Large block of white marble with leaves and fruit carved in relief from the Roman Nymphaeum of Gadara / modern Umm Qais, Jordan. The 15m wide Nymphaeum of Gadara was built in the late 2nd century CE paid for by a prominent citizen of the city and would originally have been two storeys tall lavish monument over a waist level water pool. The Nymphaeum occupies a prominent location at the heart of the Roman City and it’s dedication to the water spirits gave it an important role in the religious life of a roman city in this very dry region. The water pool served as a large public water fountain and the structure would have been covered in ornately decorated marble blocks like this one which from it’s shape and decoration probably made up the front decorative edge of the central half dome.