Jon and I had the privilege to visit an archeological project in the north of Jordan. We have never heard of the site prior to our invitation to come visit and see the excavations. However, it just happened to be a city of the ancient Decapolis, Abila. Abila is 3 miles south of the Yarmuk River, which is the modern border between Syria and Jordan.
The ancient city is only about 12 miles off the road that heads to Um Qais , another city of the Decapolis and a popular tour site in Jordan.
Thankfully we were emailed a map because there are no signs directing you to the ancient city. As instructed, we turned on the one lane dirt road and began our ascent up a large hill. Just as we were rolling over the hill and questioning if we were on the correct road, we were astonished to see the remains of a city that could not be seen minutes before. Massive columns emerged behind small olive trees on a neighboring hill to represent what was once a basilica from the Byzantine Period.
We enjoyed seeing the different sites that were being excavated. We also loved meeting the summer team of students, professors, and local Jordanians. They were hard at work at discovering and recording archeological history dating back to the Neolithic Age B.
At lunch we learned the excavation team lives in a local school for the summer. They have the great opportunity to work alongside locals and interact with the local community. We loved hearing the stories of how the students and professors were engaging the local community which is fairly easy with Arab hospitality.
