Jerash

 ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ

Jerash is the site of the ruins of the Greco-Roman city of Gerasa, also referred to as Antioch on the Golden River. Ancient Greek inscriptions from the city as well as literary sources from both Iamblichus and the Etymologicum Magnum support that the city was founded by Alexander the Great or his general Perdiccas, who settled aged Macedonian soldiers there (γῆρας - gēras means "old age" in Ancient Greek).

 View of ancient Greek lettering inscribed stone wall at the ancient city. In the background is the modern city

History 

In a remote, quiet valley among the mountains of Gilead lie the ruins of Jerash, at one time a city of the Decapolis, and the only one of that powerful league through whose streets and monuments we can wander and see them as they were in its heyday, untouched except by the hand of time. Greater cities, such as Gadara and Philadelphia, have vanished almost without trace, but the remoteness of Jerash has saved it from being used as a stone quarry for nearby towns and villages, and it is one of the most complete examples of a provincial Roman city to be seen anywhere. The setting adds greatly to the charm of the place, lying as it does in a valley running rougly north and south and with a perennial stream running through the centre of it. The banks of the stream are covered in walnut and poplar trees, which look green and cool even in the heat of summer, when the surface of the surrounding hills is reduced to a harsh brown aridity. On the south the hills draw away on either side, and the village of Sweileh can be seen on the far skyline.

Detailed ancient Greek inscription in stone at Jerash Jordan

The site now lies on a modern highway that links Amman with the northern boundary of the Kingdom towards Syria; the drive takes 40 minutes from Amman at a leisurely speed. As one approaches, it is after a corner of the highway that he is suddenly faced with a wonderful view of the ruins with the Triumphal Arch in the foreground. On the other side of the highway lies the modern town of Jerash.

Ancient Greek inscriptions at Jerash

The history of Jerash goes back to prehistoric times, and on the slopes east of the Triumphal Arch can be found flint implements which show that here was the site of the Neolithic settlement. Outside the walls to the north was a small Early Bronze Age village about 2500 B.C., and on the hilltops above are remains of dolmens of a slightly earlier period. There are now no traces of occupation during the rest of the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, but had there been settlements anywhere within the area of the Roman city they would certainly have disappeared or become buried during the course of its construction. There are many Iron Age settlements in the vicinity, and it is unlikely that a place with so fine a water supply as that of Jerash would have remained unoccupied.

Exactly when the shift was made to the present position cannot now be determined. The town was at one time cal]ed "Antioch on the Chrysorrhoas," the latter, meaning "Golden River," being the somewhat grandiose name of the little stream which still separates the eastern from the western section. But the name "Antioch" is significant, and strongly suggests that it was one of the SeleucidKings with the name Antiochus who was responsible for raising the little village to the status of great town, probably Antiochus IV in the early second century B.C. Inscriptions found in the ruins, however, show that there were many traditions current as to the founding of the city, some attributing it to Alexander the Great, some to the general Perdiccas in the fourth century B.C. It could also have been accomplished by Ptolemy II (285 - 246 B. C.) when he changedAmman into the Hellenistic city of Philadelphia. It is possible and probable that each and every one of these had a finger in the pie, and that the emergence of Jerash from the chrysalis village of mud huts to the brightly coloured butterfly of an Hellenistic town was due rather to the increasing general prosperity and security than to the efforts of any one ruler.

At the end of the second or early first century B.C. we have the first historical reference to Jerash. It is mentioned by Josephus, the Jewish historian, as the place to which Theodorus, the tyrant of Philadelphia, removed his treasure for safe keeping in the Temple of Zeus, which was then an inviolable sanctuary, when he had been turned out of Gadara. But soon after that he lost Jerash to Alexander Jannceus, the Jewish high priest and ruler (102-76 B.C.), and it seems to have remained in Jewish hands until the coming of Pompey. It no doubt suffered its share of the bickering and quarreling which went on almost continuously among the petty Jewish rulers of the time.

In the year 63 B.C., Pompey, having overrun the Near East, divided it up into provinces, and Jerash and its lands were attached to the province of Syria.

