ABILA OF THE DECAPOLIS, JORDAN

The American Expedition to Abila of the Decapolis began field work with a systematic survey of the site during 1980. Excavation and a regional survey program began during 1982. Intensive excavation seasons are held each even numbered year with odd numbered years used for study seasons and more limited testing. The field work at Abila has been directed from 1980 until 2004 by Dr. Harold Mare of Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. Research in the painted Roman Period tombs has been conducted by French archaeologists. Bernhard Lucke wrote a thesis entitled Abila's Abandonment. John Wineland wrote a dissertation on the coins of Abila with details related to the excavation of the site. Michael Fuller wrote a dissertation on the urban and regional survey of Abila.

The site of Tell Abil in northern Jordan was Abila of the Decapolis during the Early Roman Period. Literary and archaeological evidence (coins, pottery, lamps, glass, architectural features, etc.) indicate that the site was occupied during the Bronze Age (Early, Middle, and Late), Iron Age, Hellenistic Period, Roman Period, and Umayyad Period.

Four regional transect surveys demonstrated the presence of suburban communities, cemeteries, quarries, agricultural fields, aqueducts, farmsteads, and nomadic campsites. The most intensive use of the countryside occurred during the Byzantine/Umayyad Period when the city reached its climax population.