Irbid

Irbid stands at 620 metres in the hills of northern Jordan, 70 kilometres north of Amman, and has been inhabited since the Early Bronze Age — Tell Irbid in the city centre has yielded pottery dating to around 3200 BC. Known in Hellenistic times as Arabella, the city was a Decapolis trade hub famous for its wine; after the Arab conquest of 634 AD it shifted production to olive oil and took its modern name.

Today Irbid is Jordan's second-largest metropolitan area, shaped by four universities — Yarmouk, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid National and Jadara — that attract students from across the Arab world. The Museum of Jordanian Heritage on the Yarmouk campus displays regional archaeology spanning prehistoric through Islamic periods, while the Jordan Natural History Museum covers the area's ecology and geology.

Irbid sits at the hub of northern Jordan's archaeological circuit: Umm Qais is 28 kilometres northwest, Pella roughly one hour southwest, and Ajloun some 40 kilometres south. The drive from Amman takes approximately 70 minutes. Spring and autumn, with temperatures between 15 and 25 °C, are the most comfortable seasons.