Ancient Greek inscriptions at Jerash

This was the great turning-point in the history of the town, and was recognised as such in its calendar to the very end of its life as an outpost of Western civilisation, for all its dates are given in the Pompeian era. The Hellenistic cities had enjoyedcertain rights of self-government, and these rights were continued under the Pompeian arrangements, Jerash enjoyed these rights, and early in the Roman period of its history it joined the league of free cities known as the Decapalis. From now until the middle of the first century A.D, Jerash seems to have had a quiet and peaceful time. It had a flourishing trade with the Nabataeans at this period, and many coins of King Aretas IV have been found. But even before this date Nabataean infiuence had played its part in Jerash: stones carved in the typical Nabataean "crowstep" pattern testify that their type of architecture was known and used there. There is a bilingual inscription, almost illegible, in Nabataean and Greek, and other inscriptions refer to a temple of the "Holy God" Pakidas and the Arabian god. It can be deduced that this latter is Dushares, the Nabataean deity, and it is significant that the inscriptions referring to him and the "crowstep" stones are all found in the same area, i.e. the Cathedral and Fountain Court. There are known to be remains of an earlier temple beneath the Cathedral, in all probability that of the Arabian god, later indetified with Dionysius.

Other inscriptions found in the neighbourhood of the Forum and Zeus Temple show us that in the first and probably second centuries B.C. the town extended at least from the Zeus Temple to the Cathedral area; yet others suggest it may even have included the area of the Artemis Temple. But until further excavation is undertaken, nothing more can be said about the town of the preChristian era.

All this time Jerash must have been accumulating wealth, for somewhere in the middle of the first century A.D. we find the city launching out on a complete rebuilding programme. A comprehensive town plan was drawn up, the basis of which was the Street of Columns and the two streets crossing it at the North and South Tetrapylons. No substantial changes in this plan were made to the end of its days. An inscription on the North- west Gate shows that the enclosing city wall was completed in A.D. 75- 76, thus setting the limits for the city's growth. A new Temple of Zeus was begun about A.D. 22- 23 and was still under construction in 69- 70, aided by gifts from wealthy citizens, who seem to have taken a pride in contributing to the embellishment of the town. The South Theatre, next to the temple, was springing up at the same time, the older Temple of Artemis was being beautiful with a portico and provided with a pool, and somewhere a shrine to the Emperor Tiberius had been erected. In fact, the place must have been a hive of industry and have been attaining a degree of wealth such as had not been seen before and has certainly not been repeated since.

This antlike activity continued and even increased in the second century, when the Emperor Trajan extended the frontiers. annexed the Nabataean kingdom (A.D. 106), and built a fine series of roads. More trade came to the town, greater wealth was accumulated, and some of the buildings considered as the last word in the first century were pulled down and more elaborate and ornate structures replaced them. Such a one was the North Gate, rebuilt in A.D. 115. Annual festivals and contests were inaugurated, and inscriptions tell of the munificence of one Titus Flavius Quirina, who gave banquets for both victors and vanquished.

Two huge thermae, or baths, were built, without which no decentminded Roman citizen could contemplate existence for a moment. Their. functions were much more than those of mere Turkish baths; they represented the exclusive club life of the period, were not infrequently used to steam away unwanted relatives, and provided an admirable setting for gay parties given by wealthy or merely ambitious citizens.

The Emperor Hadrian paid a personal visit to the city, staying there for part of the winter of 129- 30. His coming was the signal for a fresh outburst of building activity, and the Triumphal Arch was erected to celebrate his visit. It seems probable that the intention was to extend the area of the city as far as this arch, asthe ends are left rough as though to bond into a wall, but the project was abandoned as soon as Hadrian left and attention returned to the centre of the city.

This century saw the golden age of Jerash, when most of the great buildings one admires to- day were erected. A huge programme of expansion and building was undertaken, involving the widening of the main street from the Forum to the Artemis Temple, and the replacing of the Ionic columns lining the street with Corinthian models. The Artemis Temple, with its grand approach from the east and its great gateway, was dedicated in 150. The Temple of Zeus was erected in about 163, the Nymphaeum in 191, a Temple of Nemesis, now vanished, was built just outside the North Gate, and another, to Zeus Epicarpus, farther up the valley was built by a centurion. There are many inscriptions of this period which record the dedication by citizens of altars, pedestals, statues, and stelae, and the erection of buildings now unidentifiable. Others show that there were many priests for the cult of the living emperor, and there were shrines to Zeus Helios Serapis, Zeus Poseidon, Isis, Apollo, and Diana. Still others give the names of several provincial governors, procurators, and other officials, and mention the presence of soldiers of the III Cyrenaica and a tribune of the X Gemina legions.

