. The Romans sponsored and built numerous temples and other public buildings. The ], the worship of the Roman emperor, was a very common practice throughout the Decapolis and was one of the features that linked the cities. A small open-air temple or façade, called a ], was unique to the region.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Segal |first=Arthur |date=2001 |title=The "Kalybe Structures" : Temples for the Imperial Cult in Hauran and Trachon: An Historical-architectural Analysis |journal=Assaph: Studies in Art History |publisher=Tel Aviv University |volume=6 |pages=91–118 }}</ref>
]
The cities may also have enjoyed strong commercial ties, fostered by a network of new ]. This has led to their common identification today as a "federation" or "league". 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.<ref>"Decapolis" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East. Ed. Eric M. Meyers, S. Thomas Parker. Oxford Biblical Studies Online. Nov 14, 2016.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ww1.oxfordbiblicalcstudies.com/?subid1=567cc02c-706c-11e9-83ad-a6e1c2575d0f|title=oxfordbiblicalcstudies.com|website=ww1.oxfordbiblicalcstudies.com|access-date=2019-05-07|archive-date=9 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509110923/http://ww1.oxfordbiblicalcstudies.com/%3Fsubid1%3D567cc02c-706c-11e9-83ad-a6e1c2575d0f|url-status=dead}}</ref>


The ] gospels of ], ], and ] mention that the Decapolis region was a location of the ]. According to {{Bibleverse||Matthew|4:23-25|NKJV}} the Decapolis was one of the areas from which Jesus drew his multitude of ], attracted by His "healing all kinds of sickness". The Decapolis was one of the few regions where Jesus travelled in which ]s were in the majority: most of Jesus' ministry focused on teaching to Jews. ]:] emphasizes the Decapolis' gentile character when Jesus encounters a herd of pigs, an animal forbidden by ], the Jewish dietary laws. A ] healed by Jesus in this passage asks to be included among the disciples who traveled with Jesus; but Jesus does not permit him, as he wanted him to tell his friends what the Lord had done and instructs him to remain in the Decapolis region.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Mark|5:18-20|NKJV}}</ref>
=== Autonomy under Rome ===
]
Under Roman rule, the cities of the Decapolis were not included in the territory of the ], its successor states of the ], or the ]. Instead, the cities were allowed considerable political autonomy under Roman protection. Each city functioned as a polis or ], with jurisdiction over an area of the surrounding countryside. Each minted its own coins. Many coins from Decapolis cities identify their city as "autonomous," "free," "sovereign," or "sacred," terms that imply some sort of self-governing status.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Mare |first=Harold W. |editor-first=David Noel |editor-last=Freedman |title=Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible |publisher=William B. Eerdman's Publishing Company |date=2000 |pages= |chapter=Decapolis |isbn=0-8028-2400-5 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/eerdmansdictiona0000unse/page/333 }}</ref>


===Direct Roman rule===
The Romans left their cultural stamp on all of the cities. Each one was eventually rebuilt with a Roman-style grid of streets based around a central ] and/or ]. The Romans sponsored and built numerous temples and other public buildings. The ], the worship of the Roman emperor, was a very common practice throughout the Decapolis and was one of the features that linked the different cities. A small open-air temple or façade, called a ], was unique to the region.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Segal |first=Arthur |date=2001 |title=The "Kalybe Structures" : Temples for the Imperial Cult in Hauran and Trachon: An Historical-architectural Analysis |journal=Assaph: Studies in Art History |publisher=Tel Aviv University |volume=6 |pages=91–118 }}</ref>
]
The Decapolis came under direct Roman rule in AD 106, when ] was annexed during the reign of the emperor ]. The cities were divided between the new province and the provinces of ] and ].<ref name="auto"/> In the later Roman Empire, they were divided between ] and ], of which Scythopolis served as the provincial capital; while Damascus became part of ]. The cities continued to be distinct from their neighbors within their provinces, distinguished for example by their use of the ] and their continuing Hellenistic identities. However, the Decapolis was no longer a unit of administration.


