271
OM  KEIS.
which  joins  the  Sheriat  in  the  valley  of  El  Ghor,  not  far  from  the
junction  of  the  latter  with  the  Jordan.  I  am  doubtful  to  what  ancient ¬
  city  the  ruins  of  Om  Keis  are  to  be  ascribed.*
At  Om  Keis  the  remains  of  antiquity  are  very  mutilated.  The
ancient  town  was  situated  round  a  hill,  which  is  the  highest  point
in  the  neighbourhood.  To  the  east  of  the  hill  are  a  great  number
of  caverns  in  the  calcareous  rock,  some  of  which  have  been  enlarged -
  and  rendered  habitable.  Others  have  been  used  as  sepulchral ¬
  caves.  Great  numbers  of  sarcophagi  are  lying  about  in  this
direction  :  they  are  all  of  black  stone,  which  must  have  been  transported ¬
  from  the  banks  of  the  river  below  :  the  dimensions  of  the
largest  are  nine  spans  in  length  by  three  in  breadth  ;  they  are  ornamented ¬
  with  bas-reliefs  of  genii,  festoons,  wreaths  of  flowers,  and
some  with  busts,  but  very  few  of  them  are  of  elegant  wormanship.
I  counted  upwards  of  seventy  on  the  declivity  of  the  hill.  On  the
summit  of  the  hill  are  heaps  of  wrought  stones,  but  no  remains  of
any  important  building  :  on  its  west  and  north  sides  are  the  remains ¬
  of  two  large  theatres,  built  entirely  of  black  stone.  That  on
the  W.  side  is  in  better  preservation  than  the  other,  although
more  ruined  than  the  theatres  at  Djerash.  The  walls  and  the  greater
part  of  the  seats  yet  remain  ;  a  tier  of  boxes  intervenes  between  the
rows  of  seats,  as  at  Djerash,  and  there  are  deep  vaulted  apartments
beneath  the  seats.  There  are  no  remains  of  columns  in  front  of
either  theatre.  The  theatre  on  the  north  side  of  the  hill,  which
is  in  a  very  dilapidated  state,  is  remarkable  for  its  great  depth,
*  It  was  probably  Gamala,  which  Josephus  describes  as  standing  upon  a  mountain
bordered  by  precipices.  Gadara  appears  from  the  authorities  of  Pliny  and  Jerom  to  have
been  at  the  warm  baths,  mentioned  below,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Sheriat  el  Mandhour;
Gadara  Hieromiace  praefluente.  Plin.  Nat.  Hist.  1.  i.  c.  18.  Gadara,  urbs  trans  Jordanem
contra  Scythopolin  et  Tiberiadem,  ad  orientalem  plagam,  sita  in  monte,  ad  cujns  radices
aqua  calidae  erumpunt,  balneis  super  aedificatis,  —Hieron.  in  Topicis.