The peak was reached and passed early in the third century A.D., when Jerash was promoted to the rank of colony, and the grade is steadily downhill after that, with an occasional level stretch or even a little rise; but the best was over. But it was a gradual descent closely connected with the fortunes of the Roman Empire, and for Jerash there were no precipices on the road. No more buildings were erected in the grand style, and already by the end of the century we find carved and even inscribed blocks being carelessly re- used in building, always a bad sign. The destruction of Palmyra and the growth of the Sassanian Kingdom in Iraq effectively put a stop to big- scale commerce and shifted trade routes away from the east. Cities like Jerash, almost on the eastern border, must have felt the effect at once, and with the weakening of Roman force the old predatory instincts of the Arab tribes came to the surface again and security became doubtful. But under Diocletian the Sassanians were defeated and there was a short level stretch during which some building, such as the circular plaza and the shops around the South Tetrapylon, was carried out. The work, however, was slipshod, though not quite so bad as later Byzantine building, and many of the inscriptions of the period are cut on earlier pedestals or columns or even on top of partly defaced earlier inscriptions.

By the middle of the fourth century there was a large Christian community inJerash, and the Cathedral and the Fountain Court were flourishing, for the writer Epiphanius states that some of his contemporaries had drunk from the fountain at Gerasa, whose waters turned to wine each year at the anniversary of the miracle of Cana. But from the town itself there is little history to be gleaned in the fourth century; inscriptions are conspicuous by their absence, and the only other outside reference tells that the Christians were represented at the council of Selecucia in 359 by the Bishop Exeresius. Bishop Plancus represented them at the council of Chalcedon in 451, by which time Christianity must have become the ruling religion of the town. In 440- 442 some repairs to the fortifications were carried out; the Church of the Prophets, Apostles and Martyrs was built in 464- 5, and that of St. Theodore in 464- 6, when the fountain court was also remodelled.

Under Justinian, 531- 565, there was a rise in prosperity, and no fewer than seven churches are known to have been erected in this period. Inscriptions record the erection of other public buildings of an unidentifiable nature, and even the revival of the pagan Maiumas water festival in 535. Many of the churches have been excavated, and from the objects found in them and in related buildings we can get a good idea of the life of the time. Low though the standard might be in comparison with former splendours, there was none the less a fair degree of rather cheap luxury. Appearances were all that mattered and beauty was only just skin deep. Gleaming marble and brightly coloured glass mosaics on the walls of the churches concealed a type of construction than which it would be hard to imagine worse. As the main centres of life in this period were around the churches, it naturally reflected their style. The gaily dressed women who crowded the shops and drifted in and out of the churches were adorned with magnificent strings of beads of precious stones and gold ear- rings and ornaments, which on close inspection turned out to be glass imitations and thinly gilded bronze. Still, it was all very pretty on the surface, and life was by no means unpleasant or difficult. There were new baths built by the Bishop Placcus next door to St. Theodore's Church for the use of parishioners, perhaps the earliest example of "cleanliness being next to godliness." The choristers had a club room just across the road from the church, and the clergy were provided with extensive and comfortable quarters adjoining the forecourt.

All this external beauty and comfort was only achieved at the cost of the earlier buildings, particularly temples. An orgy of destruction of the pagan shrines must have gone on, and it seems as though scarcely one new stone was cut for the construction of any of the churches. The beautiful courtyard of the Artemis Temple was desecrated by the building of potters' kilns there.

The last church of which- we know at present is that built by Bishop Genesius in 611, and the Persian invasion of 614 was the beginning of the end of Jerash. The only remains of this invasion are goal- posts erected in the Hippodrome just outside the South Gate for playing polo. The Muslim conquest in about 635 completed the decline of the city, which, though it continued to be occupied, gradually shrank to about a quarter of its original size. A series of bad earthquakes destroyed many of the churches and buildings, and as no one could afford to rebuild or even clear them, they were left exactly as they fell. The Church of St. Theodore is an excellent example of this. None the less, the abandonment and shrinkage were gradual, and some of the churches were still in use in 720, when the Caliph Yazid II issued a decree ordering that "all images and likenesses in his dominions, of bronze and of wood and of stone and of pigments, should be destroyed." The result of this edict is seen in the destruction of mosaic floors in such churches as St. John the Baptist; apparently the adjoining Church of SS. Cosmos arld Damianus was already a partially buried ruin, for the mosaics fortunately escaped.