The Roman and ] Decapolis region was influenced and gradually taken over by ]. Some cities were more receptive than others to the new religion. Pella was a base for some of the earliest church leaders (] reports that the ] fled there to escape the ]). In other cities, paganism persisted long into the Byzantine era. Eventually, however, the region became almost entirely Christian, and most of the cities served as seats of ]s.
The cities may also have enjoyed strong commercial ties, fostered by a network of new ]s. This has led to their common identification today as a "federation" or "league". 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.<ref>"Decapolis" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East. Ed. Eric M. Meyers, S. Thomas Parker. Oxford Biblical Studies Online. Nov 14, 2016.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ww1.oxfordbiblicalcstudies.com/?subid1=567cc02c-706c-11e9-83ad-a6e1c2575d0f|title=oxfordbiblicalcstudies.com|website=ww1.oxfordbiblicalcstudies.com|access-date=2019-05-07}}</ref>


Most of the cities continued into the late Roman and Byzantine periods. Some were abandoned in the years following Palestine's conquest by the ] in 641, but other cities continued to be inhabited long into the Islamic period.
The ] gospels of ], ], and ] mention that the Decapolis region was a location of the ministry of ]. According to {{Bibleverse||Matthew|4:23-25|NKJV}} the Decapolis was one of the areas from which Jesus drew his multitude of ], attracted by His "healing all kinds of sickness". The Decapolis was one of the few regions where Jesus travelled in which ]s were in the majority: most of Jesus' ministry focused on teaching to Jews. ]:] emphasizes the Decapolis' gentile character when Jesus encounters a herd of ]s, an animal forbidden by ], the Jewish dietary laws. A ] healed by Jesus in this passage asked to be included among the disciples who traveled with Jesus; but Jesus did not permit him, as he wanted him to tell his friends what the Lord had done and instructed him to remain in the Decapolis region.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Mark|5:18-20|NKJV}}</ref>


==Evolution and excavation==
=== Direct Roman rule ===
Jerash (Gerasa) and Bet She'an (Scythopolis) survive as towns today, after periods of abandonment or serious decline. Damascus has never lost its prominent role throughout later history. Philadelphia was long abandoned but was revived in the 19th century and has become the capital city of Jordan under the name ]. Twentieth-century archaeology has identified most of the other cities on Pliny's list, and most have undergone or are undergoing considerable excavation.<ref>Segal, Arthur. Zinman Institute of Archaeology, Haifa University.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Parker|first=S. Thomas|date=September 1999|title=An Empire's New Holy Land: The Byzantine Period|journal=Near Eastern Archaeology|volume=62|issue=3|pages=134–180|doi=10.2307/3210712|issn=1094-2076|jstor=3210712|s2cid=164178042}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Meyers|first=Eric M.|date=December 1996|title=The Making of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East|journal=The Biblical Archaeologist|volume=59|issue=4|pages=194–197|doi=10.2307/3210561|issn=0006-0895|jstor=3210561|s2cid=165422294}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Collins|first=Adela Yarbro|date=August 1996|title=The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Ephraim Stern, Ayelet Lewinson-Gilboa, Joseph Aviram|journal=History of Religions|volume=36|issue=1|pages=81–83|doi=10.1086/463453|issn=0018-2710}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chancey|first1=Mark Alan|last2=Porter|first2=Adam Lowry|date=December 2001|title=The Archaeology of Roman Palestine|journal=Near Eastern Archaeology|volume=64|issue=4|pages=164–203|doi=10.2307/3210829|issn=1094-2076|jstor=3210829|s2cid=163466008}}</ref>
]


== Culture ==
The Decapolis came under direct Roman rule in AD 106, when ] was annexed during the reign of the emperor ]. The cities were divided between the new province and the provinces of ] and ].<ref name="auto"/> In the later Roman Empire, they were divided between ] and ], of which Scythopolis served as the provincial capital; while Damascus became part of ]. The cities continued to be distinct from their neighbors within their provinces, distinguished for example by their use of the ] and their continuing Hellenistic identities. However, the Decapolis was no longer a unit of administration.
The Decapolis was a region where two cultures interacted: the culture of the Greek colonists and the indigenous ] and Aramean cultures. There was some conflict. The Greek inhabitants were shocked by the ], which was regarded as a cruel and barbaric ].<ref name="Hodges2001">{{cite journal |last=Hodges |first=Frederick M. |year=2001 |title=The Ideal Prepuce in Ancient Greece and Rome: Male Genital Aesthetics and Their Relation to Lipodermos, Circumcision, Foreskin Restoration, and the Kynodesme |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/history/hodges2/ |format=PDF |journal=] |publisher=] |volume=75 |issue=Fall 2001 |pages=375–405 |doi=10.1353/bhm.2001.0119 |pmid=11568485 |s2cid=29580193 |access-date=13 February 2020}}</ref> Various elements of Jewish dissent towards the dominant and ] arose gradually in the face of assimilation. At the same time, ] also occurred in the Decapolis region.

