North Theater (Gerasa)

Jerash, Jordan

Gerasa's North Theater was completed in 164 or 165 CE and was in use as a theater until the 5th or 6th century CE. It was originally an odeon (a roofed theater) used for plays and other performances, but was greatly expanded sometime around 230 CE, doubling its capacity to 1600 seats. Gerasa suffered an earthquake in the mid-6th century CE, severely damaging the theater, and many of its stones were later reused in late Byzantine structures, such as the neighboring Church of Bishop Isaiah. Eight Umayyad kilns were excavated at the site of the theater in the early 1980s which helps support the idea that the city had become a center for early Islamic ceramics production by the 7th or 8th century CE.

Source:

Khouri, Rami G. Jerash: A Brief Guide to the Antiquities. Amman: Al Kutba, 1988.