Date: 3/6/04
www.travelchannel.com Jerash is one of the most famous and well-preserved Roman provincial cities in the world, and host to this major annual festival held every July and August.
The South Theatre, the North Theatre and the steps of the Artemis Temple, all located in the old city within walking distance of modern Jerash, are used for festival performances of dance, music and theatre. There is an enormous amount of national culture on offer, and yes, where the performances involve language, most will be in Arabic, but then half the fun is in experiencing such ancient surroundings.
The South Theatre is built in order that the audience only has a brief spell of sun in their eyes during any performance, while the North Theatre, completed around AD 165, would have been used in ancient times as an odeon, probably covered, where poetry readings, meetings, and more modest performances took place. If you are sitting on any of the seats of the lower cavea in the North Theatre, check for inscriptions. On some you can see the names (in Greek) of the voting tribes that were represented in the city council. |