The Roman and ] Decapolis region was influenced and gradually taken over by ]. Some cities were more receptive than others to the new religion. Pella was a base for some of the earliest church leaders (] reports that the ] fled there to escape the ]). In other cities, paganism persisted long into the Byzantine era. Eventually, however, the region became almost entirely Christian, and most of the cities served as seats of ]s.

Most of the cities continued into the late Roman and Byzantine periods. Some were abandoned in the years following Palestine's conquest by the ] in 641, but other cities continued to be inhabited long into the Islamic period.


The cities acted as centers for the diffusion of Hellenistic culture. Some local deities began to be called by the name ], from the chief Greek god. Meanwhile, in some cities Greeks began worshipping these local "Zeus" deities alongside their own Zeus Olympios. There is evidence that the colonists adopted the worship of other ], including ]n deities and the chief Nabatean god, ] (worshipped under his Hellenized name, ''Dusares''). The worship of these Semitic gods is attested in coins and inscriptions from the cities.
== Evolution and excavation ==
{{Expand section|date=December 2009}}
Jerash (Gerasa) and Bet She'an (Scythopolis) survive as towns today, after periods of abandonement or serious decline. Damascus has never lost its prominent role throughout later history. Philadelphia was long abandoned, but was revived in the 19th century and has become the capital city of Jordan under the name Amman. Twentieth-century archaeology has identified most of the other cities on Pliny's list, and most have undergone or are undergoing considerable excavation.<ref>Segal, Arthur. Zinman Institute of Archaeology, Haifa University.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Parker|first=S. Thomas|date=September 1999|title=An Empire's New Holy Land: The Byzantine Period|journal=Near Eastern Archaeology|volume=62|issue=3|pages=134–180|doi=10.2307/3210712|issn=1094-2076|jstor=3210712|s2cid=164178042}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Meyers|first=Eric M.|date=December 1996|title=The Making of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East|journal=The Biblical Archaeologist|volume=59|issue=4|pages=194–197|doi=10.2307/3210561|issn=0006-0895|jstor=3210561|s2cid=165422294}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Collins|first=Adela Yarbro|date=August 1996|title=The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Ephraim Stern , Ayelet Lewinson-Gilboa , Joseph Aviram|journal=History of Religions|volume=36|issue=1|pages=81–83|doi=10.1086/463453|issn=0018-2710}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chancey|first1=Mark Alan|last2=Porter|first2=Adam Lowry|date=December 2001|title=The Archaeology of Roman Palestine|journal=Near Eastern Archaeology|volume=64|issue=4|pages=164–203|doi=10.2307/3210829|issn=1094-2076|jstor=3210829|s2cid=163466008}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
*] (meaning seven cities) * ] (meaning seven cities)
*] (six) * ] (six)
*] (five) * ] (five)
*] (four) * ] (four)
*] (three) * ] (three)


== References == ==References==
{{Reflist}} {{Reflist}}


== External links == ==External links==
{{commons category|Decapolis}} {{commons category|Decapolis}}
{{EB1911 Poster|Decapolis}}
*
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050205085724/http://www.bibarch.com/ArchaeologicalSites/Decapolis.htm |date=5 February 2005 }}
* *
* of a 2003 book, ''Kulte und Kultur der Dekapolis (Cults and Culture of the Decapolis)''. The review contains information on the religious syncretism in the Hellenistic and Roman Decapolis. Contains some passages in German. *
* of a 2003 book, ''Kulte und Kultur der Dekapolis (Cults and Culture of the Decapolis)''. The review contains information on the religious syncretism in the Hellenistic and Roman Decapolis. Contains some passages in German.
*
* . Atlas Tours.


