2-491-989 - Vivienne Sharp/Heritage Images

Nymphaeum, Jerash, Jordan. The site of a settlement since the Bronze Age, the Greco-Roman city of Gerasa (Jerash) was established in the 2nd century BC and was one of the ten cities in Syria and Palestine known as the Decapolis. Jerash became a Roman city of the province of Syria in 63 BC. The city was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 749. The excavation of the site, which has revealed extensive ruins, began in the 1920s. A nymphaeum was a monument dedicated to nymphs, particularly those associated with springs. The example in Jerash was built in 191 AD.