The Arch of Hadrian is an

ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

structure in

Jerash Jerash (; , , ) 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 north of the capital city Amman. The earliest evidence of sett ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. It is an 11-metre high triple-arched gateway erected to honor the visit of Roman Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

to the city (then called Gerasa) in the winter of 129–130. The arch originally stood to almost 22 m and probably had wooden doors. It features some unconventional, possibly

Nabataean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Petr ...

, architectural features, such as acanthus bases. The columns are decorated with

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

s at the bottom rather than the top. The monument served both as a commemorative arch and as an approach to Gerasa. The Arch's relative remoteness from the city walls points to a plan for southward expansion of Gerasa during its heyday. The expansion, however, has not been implemented.

Description

In 2005, the arch was under restoration. Reconstruction was completed in 2007 and the arch is now roughly 21 meters high (about 36 feet), 37.45 meters long, and 9.25 meters wide. Each face of the arch has four

engaged column An engaged column is an architectural element in which a column is embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall, which may or may not carry a partial structural load. Sometimes defined as semi- or three-quarter detached ...

s standing on pedestals and bases. Each pedestal is 2.20 meters high, 2.25 meters wide and 1.20 meters deep. The base of each column is topped by a row of acanthus leaves. There are three vaulted passageways on the lower level and each of these is flanked by two columns with Corinthian capitals. The two flanked archways are topped with niches. Each niche is on top of a small

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

, which stands on two pilasters crowned with capitals. The Arch was crowned with an

attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's t ...

, which might have held a dedicatory inscription. The lower part of the attic was decorated with a

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

of acanthus leaves and the central part was crowned with a triangular

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

Inscription

There was a marble ''

tabula ansata A tabula ansata or tabella ansata (Latin for "tablet with handles", plural ''tabulae ansatae'' or ''tabellae ansatae'') is a tablet with dovetail joint, dovetail Handle (grip), handles. It was a favorite form for Votive offering, votive tablets ...

'' panel that was 1.03 meters in height and 7.14 meters in width, with letters 12–13 cm tall.

References

{{reflist 130 establishments 130s establishments in the Roman Empire Ancient Roman triumphal arches Arches and vaults Buildings and structures completed in the 2nd century Hadrian Jerash Monuments and memorials in Jordan Roman sites in Jordan

Description

Inscription

See also

References