This is almost the last thing we know of Jerash. Excavations show that the area of the Forum and South Tetrapylon was still occupied in the late eighth century, but in the twelfth century comes the last known reference to the town. A crusader, William of Tyre, speaks of it as having been long uninhabited; a garrison of forty men stationed there by the Atabey of Damascus converted the Artemis Temple into a fortress which was captured by Baldwin II, King of Jerusalem, 1118- 31, and utterly destroyed. The inner faces of the temple walls show clearly the effect of the burning which was apparently the method of destruction. Yaqut, a thirteenth- century Arab geographer, says that the place was described to him as a field of ruins, completely uninhabited.

So it happily remained until the settlement there of the Circassian colony by the Turks in 1878. To this day Arabs as far afield as south Palestine when they wish to speak of something as extremely ruinous say: "It is like the ruins of Jerash."

Description

Jerash is the site of the ruins of the Greco-Roman city of Gerasa, also referred to as Antioch on the Golden River. Ancient Greek inscriptions from the city as well as literary sources from both Iamblichus and the Etymologicum Magnum support that the city was founded by Alexander the Great or his general Perdiccas, who settled aged Macedonian soldiers there (γῆρας - gēras means "old age" in Ancient Greek). This took place during the spring of 331 BC, when Alexander left Egypt, crossed Syria and then went to Mesopotamia. It is sometimes misleadingly referred to as the "Pompeii of the Middle East or Asia", referring to its size, extent of excavation and level of preservation (though Jerash was never buried by a volcano). Jerash is considered one of the most important and best preserved Roman cities in the Near East. It was a city of the Decapolis.

Jerash was the birthplace of the mathematician Nicomachus of Gerasa (Greek: Νικόμαχος) (c. 60 – c. 120 AD).

Recent excavations show that Jerash was already inhabited during the Bronze Age (3200 BC - 1200 BC). After the Roman conquest in 63 BC, Jerash and the land surrounding it were annexed by the Roman province of Syria, and later joined the Decapolis cities. In AD 90, Jerash was absorbed into the Roman province of Arabia, which included the city of Philadelphia (modern day Amman). The Romans ensured security and peace in this area, which enabled its people to devote their efforts and time to economic development and encouraged civic building activity.

In the second half of the 1st century AD, the city of Jerash achieved great prosperity. In AD 106, the Emperor Trajan constructed roads throughout the province, and more trade came to Jerash. The Emperor Hadrian visited Jerash in AD 129-130. The triumphal arch (or Arch of Hadrian) was built to celebrate his visit. A remarkable Latin inscription records a religious dedication set up by members of the imperial mounted bodyguard wintering there.

The city finally reached a size of about 800,000 square meters within its walls. The Persian invasion in AD 614 caused the rapid decline of Jerash. However, the city continued to flourish during the Umayyad Period, as shown by recent excavations. In AD 749, a major earthquake destroyed much of Jerash and its surroundings. During the period of the Crusades, some of the monuments were converted to fortresses, including the Temple of Artemis. Small settlements continued in Jerash during the Ayyubid, Mamluk Sultanate, and Ottoman periods. Excavation and restoration of Jerash has been almost continuous since the 1920s.

Site Monuments 

1. Hadrian's Arch

Built to commemorate the visit of the Emperor Hadrian to Gerasa in 129 AD, this splendid triumphal arch was intended to become the main southern gate to the city but the expansion plans were never completed. One unusual feature of its construction is the wreaths of carved acanthus leaves above the bases of the pillars.

2. Hippodrome

The massive arena, 245 m long and 52 m wide (only part of which has been restored) could seat 15000 spectators to watch athletic competitions, horse races, chariot races, and other sports.

The exact date of its construction is unclear; between the mid-2nd and 3rd centuries AD.

3. City Walls & South Gate

Approaching the city from the Visitor's Center, you see the impressive city walls, built at the beginning of the 4th century, most probably by Emperor Diocletian, and repeatedly expanded afterwards. The present walls are Byzantine and had a total length of 3456 m. The South Gate through which you enter Jerash, dates from 130 AD and has a characteristic carved acanthus-leaf decoration. The open area inside the gate was used as a marketplace, and a 2nd century olive press is visible behind a wooden screen.

