Gadara

A city south of the River Yarmuk, identified with the ruins of Umm Keis. In Hellenistic times it was one of the centers of Greek culture in Transjordan. When, under Ptolemaic rule, the Assyrian-Persian provinces were split up, Gadara became capital of the biblical district of Gilead, later called Galaaditis. After Antiochus III's victory over the Ptolemies at Paneas it passed to the Seleucids and received additional names, Antiochia and Seleucia. The Hasmonean Alexander Jannaeus conquered it in his first campaign. Under the Roman general, Pompey, it was rebuilt and made a member of the decapolis. Gadara was one of several Greek cities granted to Herod by Augustus. At the time of the division of Herod's kingdom it was placed under the proconsul of Syria.

Gadara is mentioned in the gospels as the scene of the healing of men possessed with devils, though not all scholars agree on its location (See GERGESA) (Matt 8:28; AV: "Gergesenes"; Mark 5:1-2; Luke 8:26-7).

In the north the territory of Gadara extended across the River Yarmuk to include the famous hot springs of Hammath-Gader and in the west as far as the River Jordan, and possibly to the Sea of Galilee (Matt 8:28).