Abila | The Levantine Ceramics Project

Site: Abila

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Site Information

Site name (primary, secondary):

Abila

Country/region:

Jordan/Northern Highlands

Alternate names & spellings:

Abila Dekapoleos, Abila of the Decapolis, Quwayliba, Quwaylibah, Quweiliba, Quweilibeh, Seleukeia, Tall Abil, Tell Abil

Coordinates (N,E):

32.6799 , 35.8669

Periods attested by vessels on the LCP:

Early Bronze Age II, Middle Bronze Age II, Late Bronze Age II, Iron Age I, Iron Age IIA, Hellenistic, Early Hellenistic, Late Hellenistic, Roman, Nabatean/Early Roman, Middle-Late Roman, Middle Roman, Late Roman, Byzantine, Early Byzantine, Late Byzantine, Early Islamic - Umayyad/Abbasid, Later Islamic - Fatimid/Mamluk, Ottoman

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Site Description

Abila is one of several Decapolis cities that formed a Greco-Roman confederation or league; most were located in the Transjordan. Abila lies about three miles south of the Yarmuk River (nahr el-Yarmuk) - the modern border between Jordan and Syria. Literary and archaeological evidence indicate that the small city was occupied during the Bronze Age (Early, Middle, and Late), Iron Age, Hellenistic Period, Roman Period, Byzantine Period, Umayyad Caliphate and Abbasid Caliphate. Four regional transect surveys demonstrated the presence of suburban communities, cemeteries, quarries, agricultural fields, aqueducts, farmsteads, and nomadic campsites. The most intensive use of the countryside occurred during the Byzantine/Umayyad Period when the city reached its climax population. Excavations have exposed the ruins of five Byzantine churches built at different locations of the site. The church in Area A was built upon the ruins of a Roman temple that may have been dedicated to the Artemis. The city minted copper coins during the Roman Period.

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