Location, access

House XVII – XVIII , a major domestic complex

Visible evidence of this prosperity are the 150 basalt houses and 16 churches, built between the 5th and 7th centuries with fragments of Nabataean-Roman structures. Constructed in a distinct vernacular style, they are remarkably well preserved which enables today's visitors to feel transported into Late Antique daily life. As Bert de Vries, the late founder of the Umm el-Jimal Archaeological Project, pointed out: "Umm el-Jimal has in abundance what appear less obvious at famous sites like Petra and Jerash, the houses of ordinary people. (…) When you visit Umm el-Jimal, you experience how the ancients lived, farmed, traded, worshiped, and raised families."

The most readily available building material at Umm al-Jimal is basalt, a volcanic rock, usually dark grey, black or steel blue. It originated from the cooled lava that flowed from the volcanic field around Jebel al-Arab, or Jebel Druze, located north-east on Syrian territory.

The strength of the basalt rocks allowed the stonemasons of Umm-al-Jimal to build three stories high houses and even a tower up to six levels, as the one of the so-called barracks. These basalt buildings survived struggles, earthquakes, and several reuses over time. Today you can see more than 150 houses still standing, admire the clever construction techniques that were used, and imagine how the daily life of the people took place there.

To take advantage of the qualities of basalt, Arab masons enhanced the methods introduced by Nabataeans and Romans with innovative techniques including corbelling, lintel relieving and interlocking courses. They were local master builders, or even homeowners, not architects coming from elsewhere. This resulted in a distinctive style of basalt architecture that is so remarkably well preserved at Umm al-Jimal.

A corbel is a structural piece of stone projecting from a wall to carry a resting weight, for example, stone beams to create a ceiling or roof. Corbelling made it possible to build multiple floors. The same principle was used for cantilevered stairways: the weight of the wall anchored one end of each stair tread. Due to the narrowness of the interior spaces, stairs were often built outside, especially in the courtyards.

Doorways and windows are weakening interruptions in the structure of a wall. For this reason it was necessary to create some kind of opening above the lintel to redirect the weight of the wall onto the doorposts and into the ground. This could be a small arch or a window or a second lintel above the first with a gap between them, as in the photo above.

Lintels and doorposts also have more carefully dressed blocks, so that the joints between the stones are tighter and they can withstand a much greater vertical force.

For a visit of the archaeological site of Umm al-Jimal one can easily follow the Interpretive Trail which gives detailed information to 33 points of interest presented with signs on the ground. However we strongly recommend doing the visit accompanied by one of the excellent tour guides of Hand by Hand Heritage (see below).

Here we introduce some of the most interesting highlights, ordered by the historical period which determines their main character.

Nabataean nomads settled in the region in the 1st century AD establishing the village of Umm al-Jimal under influence of Bosra, the Nabataean city in the north.

The Nabataean building structures were used and transformed during later periods. But many Nabataean inscriptions on tombstones and altars have been found. During Byzantine and Druze periods some of these tombstones (with Nabataean, or Greek inscriptions) where used as mere building blocks.

Of particular interest are the bilingual Nabataean / Greek blocks, exhibited in the Interpretive Center. Both inscriptions read: “This stone commemorates Fihr, the son of Sullai, who was the teacher of Gadhima, the king of the Tanoukh.” The Tanoukh were an Arab tribal federation allied with the Roman army against the famous rebel Queen Zenobia of Palmyra.

Nabataean inscriptions are also displayed in the Inscription Garden in front of the Interpretive Center.

Possibly a Roman governor’s office, the Praetorium included a court room, the central atrium, and a cruciform room. The rear rooms were most likely offices and on an upper level, a cloak room.

The distinctive vaults in the Praetorium's cross-shaped room serve as an excellent example of the precise engineering and fine workmanship involved in Roman architecture. In this upward view one can see the structure’s interior arches and corbels, as well as remains of plaster on the walls.

The Praetorium was remodeled in Byzantine times, and later transformed into a luxurious building during the Umayyad period, as proved by remnants of mosaics, plastering and frescoes found in the cruciform room.

The increased Roman presence in Umm al-Jimal from the 2nd cent AD on demanded a greater supply of water, leading to the construction of the Great Reservoir with its typical rectangular pool shape. It was located adjacent to the Earlier Castellum, or fort. Romans possibly used the controlling of the water supply also as a means to maintain power in the region.

In the 20th century, first the Druze, and then the Mas’eid cleaned the 1,500 year old water reservoirs and restored the channels for their own use. In 1964 USAID re-plastered the large Roman reservoir and constructed a sediment-catching system at the intake to serve the needs of the growing community. Efforts continue to provide a permanent water delivery system to the community using ancient structures.

