An enthroned Tyche statue from Gadara / Umm Qais, Jordan

Abstract

In 1974 the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology (Deutsches Evangelisches Institut für Altertumswissenschaft des Heiligen Landes) uncovered the remains The worship of gods or goddesses as patrons and guardians of a city was an ancient oriental tradition, especially in Mesopotamia and Egypt. It dates back to the Bronze Age, during the third millennium B.C. This practice long predated the arrival of Alexander the Great to the East in 331 B.C. Each city state had its own god or goddess. He or she was the primary and most popular among other deities. He or she had to protect the city from enemies, attacks from other cities, and represent its needs to the other deities. This tradition transferred later to the Greeks and Romans. The goddess who played the city god or goddess role was often Tyche, as it was in the case of Gadara, the Greek/Roman predecessor of today's city of Umm Qais in Jordan.