We crossed the Jordan again into a region famous in Biblical times for its oaks, wheat fields, and well-nourished herds.  We found the ruins of Jerash, one of the 10 cities of the Decapolis, and Jerash the second.  Archaeologists tell us the Jerash was once the center of some 250,000 people.  But today only a village of 3,000 marks this great center of culture, and the country about it is sparsely populated with semi nomads.  The ruins of this once-powerful city of Greek and Roman culture are buried to a depth of 13 feet with erosional debris washed from eroding slopes,

            We searched out the sources of water that nourished Jerash and found a series of springs protected by masonry built in the Graeco-Roman times.  We examined these springs carefully with the archaeologists to discover whether the present water level had changed with respect to the original structures and whether the openings through which the springs gushed were the same as those of ancient times.  We found no suggestion that the water level was any lower then it was when the structures were built or that the openings were different.  It seems that the water supply had not failed.

            When we examined the slopes surrounding Jerash we found the soils washed off to bedrock in spite of rock-walled terraces.  The soils washed off the slopes had lodged in the valleys.  These valleys were cultivated by the semi-nomads who lived in black goat-haired tents.  In Roman times this area supplied grain to Rome and supported thriving communities and rich villas, ruins of which we found in the vicinity.

            In the alluvial plains along the Orontes River, agriculture supports a number of cities, much reduced in population from those of ancient times.  Water wheels introduced from Persia during or following the conquests of Alexander the Great (300 B.C.) were numerous along the Orontes.  There were hundreds, we were told, in Roman times, but today only 44 remain.  They are picturesque old structures both in their appearance and in the groans of the turning wheel as they slowly lift water from the river to the aqueduct to supply water for the city of Hama.   These wheels are more than 2,000 years old.  But no part of a wheel is that old, because the parts have been replaced piecemeal may times through the centuries.

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