{{Decapolis cities}} {{Decapolis cities}}
{{coord|32.7167|N|35.8000|E|source:wikidata|display=title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}


] ]

Latest revision as of 09:56, 29 October 2024

Group of ten Hellenistic cities in the Levant For other uses, see Decapolis (disambiguation).
DecapolisΔεκάπολις
63 BC–AD 106
The ten cities of Decapolis marked in blackThe ten cities of Decapolis marked in black
Common languagesKoine Greek, Aramaic, Arabic, Latin, Hebrew
Religion Hellenistic religion, Imperial Cult
GovernmentClient state
History 
• Pompey's conquest of Syria 63 BC
• Trajan's annexation of Arabia Petrea AD 106
Preceded by Succeeded by
Coele-Syria
Hasmonean kingdom
Arabia Petraea
Syria Palaestina
Today part ofIsrael
Jordan
Syria

32°43′00″N 35°48′00″E / 32.7167°N 35.8000°E / 32.7167; 35.8000

The Decapolis (Greek: Δεκάπολις, Dekápolis, 'Ten Cities') was a group of ten Hellenistic cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in the Southern Levant in the first centuries BC and AD. Most of the cities were located to the east of the Jordan Rift Valley, between Judaea, Iturea, Nabataea, and Syria.

The Decapolis was a center of Hellenistic and Roman culture in a region which was otherwise populated by Jews, Arab Nabataeans and Arameans. 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. They are sometimes described as a league of cities, although some scholars believe that they were never formally organized as a political unit.

In the time of the Emperor Trajan, the cities were incorporated into the provinces of Syria and Arabia Petraea; several cities were later placed in Syria Palaestina and Palaestina Secunda. 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).

Cities

The names of the traditional ten cities of the Decapolis come from Pliny's Natural History. They are:

City Comments Location
Philadelphia Capital of modern Jordan Jordan Amman, Jordan
Gerasa Jordan Jerash, Jordan
Gadara Jordan Umm Qais, Jordan
Pella West of Irbid Jordan Tabaqat Fahl, Jordan
Dion (Tell Ashari) Sometimes also identified with Aydoun Syria Tell Ashari, Syria
Raphana Usually identified also with Raepta and Arpha Syria Ar-Rafi'ah, Syria
Scythopolis Only city west of the Jordan River Israel Beit She'an, Israel
Hippos Mentioned by Pliny as Dio Hippos, usually this entity is divided into Dion and Hippos. The Aramaic name of Hippos was Sussita Israel Sussita, Israel
Canatha A city rich on water, at the north-western slope of the Jebel Hauran (Mons Al-Sadamus, Jebel al-Druz) Syria Qanawat, Syria
Damascus Capital of modern Syria Syria Damascus, Syria
Pliny also mentions in his enumeration important regions around and between the cities
Trachonitis the Lajat/Leja, including the surroundings from Az (al) Sanamayn (west) until the Ard of Batanea (Batanaea Plain) in the east of it. Syria el-Mushmije, Ezra, Khalkhale, Syria
Paneas The region around Banias/Caesarea Phillipi Syria Banias, Syria
Abilene The small realm of Lysanias, see Abila Lysaniae Syria Souq Wadi Barada, Syria
Arca The western part around the See of Galilee with Tarichaea (Greek: Ταριχαία or Ταριχέα) and Philoteria at its southern end. Israel Sinnabra, Yardenit, Israel
Ampelloessa Usually identified with Abila also known as "Abila Viniferos", 12 miles east of Gadara (see Onomasticon) and Capitolias Jordan Abila, Beit Ras, Ard el-Karm, Jordan
Gabe Region of Gabe, later also known as Jabiyah Syria Muzeirib / Nawa, Syria

Damascus was further north than the others and so is sometimes thought to have been an "honorary" member. Josephus states that Scythopolis was the largest of the ten towns. Biblical commentator Edward Plumptre suggests that this is the reason why Damascus was not included in Josephus' list. According to other sources, there may have been as many as 18 or 19 Greco-Roman cities counted as part of the Decapolis.

History

Hellenistic period

Roman theatre and cardo of Scythopolis (Beit She'an, Israel)

Except for Scythopolis, Damascus and Canatha, the Decapolis cities were by and large founded during the Hellenistic period, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the Roman conquest of Coele-Syria, including Judea in 63 BC. Some were established under the Ptolemaic dynasty which ruled Judea until 198 BC. Others were founded later, when the Seleucid Empire ruled the region. Some of the cities included "Antiochia" or "Seleucia" in their official names (Antiochia Hippos, for example), which attest to Seleucid origins. The cities were Greek from their founding, modeling themselves on the Greek polis.

