Umm Qais, ancient Gadara

378 m above sea level

In the Bible

Across the lake two men possessed by demons met Jesus; the demons went into a herd of pigs, which rushed down the steep bank into the sea.

Matt 8:28–32When Jesus arrived on the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, He was met by two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. “What do You want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have You come here to torture us before the appointed time?” In the distance a large herd of pigs was feeding. So the demons begged Jesus, “If You drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” “Go!” He told them. So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and died in the waters.

Tradition

Matthew's “region of the Gadarenes” points to this city, whose land, by one view, reached the lake; other manuscripts read “Gerasenes” or “Gergesenes”.

Here today

Black basalt ruins of the Decapolis city on a ridge, with a theatre and a church terrace looking over the Sea of Galilee and the Yarmuk gorge.

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Land outlines: Natural Earth (public domain).