Irbid

Irbid anciently known as Arabella is Jordan s 2nd largest city located about 85 km (53 miles) north of Amman, In a 19th-century Ottoman castle, the Dar Al-Saraya Museum traces the city’s history through locally excavated objects like ceramics and stonework.

Irbid was built on successive Early Bronze Age settlements and was possibly the biblical Beth Arbel and the Arbila of the Decapolis, a Hellenistic league of the 1st century BCE through the 2nd century CE. The population of Irbid swelled in the late 19th century, and prior to 1948 it served as a significant centre of transit trade.

Irbid is the second largest metropolitan in Jordan by population after Amman. The province of Irbid Governorate has the second largest population, and the highest population density in the kingdom.

Yarmouk University’s Museum of Jordanian Heritage also displays cultural artifacts, including centuries-old stone carvings. A traditional house, once home to a Jordanian poet known as Arar, is now the Beit Arar cultural center.