Located in a valley surrounded by fertile hills, the city of Jerash was settled around the seventh millennium B.C. Thanks to its position at a crossroad between the north-south route that connected Syria with Trans-Jordan, and the east-west road that connected the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan Valley with the badia (the arid steppe), the site gained importance under Antiochus IV (175 – 164 B.C.). During the Roman period, Jerash, then known as Gerasa, became one of the most prosperous cities of the Decapolis. However, although it retained some importance during the Byzantine era (when churches and a synagogue were built), the site was progressively abandoned after the collapse of the Umayyad caliphate.