In 63 BC, the Roman general Pompey conquered the eastern Mediterranean. The people of the Hellenized cities, who were under the rule of the Jewish Hasmonean Kingdom, welcomed Pompey as a liberator. When Pompey reorganized the region, he awarded a group of these cities with autonomy under Roman protection; this was the origin of the Decapolis. For centuries the cities based their calendar era on this conquest: 63 BC was the epochal year of the Pompeian era, used to count the years throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods.

Autonomy under Rome

Under Roman rule, the cities of the Decapolis were not included in the territory of the Herodian kingdom, its successor states of the Herodian tetrarchy, or the Roman province of Judea. Instead, the cities were allowed considerable political autonomy under Roman protection. Each city functioned as a polis or city-state, with jurisdiction over an area of the surrounding countryside. Each minted its own coins. Many coins from Decapolis cities identify their city as "autonomous," "free," "sovereign," or "sacred"—terms that imply some sort of self-governing status.

The oval forum and cardo of Gerasa (Jerash, Jordan)

The Romans left their cultural stamp on all of the cities. Each one was eventually rebuilt with a Roman-style grid of streets based around a central cardo and/or decumanus. The Romans sponsored and built numerous temples and other public buildings. The imperial cult, the worship of the Roman emperor, was a very common practice throughout the Decapolis and was one of the features that linked the cities. A small open-air temple or façade, called a kalybe, was unique to the region.

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 cities may also have enjoyed strong commercial ties, fostered by a network of new Roman roads. This has led to their common identification today as a "federation" or "league". 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.

The New Testament gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke mention that the Decapolis region was a location of the ministry of Jesus. According to Matthew 4:23–25 the Decapolis was one of the areas from which Jesus drew his multitude of disciples, attracted by His "healing all kinds of sickness". The Decapolis was one of the few regions where Jesus travelled in which Gentiles were in the majority: most of Jesus' ministry focused on teaching to Jews. 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. A demon-possessed man healed by Jesus in this passage asks to be included among the disciples who traveled with Jesus; but Jesus does not permit him, as he wanted him to tell his friends what the Lord had done and instructs him to remain in the Decapolis region.

Direct Roman rule

The provinces of the East in the year 400

The Decapolis came under direct Roman rule in AD 106, when Arabia Petraea was annexed during the reign of the emperor Trajan. The cities were divided between the new province and the provinces of Syria and Judea. 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. The cities continued to be distinct from their neighbors within their provinces, distinguished for example by their use of the Pompeian calendar era and their continuing Hellenistic identities. However, the Decapolis was no longer a unit of administration.

The Roman and Byzantine Decapolis region was influenced and gradually taken over by Christianity. Some cities were more receptive than others to the new religion. Pella was a base for some of the earliest church leaders (Eusebius reports that the apostles fled there to escape the First Jewish–Roman War). In other cities, paganism persisted long into the Byzantine era. Eventually, however, the region became almost entirely Christian, and most of the cities served as seats of bishops.

Most of the cities continued into the late Roman and Byzantine periods. 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.

Evolution and excavation

Jerash (Gerasa) and Bet She'an (Scythopolis) survive as towns today, after periods of abandonment or serious decline. Damascus has never lost its prominent role throughout later history. Philadelphia was long abandoned but was revived in the 19th century and has become the capital city of Jordan under the name Amman. Twentieth-century archaeology has identified most of the other cities on Pliny's list, and most have undergone or are undergoing considerable excavation.

Culture

The Decapolis was a region where two cultures interacted: the culture of the Greek colonists and the indigenous Jewish and Aramean cultures. There was some conflict. The Greek inhabitants were shocked by the Jewish practice of circumcision, which was regarded as a cruel and barbaric genital mutilation. Various elements of Jewish dissent towards the dominant and assimilative nature of Hellenic civilization arose gradually in the face of assimilation. At the same time, cultural blending and borrowing also occurred in the Decapolis region.

