Exedra

Cathedral, Jerash, Jordan

The fourth century "Cathedral" of Jerash is located west of the Cardo, just before the much larger temple of Artemis (those early Christians must have suffered from a serious case of temple envy). Shown here is the exedra, or "bishop's seat," whose iconography includes the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, surmounted by a scallop design that has deep roots in pagan antiquity.