page_title: Pella, Jordan
section_title: Byzantine period
hierarchical_section_title: Pella, Jordan / History / Byzantine period
caption_attribution_description: A view of the eastern portion of the main mound at Pella. In the background is the Jordan Valley. The excavations seen here date from the earliest years of the renewed excavations at the site under the auspicies of the Jordanian Department of Antiquities and the University of Sydney. The preserved remains date from the Umayyad Period (seventh/eighth centuries AD) to the Early Bronze Age (3000 BC).
context_page_description: Pella is located in northwest Jordan at a rich water source within the eastern foothills of the Jordan Valley, close to the modern village of Ṭabaqat Faḥl some 27km south of the Sea of Galilee. The site is situated 130 km north of Amman, a drive of about an hour and a half, and is a shorter half an hour by car from Irbid, in the north of the country. Today the city's ruins, predominately temples, churches and housing, have been partially excavated by teams of archaeologists, and attract thousands of tourists annually but especially in spring, during which time the area is awash with spring flowers.
context_section_description: In the late Roman and Byzantine periods, the town extended over the ancient tell, across the broad central valley of the town today known as the Wadi al-Jirm (see photograph), and over the slopes and summit of the southern hill known as Tell al-Husn. By the Byzantine era, Pella had reached its maximum size and, probably, prosperity. Being part of the province of Palaestina Secunda ("second Palestine"), it certainly had a bishop by the year AD 451. At least three triapsidal churches have been identified within the city: the West Church at the western foot of the tell; the Civic Complex church in the wadi al-Jirm at the SE foot of the tell and which, due to its size and location, was probably the cathedral; and the elevated East Church on the higher slopes of the Jebel Abu el-Khas. On the tell, the entire summit was leveled off and a new gridded urban zone constructed during the time of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. The access streets were lined with newly built shops and large buildings, serving both commercial and residential functions. This concern with urban development matched similar activities in other Decapolis towns, such as Gadara (Umm Qays) and Gerasa (Jerash/Jarash), and reflects the role of regional centres in serving local populations during late antiquity.
caption: Eastern portion of main tell
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