Introduction/Definition
The Decapolis (“ten cities”) was a group of Greco-Roman cities in the southern Levant, in today’s Jordan, Syria, and Israel (Bietenhard 1977; Isaac 1981; Hoffmann and Kerner 2002; Lichtenberger 2003). Several cities are attributed to the Decapolis, among them Damascus, Canatha, Dion, Adraa, Gadara, Hippos, Abila, Capitolias, Gerasa, Philadelphia, Pella, and Nysa-Scythopolis. The number of cities belonging to the Decapolis varied. One list of cities of the Decapolis is provided by Pliny (NH 5.16.74).
The Decapolis first is mentioned in the New Testament (Mk 5:20; Mk 7:31; Mt 4:25). In the Hellenistic period, the cities were supported by Ptolemaic and Seleucid rulers and received civic status. With the Roman conquest of Syria by Pompey in 64 BCE, the cities were attached to the new provincia Syria and were backed by Rome.
Probably in this time, the term “Decapolis” was created, and several cities counted back their civic eras to Pompey’s conquest. The cities did...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Avni, G. 2014. The Byzantine-Islamic Transition in Palestine: An Archaeological Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Barbet, A., and C. Vibert-Guigue. 1994. Les peintures des nécropoles romaines d’Abila et du nord de la Jordanie. Beirut: Geuthner.
Bietenhard, H. 1977. Die syrische Dekapolis von Pompeius bis Trajan. Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt Volume II 8: 220–261.
Hoffmann, A., and S. Kerner, eds. 2002. Gadara – Gerasa und die Dekapolis. Mainz: Zabern.
Isaac, B. 1981. The Decapolis in Syria: A neglected inscription. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 44: 67–84.
Kennedey, D. 2007. Gerasa and the Decapolis. A “virtual island” in Northwest Jordan. London: Duckworth.
Kraeling, C., ed. 1938. Gerasa. City of the Decapolis. New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research.
Lichtenberger, A. 2003. Kulte und Kultur der Dekapolis. Untersuchungen zu numismatischen, archäologischen und epigraphischen Zeugnissen. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Lichtenberger, A. 2008. Artemis and Zeus Olympios in Roman Gerasa and Seleucid religious policy, in: T. Kaizer (ed.), The Variety of Local Religious Life in the Near East in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 133–153.
Lichtenberger, A. 2011. The Decapolis and Phoenicia, ARAM 23, 2011, 559–583.
Lichtenberger, A. 2014. Continuity, discontinuity, and change in religious life in southern Syria during the Roman period. In Redefining the Sacred, ed. E. Frood and R. Raja, 209–229. Turnhout: Brepols.
Lichtenberger, A., and R. Raja, eds. 2017. Gerasa/Jerash. From the Urban Periphery. Aarhus: AUTRYK.
March, C. 2008. Spatial and religious transformations in the late antique polis. A multi-disciplinary analysis with a case-study of the city of Gerasa. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Moors, S.M. 1992. De Decapolis. Steden en dorpen in de Romeinse provincies Syria en Arabia. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Leiden.
Ohlig, C. (ed.) 2008. Cura aquarum in Jordanien. In Proceedings of the 13th international conference on the history of water management and hydraulic engineering in the Mediterranean region. Petra/Amman 31 March – 9 April 2007. Siegburg: Deutsche Wasserhistorische Gesellschaft.
Riedl, N. 2005. Gottheiten und Kulte in der Dekapolis. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Berlin (FU).
Segal, A. 1997. From function to monument. Urban landscapes of Roman Palestine, Syria and Provincia Arabia. Oxford: Oxbow.
Seyrig, H. 1959. Temples, cultes et souvenirs historiques de la décapole. Syria 36: 60–78.
Spijkerman, A. 1978. The coins of the Decapolis and Provincia Arabia. Jerusalem: Studii Biblici Franciscani.
Stein, A. 1990. Studies in Greek and Latin inscriptions on the Palestinian coinage under the principate. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Tel Aviv.
Thiel, W. 2007. Untersuchungen zum hellenistischen Siedlungswesen in Palästina und Transjordanien. Munich: Verlag Dr. Hut.
Weber, T.M. 2002. Gadara – Umm Qes I. Gadara decapolitana. Untersuchungen zur Topographie, Geschichte, Architektur und der Bildenden Kunst einer “Polis Hellenis” im Ostjordanland. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Zayadine, F., ed. 1986. Jerash archaeological project 1981–1983. Amman: Department of Antiquities.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Lichtenberger, A. (2020). Decapolis, Archaeology of. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_1106
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_1106
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-30016-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-30018-0
eBook Packages: HistoryReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities