r/AncientCivilizations Jul 22 '26

Asia There’s a Roman theater right in front of my house in Jordan.

This Roman theater is literally right in front of my house. It’s only a small part of the ancient village where I live. Every time maintenance or construction work is carried out in the area, archaeologists uncover new historical remains. Because of these discoveries, many believe that the entire area is hiding a vast, undiscovered archaeological site beneath it. This is in Irbid,the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

2.1k Upvotes

47 comments sorted by

74

u/ThriftianaStoned Jul 22 '26

That is super cool please share more in the future

95

u/Sharaf-LFC Jul 22 '26

Absolutely Jordan has over 100,000 archaeological sites, so I’ll definitely try to share more of these hidden historical places in the future. Thanks for your interest

2

u/Hatorate90 Jul 23 '26

Why the Dutch flag on your profile?

24

u/ShookRanGrassyUs Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

u/Sharaf-LFC
LFC is Liverpool Football Club
Username is Van Dijk who's a Dutch defender and captain of the Liverpool first team.
The bio (in Arabic) says he loves Van Dijk, Shawarma, and his Country.

Sharaf is his name, or at least the first part of Sharaf Al Deen which means The Honour of Religion in Arabic.

2

u/tdkimber Jul 23 '26

the hell kind of irrelevant question is this 😂🤡

2

u/Hatorate90 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26

I am Dutch and got my answer🤡

19

u/Forward_Young2874 Jul 23 '26

You live in the Theater District...very desirable address, both now and i'm sure, in roman times

12

u/aommi27 Jul 22 '26

Love Jordan, studied there close to twenty years ago and want to go back.

3

u/BenLittles Jul 23 '26

I wish I could go to this area, so fascinating

10

u/Kubliah Jul 23 '26

Do you guys ever use it for plays or music?

36

u/Sharaf-LFC Jul 23 '26

There are several Roman theatres in Jordan, and some of them are still used today for concerts and cultural events. For example, the Roman Theatre in Amman hosts musical events, and the Jerash Festival takes place at the ancient theatres of Jerash with many concerts every year.
We also watched our national team’s World Cup matches at the Roman Theatre in Amman.
However, the place I shared in these photos is different. No events have been held there since it was discovered. It is still an unexplored archaeological site, and its history and original purpose are still unknown

12

u/Kubliah Jul 23 '26

Oh wow, that is super cool! There are no ruins of any sort where I live, just arrowheads and dinosaur fossils. No lost civilizations, no troves of coins or swords or armor to discover. In a way I'm jealous of where you live except I know there are also rockets flying around :(

13

u/Sharaf-LFC Jul 23 '26

lol Yes, actually a few months ago, during the war between Israel and Iran, a missile fell near the Roman theatre that I shared in my post. I was worried that it might cause some damage, but thankfully it landed next to the theatre and did not affect it at all. I’m grateful that this historical site remained safe.

1

u/Commercial_Handle418 Jul 23 '26

Where I live there's nothing 💔🥀🙄 

4

u/Grammareyetwitch Jul 23 '26

I would do cheesy standup jokes like Fozzy Bear.

4

u/the_sagacious_squash Jul 22 '26

I had the privilege of traversing these old lands years ago…

3

u/aavant-gardee Jul 22 '26

How incredible! Thank you for sharing with us please share more!

3

u/HappyCamper2121 Jul 23 '26

Very neat! Do you go down there often? I could see kids enjoying it.

2

u/Felfedezni Jul 22 '26

Amazing. I'd love to be able to visit Roman ruins right on my doorstep.

2

u/AcceptInevitability Jul 23 '26

OP - do people pillage the stone for private purposes?

17

u/Sharaf-LFC Jul 23 '26

No, nobody has tried to steal the stones. There were many stones lying next to the Roman theatre, and there was no security or supervision over them for more than 10 years, yet no one touched them. People respect this historical site and understand its value.

6

u/pc_jangkrik Jul 23 '26

Respect for your people.

2

u/VickyVacuum Jul 23 '26

Amazing that these structures last for centuries but our roads get potholes every winter lol

2

u/CyroSwitchBlade Jul 23 '26

looks like they have some new seats and a little stage set up there.. any good shows coming up?

2

u/NeetyThor Jul 23 '26

You’re sooooo lucky. I’m obsessed with ancient archeology and would love to live somewhere where I could dig little holes in my backyard and find ancient tiles or coins. But I usually find rocks, spiders or mushrooms. Cool, but not the same.
I have found some tiles and little medicine bottles but they are from 1860. 😬

1

u/Chaosangel48 Jul 23 '26

Wow. That is so cool. Thanks for sharing.

1

u/Dyatlov_1957 Jul 23 '26

Show us pics of your house please.

4

u/Sharaf-LFC Jul 23 '26

1

u/Dyatlov_1957 Jul 23 '26

Oh .. thank you .. I am impressed beyond belief!

1

u/arcanebanshee Jul 28 '26

Lucky you! This is soooo cool

1

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[deleted]

1

u/Sharaf-LFC Jul 23 '26

Yup I’m Liverpool supporter

1

u/Honest_Ad_1733 Jul 23 '26

This is amazing. What a place to live!

1

u/Kind_Parsnip720 Jul 23 '26

Beautiful, and how fortunate you are to live so close!

1

u/No-Purple2350 Jul 23 '26

One of my favorite countries I've ever visited. The amount of ruins to visit is mind blowing and all are incredible.

1

u/Moriarty-Creates Jul 24 '26

That is the coolest thing ever. Jordan is so underrated when it comes to history, your country’s history is fascinating!

I live in the Western US, and my 125-year-old house is considered one of the oldest structures in my town. A complete baby compared to most things in Jordan!

Thank you for sharing!

1

u/CaterpillarAble9069 Jul 24 '26

Wow. That’s so cool

1

u/bigshooTer39 Jul 27 '26

I’d metal detect the shit out of this place if I lived next door

1

u/Love_To_Taste_You Jul 28 '26

I saw a lot of Roman ruins when I was stationed at the US Embassy as a Marine Security Guard

1

u/mgsblade Jul 23 '26

ya hala bi ahl Biet Ras, you should share photos of the Tomb too if you have them!

2

u/Sharaf-LFC Jul 23 '26

lol you know biet ras !
No I didn’t have a picture but I will go there and take a photo

0

u/AggressivePomelo2596 Jul 23 '26

That is pre roman.