Jordan - Abila City (Modern Qweilbeh)

The site is located about 25km.east of the Sea of Galilee(Tiberias)and about 4km. south of Wadi Yarmouk river. It surmounts the Trans Jordanian Plateau at an elevation of 440m.above sea level. The annual rainfall averages about 350-450mm.and the area has been served over its history by a perennial spring ,Ain Quweilbeh , located in the wadi at the S end of the south tell (mountain),Um el Amad. The site is well situated ,guarded by wadis(valleys) on the N,E and S., graced with plenty of agricultural land all around and blessed with plenty of agricultural land all around and blessed with being on well traveled trade routes connecting with other Decapolis cities ,both N-S and E-W. The territory of Abila is large,c.1.5km.N-S by c.600m.E-W, extended probably to the Yarmuk in the north and the Wadi Shallalah on the east. On the west it would have stopped short of el-Khureibah where the city aqueduct of Gadarda began. To the south, Abila controlled Capitolias until it became a separate city in A.D.97 . Tell Abil and Khirbet Um El’Amad are the location of the central part of the city. The surrounding hillsides are honeycombed with tombs , and some evidence of occupation has also been found at North Abila. Megalitic columns greet the visitor at Um el-‘Amad (the mother of columns). The columns are possibly a part of an earlier building that had been turned into a basilica.