4. Oval Plaza

The spacious plaza measures 90 x 80 m and is surrounded by a broad sidewalk and a colonnade of 1st century Ionic columns.

There are 2 altars in the middle, and a fountain was added in the 7th century AD. This square structure now supports a central column, which was recently erected to carry the Jerash Festival flame.

5. The Cardo "Colonnaded Street"

Still paved with the original stones - the ruts worn by chariot wheels still visible - the 800 m Cardo was the architectural spine and focal point of Gerasa. The colonnaded street was remodeled in the late 2nd century AD, probably after 170 AD. The Ionic columns were replaced by more elaborate Corinthian columns. On either side was a broad sidewalk with shops, which can still be clearly seen. An underground sewage system ran the full length of the Cardo, and the regular holes at the sides of the street drained rainwater into the sewers.

6. Macellum

Halfway up the Cardo, the Colonnade becomes larger and taller, marking the entrance to the Macellum or market place, a building to the left of the colonnaded street. The inscription on the adjacent lion's head fountain is dated 211 AD.

7. Umayyad Mosque
A newly excavated Umayyad mosque. Currently under excavation as of Aug 2006!

8. South Tetrapylon

The intersection of the Cardo with the first cross street, the South Decumanus, was marked by 4 still visible pedestals, which supported columns and probably a pyramidal structure.

9. South Bridge
To the right, the south Decumanus runs east to a 73 m bridge which led to the town wall and residential quarter of Gerasa. Most of this is now buried under modern Jerash, with the exception of the East Baths, which can be seen across the modern road to the left of the mosque.

10. Umayyad Houses
At the western end of the South Decumanus is an Early Islamic Umayyad housing quarter inhabited from 660 to 800 AD. The south bridge led to the residential quarter and to the eastern gate.

11. The Cathedral
Further up the Cardo on the left is the monumental and richly carved gateway of the 2nd century Roman Temple of Dionysus. In the 4th century the temple was rebuilt as a Byzantine church, now called the Cathedral, although there is no evidence it was more important than any other church. At the top of the stairs, against an outer east wall of the Cathedral, is the Shrine of St. Mary, with a painted inscription to St. Mary and the archangels Michael and Gabriel.

12. Church of Saint Theodore
Lying above and behind the Cathedral, this large church was built in 496 AD. In between St. Theodore's and the West Side of the Cathedral entrance is a small paved piazza with a fountain in the center; this Fountain Court was originally the Cathedral atrium. The course of the underground lead pipe which fed the fountain can be seen as a line of obliquely laid stones northeast of the fountain.

13. Nymphaeum
This ornamental fountain was constructed in 191 AD, and dedicated to the Nymphs. Such fountains were common in Roman cities, and provided a refreshing focal point for the city. This fine example was originally embellished with marble facings on the lower level and painted plaster on the upper level, topped with a half-dome roof Water cascaded through 7 carved lions' heads into small basins on the sidewalk and overflowed from there through drains into the underground sewer system.

14. Propylaeum
The procession to the Temple of Artemis originally started across the river in the part of Gerasa now covered by modern Jerash. Crossing the Cardo, worshippers approached the impressive entrance to the processional way leading up to the Temple of Artemis. Its massive columns and a carved portico were flanked by 2-storey shops.

15. Temple Esplanade
The monumental staircase, originally enclosed by high walls, leads up to a U-shaped terrace where an open-air altar was built, the foundations of which are still visible. A second staircase leads through a colonnade of 22 Corinthian columns and into the Temenos. This sacred precinct, 162 x 121 m, was defined by Corinthian columns on all 4 sides.

16. Propylaeum Church
Opposite the Propylaeum, this Byzantine church was built in the 6th century on the site of a colonnaded courtyard which formed part of the processional way. The columns were used as part of the church.

17. Naghawi's Mosque
On the right, behind 4 standing Corinthian columns is what seems to be an Ayyubid or Mamluk mosque discovered in 1981. This was probably built sometime during the 12th-15th centuries, using materials from the colonnaded atrium of a Roman house that stood there.

