The history of Jerash is a blend of the Graeco-Roman world of the Mediterranean basin and the ancient traditions of the Arab Orient. Indeed, the name of the city itself reflects this interaction. The earliest Arabic / Semitic inhabitants named their village Garshu. The Romans later Hellenized the former Arabic name into Gerasa, and at the end of the 19th century, the Arab and Circassian inhabitants of the then small and rural settlements transformed the Roman Gerasa into the Arabic Jerash.
It was not until the days of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC that Jerash truly began to develop into a sizeable town. But it was during the period of Roman rule, especially in the 2nd Century A.D. that Jerash enjoyed its golden age.
