The focus of this work is narrow geographically but broad chronologically. It examines all major aspects of political and social history of the city of Abila (located in Northern Jordan, about three miles from the Yarmuk River valley which is the modern boundary between Jordan and Syria); evidence for habitation reaches back some 4,000 years. Two historiographical chapters are included, and the further important contributions of this work are its synthesis of seven seasons of excavations and the comparative information provided on Abila as a prominent city of the Decapolis.