18. West Baths
The massive West Baths, on the right, covered an area of 50 x 70 m and now lie where they fell after the earthquake of January 749 AD. Typical of the 2nd century, the Baths were an imposing complex of hot and cold rooms and other facilities.

19. North Tetrapylon
The second Tetrapylon, located where the North Decumanus or cross street intersects the Cardo, was built during Jerash's redesign, probably as a monumental entrance to the North Theater. At a later date, it was dedicated to Julia Domna, the Syrian wife of Emperor Septimius Severus, and probably had a domed roof in the 2nd century AD, elaborate carved decoration, arches and 4 sides to allow traffic to pass through.

20. North Colonnaded Street
Beyond the North Tetrapylon is a stretch of the Cardo that was never widened, and retains its simple Ionic columns.

21. North Gate
At the end of the Cardo, the North Gate was built in 115 AD. Its odd wedge shape was probably necessary to align the gate on the inside with the Cardo, and on the outside with the Roman road, which led north to the Decapolis city of Pella.

22. North Theater
Just off the North Decumanus, the North Theater was built in 165 AD. In front is a colonnaded plaza where a staircase led up to the entrance. The theater originally had only 14 rows of seats, and was used as a performance stage as well as the city council chamber; the names of the tribes represented in the council are inscribed in Greek on some of the seats, along with those of several gods.

In 235 AD, the theater was doubled in size to its present capacity of 1600. Two vaulted passages formed the entrance to the orchestra, and spectators entered through passages between the upper rows of seats. The theater fell into disuse in the 5th century, and in later centuries, many of its stones were taken for use in other buildings.

23. Church of Bishop Isaiah
Built in 559 AD, this Byzantine church was used until the earthquake of 749 AD.

24. Temple of Artemis

Artemis, daughter of Zeus and sister of Apollo, was the patron goddess of Gerasa. This Temple was a place of sacrifice dedicated to Artemis and built in 150. Although small, the temple's Corinthian columns soar impressively from the hilltop site; 11 of the 12 front columns are still standing. The temple's inner chamber was originally clad with marble slabs and housed a shrine which probably contained a statue of the goddess.

25. Three Churches
At least 15 Byzantine churches have been found in Jerash, and more are thought to remain buried. Three of the finest are grouped together round a shared atrium. At the north, the Church of St. Cosmos and St. Damian, twin brother doctors who were martyred in the 4th century, has the most splendid floor mosaics to be seen in Jerash. An inscription dates the mosaic to 553 AD, and the images include the churchwarden Theodore with his wife Georgia, praying with widespread arms.

In the center, the church of St. John the Baptist dates from 531 AD. Its mosaic floor, now damaged, included images of the four seasons, plants and animals, and the cities of Alexandria and Memphis in Egypt.

The church of St. George, at the south, was built in 530 AD, and continued to be used after the earthquake of 749 AD. Its mosaics were therefore destroyed when the 8th century Christian iconoclastic movement banned the representation of humans and animals.

26. Church of St. Genesius
The floor mosaic of this church dates back to its dedication in 611 AD, just 3 years before the Persian invasion.

27. Saints Peter and Paul Church
This church complex has a nice mosaic but they aren't as grandiose as the other church complex at Jerash (highlight #25).

28. South Theater

Built during the reign of Emperor Domitian, between 90-92 AD, the South Theater seats more than 3000 spectators and serves today as the primary venue for the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts. The first level of the ornate stage, originally 2-stories has been reconstructed and is still used today. The remarkable acoustics allows a speaker at the center of the orchestra floor to be heard by the entire auditorium without raising his/her voice.

Two vaulted passages lead into the orchestra, and four passages at the back of the theater give access to the upper rows of seats. Some seats could be reserved and the Greek letters which designate them can still be seen. For those who wish to climb more steps, the top row of seats affords an excellent view of the Jerash ruins.

29. Temple of Zeus

Erected in 162 AD, this temple stands on ruins of earlier sacred sites. From the Oval Plaza, a staircase leads up to an esplanade (in front of the temple), which was a Temenos, or sacred precinct. Originally, a rock in the esplanade served as a high place, and was enclosed into a shrine (Naos) in 100-80 BC.


30. The Museum
Not to be missed when you visit Jerash is the Archaeological Museum, which houses a fascinating collection of artifacts found at the site. These include gold jewelry, coins, glass and perhaps the most unusual pottery theater tickets.

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