Jerash Governorate in the context of "Jerash"

Jerash or Jarash (Arabic: جرش, romanized: Ǧaraš, Arabic pronunciation: [dʒa.raʃ]; Greek: Γέρασα, romanized: Gérasa, Attic Greek pronunciation: [ɡérasa], Koine Greek pronunciation: [ˈɡerasa]) is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located 30.0 miles (48.3 kms) north of the capital city Amman.

The earliest evidence of settlement in Jerash is in a Neolithic site known as Tal Abu Sowan, where rare human remains dating to around 7500 BC were uncovered. Jerash flourished during the Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods, when it was known as Gerasa. It was one of the cities of the Hellenistic cities of the Decapolis. It was an important city in early Christian times and its early churches, some of which were formerly temples, include notable examples of the evolution of church architecture. In the mid-eighth century the 749 Galilee earthquake destroyed large parts of it, and subsequent earthquakes contributed to additional destruction.

Gilead or Gilad (UK: /ˈɡɪliæd/, US: /ˈɡɪliəd/; Hebrew: גִּלְעָד Gilʿāḏ, Arabic: جلعاد, Jalʻād) is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan, present-day Jordan. The region is bounded in the west by the Jordan River, in the north by the deep ravine of the river Yarmouk and the region of Bashan, and in the southwest by what were known during antiquity as the "plains of Moab", with no definite boundary to the east. In some cases, "Gilead" is used in the Bible to refer to all the region east of the Jordan River. Gilead is situated in modern-day Jordan, corresponding roughly to the Irbid, Ajloun, Jerash and Balqa Governorates.