Umm el-Jimal
(39°19'N,
36°22'E) is an
extensive rural settlement constructed of black basalt in
the lava lands east of Mafraq, a seventy-minute drive northeast
of Amman, Jordan. It is located on the edge of a series of
volcanic basalt flows that slope down from the Jebel Druze,
a mountain 50 km to the northeast. This sloping black bedrock
provided ancient Umm el-Jimal with two basic resources: stone
for construction of sturdy houses, and water for drinking
and agriculture.
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What survives above ground
is an amazingly preserved Byzantine/Early Islamic town nearly
a kilometer long and a half kilometer wide, with over a hundred
and fifty buildings standing one to three stories above ground,
with several towers up to five and six stories. As one approaches,
the stark skyline of somber stone at first gives the impression
of a war-torn modern town. Only close up does it become apparent
that this is not a modern war casualty, but a complex of fifteen
hundred year old ruins. Inside, one is plunged into a scene
of eerie beauty. Walls run in every direction, at first glace
without aparent plan or order. Neatly stacked courses of stone
protrude from a mad confusion of tumbled upper stories. The
blue-gray of basalt everywhere give a somber and cool sense
of shadow that belies the blaze of bright desert sun. Here
and there pinnacles of wall extend their fingers of cantilevered
corbels or stairs to create gravity defying silhouettes against
the cloudless sky. Doorways and alleys lead from room to room,
building to building. Large private houses predominate, but
there are also fifteen churches from the sixth and seventh
centuries, a Praetorium, a Barracks, gates and numerous reservoirs.
-- excerpted from
"Umm el-Jimal." The
Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East.
Eric Myers, ed. Oxford University Press. 1997. Pg 276.
For more information about
the Umm el-Jimal Project please contact project director
Bert de Vries.
Web site created by Matt VandeBunte. This web site is currently maintained by Bert de Vries.
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