The cities acted as centers for the diffusion of Hellenistic culture. Some local deities began to be called by the name Zeus, from the chief Greek god. Meanwhile, in some cities Greeks began worshipping these local "Zeus" deities alongside their own Zeus Olympios. There is evidence that the colonists adopted the worship of other Semitic gods, including Phoenician deities and the chief Nabatean god, Dushara (worshipped under his Hellenized name, Dusares). The worship of these Semitic gods is attested in coins and inscriptions from the cities.

See also

References

  1. Rogers, Guy MacLean (2021). For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 536. ISBN 978-0-300-24813-5.
  2. Kropp, Andreas; Mohammad, Qasim (2006). "Dion of the Decapolis: Tell al-Ash'arīin southern Syria in the light of ancient documents and recent discoveries". Levant. 38 (1): 125–144. doi:10.1179/lev.2006.38.1.125. ISSN 0075-8914. S2CID 162405924. The Decapolis was a peculiar agglomeration of Hellenized cities placed between Jewish Palestine, Nabatean Arabia and the Hauran.
  3. Natural History, 5.16.74
  4. Kleb, Jens (2022). "Raphana of the Decapolis and its successor Arpha - The search for an eminent Greco-Roman City". Peer Community Journal (in French). 2. doi:10.24072/pcjournal.201. ISSN 2804-3871. S2CID 254729593.
  5. "Decapolis - Ancient Greek League, Palestine". Encyclopædia Britannica Online Edition.
  6. Wars of the Jews, Book 3, chapter 9, section 7, accessed 6 December 2016
  7. Plumptre, E. H., in Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers on Matthew 4, accessed 6 December 2016
  8. Millar, Fergus (1995). "For the moment it is enough to recall that when Pompey had acquired the area for Rome in the 60s, he had made a deliberate point of liberating all those cities in this area which had been under Jewish rule (following conquests by the Hasmoneans), and had made them part of the province of Syria.". The Roman Near East: 31 BC–AD 337. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-674-77886-3.
  9. ^ Mare, Harold W. (2000). "Decapolis". In Freedman, David Noel (ed.). Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible. William B. Eerdman's Publishing Company. pp. 333–334. ISBN 0-8028-2400-5.
  10. Segal, Arthur (2001). "The "Kalybe Structures" : Temples for the Imperial Cult in Hauran and Trachon: An Historical-architectural Analysis". Assaph: Studies in Art History. 6. Tel Aviv University: 91–118.
  11. "Decapolis" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East. Ed. Eric M. Meyers, S. Thomas Parker. Oxford Biblical Studies Online. Nov 14, 2016.
  12. "oxfordbiblicalcstudies.com". ww1.oxfordbiblicalcstudies.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  13. Mark 5:18–20
  14. Segal, Arthur. "The 'Kalybe' Structures." Zinman Institute of Archaeology, Haifa University.
  15. Parker, S. Thomas (September 1999). "An Empire's New Holy Land: The Byzantine Period". Near Eastern Archaeology. 62 (3): 134–180. doi:10.2307/3210712. ISSN 1094-2076. JSTOR 3210712. S2CID 164178042.
  16. Meyers, Eric M. (December 1996). "The Making of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East". The Biblical Archaeologist. 59 (4): 194–197. doi:10.2307/3210561. ISSN 0006-0895. JSTOR 3210561. S2CID 165422294.
  17. Collins, Adela Yarbro (August 1996). "The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Ephraim Stern, Ayelet Lewinson-Gilboa, Joseph Aviram". History of Religions. 36 (1): 81–83. doi:10.1086/463453. ISSN 0018-2710.
  18. Chancey, Mark Alan; Porter, Adam Lowry (December 2001). "The Archaeology of Roman Palestine". Near Eastern Archaeology. 64 (4): 164–203. doi:10.2307/3210829. ISSN 1094-2076. JSTOR 3210829. S2CID 163466008.
  19. Hodges, Frederick M. (2001). "The Ideal Prepuce in Ancient Greece and Rome: Male Genital Aesthetics and Their Relation to Lipodermos, Circumcision, Foreskin Restoration, and the Kynodesme" (PDF). Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 75 (Fall 2001). Johns Hopkins University Press: 375–405. doi:10.1353/bhm.2001.0119. PMID 11568485. S2CID 29580193. Retrieved 13 February 2020.

External links

Decapolis cities (in bold), with surrounding regions mentioned by Pliny t. E.
Jordan
Syria
Israel
Categories: