Slow Decline

Gerasa began to decline in the third century after eastern trade routes began shifting due to Sassanian incursion into Syria and Arabia. During this time, a Christian population emerged in the city; key church councils included representatives from Gerasa’s Christian community. Additionally, the numerous churches within and around the city attest to the Christian presence in Gerasa—most construction undertaken between the third and seventh centuries can be traced to Christians.

After the Battle of Yarmuk in 636, the influence of Byzantine Christianity suddenly disappeared as Muslims assumed control of the city, converting some of the churches into mosques and defacing any physical representations in the churches’ mosaics. The city steadily declined until it was destroyed by Baldwin III of Jerusalem in 1122. Upon his arrival in the 12th century, William of Tyre noted that the city was deserted.