Umm Qais

After lunch we visited Umm Qais. This beautiful site that overlooks the Sea of Galilee is right on the border. Umm Qais, situated 110 km north of Amman on a broad promontory 378 meters above sea level with a magnificent view over the Yarmouk River, the Golan Heights, and Lake Tiberias, this town was known as Gadara, one of the most brilliant ancient Greco-Roman cities of the Decapolis; and according to the Bible, the spot where Jesus cast out the Devil from two demoniacs (mad men) into a herd of pigs (Mathew 8:28-34). We were joking that this is where deviled ham got it's start.

It is characterized by its striking black (Basalt stone) and white (limestone) building material. This site was a real pleasure to walk through as the last time I was here it was raining and could not see anything but the restaurant. We stumbled on new excavations from this summer. They uncovered mosaics and water pipe that are similar to our site. It was great to see water pipe insitu (original location) and see a few squares of excavation on our outing. We had Chi in the restaurant patio as the sun was setting over the Sea of Galilee and then headed for home. We had to pass through 5 checkpoints and at one near the Israelis boarder they searched our car but eventually allowed to continue once we presented our letter from the DOA. We made it home to Amman and to a great nights sleep.