The unknown Decapolis

The site of Abila (Qweilibeh) is probably the less-known classical site of Jordan. Almost abandoned and hardly threatened, Abila however contains some of the most valuable painted tombs of the Roman and Byzantine periods. A site that deserves to be better cared and also shared with the public.

A recent discovery in Beit Ras Capitolias, north to Irbid, has unearthed a Roman tomb with a fresco, in an outstanding state of conservation. The sequences of this exceptional wall painting might well depict the foundation myth of the city of Capitolias, an important Decapolis centre.