With the decline of Roman power, local Arab people resettled at Umm al-Jimal. They took advantage of a new freedom and expanded their farming and trade. From the 5th to 8th centuries, Umm al-Jimal grew to become a prosperous Byzantine town of about 6,000 to 8,000 people.

The Byzantine houses were constructed by remodeling and recycling building structures and elements from the earlier Nabataean and Roman era. Built in a functional style with little decoration, they usually had a central courtyard as the core of daily activities, surrounded by animal stables and living quarters on the ground level, with upper floors used for bedrooms and storage. Individual houses can be found associated in clusters of three or four. Several of these clusters make up the densely built neighborhoods of Umm al-Jimal.

East façade of House XVIII with the emblematic double arched window on the third floor. The doorway still has a functioning stone door. The structure and arch at the bottom of the wall correspond to a large covered water reservoir of the house.

Built in the late sixth century outside the wall of the main Byzantine settlement area. The remaining monumental arches define the central nave and south aisle. On the pillar in the foreground of the photo can be seen a carved cross with a particular design, repeated on pillars and archways around the church. The West Church was probably used by monks rather by citizens, which can be concluded by its location and the fact that it has an adjacent tomb and its own reservoir.

The apse of this church was walled off with basalt stones during the Umayyad period. The semi-circular focal area of a church which contained the altar, pointed east, the direction from which Christ would return. Some scholars think that this blocking was done in order to switch the focus of the structure from east to south (i.e. toward Mecca), which subsequently changed the function of the building from church to mosque.

House XIII, originally a stable for goats and sheep was later renovated and used as a dwelling by Druze settlers, in the early XX century. Note the stone ventilation screen, used to separate the animals from the family space.

In House 49, one building section has been identified as a temple. First believed to be Nabataean, it is more likely to be a Roman temple from the 4th century possibly used by the soldiers stationed in the fort.

On the north side of the courtyard of House 49 there is a room with a well-preserved set of ceiling corbels and a long narrow stable with recessed mangers.

Spider-web ceiling structure in a room at House XVII-XVIII. When Druze settlers migrating from Syria reoccupy Umm al-Jimal between 1905 and 1935, they roughly reconstructed many ancient structures for their own use. They covered the ceilings with fewer stones creating a kind of spider-web pattern.

Designed by Shatha al-Haj and Ammar Khammash Architects, the various rooms host exhibits about domestic life, architecture, history, pottery and stratigraphy, the ancient water system, religious practices, and inscriptions. The final room is devoted to contemporary life in Umm al-Jimal. The Inscription Garden displays stone inscriptions in a least five languages and architectural fragments from several periods.

On a courtyard wall of the Interpretive Center is a replica of the inscription blocks of the Decree of Emperor Anastasios (A.D. 491–518). Written in Greek, it included more than 300 lines of text related to the military organization of the eastern border of the Byzantine Empire. The blocks uncovered at Qasr al-Hallabat by Ignacio Arce, displayed in a lapidarium at that site museum are considered to have come originally from Umm al-Jimal, where some blocks still exist.

© Text and photos: Pat Binder & Gerhard Haupt, Universes in Universe.

Sources:

Information provided by the archaeological site of Umm al-Jimal (signs of the Interpretive Trail, and exhibition texts in the Interpretive Center.)

Website information and resources of the Umm el-Jimal Project.

Umm al-Jimal Education Manual: A Curriculum Guide for Teaching Lessons on the Archaeology of Umm el-Jimal in Four Disciplines: Arts and Architecture, Civics, Geology and History. © 2012 the Umm el-Jimal Project and Open Hand Studios.

Bert de Vries: Archaeology for the Future at Umm el-Jimal: Site Preservation, Presentation, and Community Engagement. Published in: ACOR (American Center of Oriental Research) Newsletter, Volume 28.1 Summer 2016.

Umm al-Jimal submission text by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Jordan to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

When we visited Umm al-Jimal in March 2023, our guide Samar Erman from Hand by Hand Heritage gave us an excellent tour through the site. We were impressed by her passion and knowledge, and her sensitivity to our interests. Samar grew up in the village of Umm al Jimal, and completed university studies in tour guiding and management. She says that she wants the visitors to feel connected to the place, to its "spirit," offering details and stories that give them a personal connection to the place, its history and its people — her people, the Masa’eid, who settled in Umm al-Jimal around 1930.

Together with Jehad Suliman, Yaseen Hasan, Ahmad Huseen, she is one of the four founders of Hand by Hand Heritage. They established the company in 2018 to preserve the archaeological site and raise economic livelihood of their community, offering tourist experiences such as archaeological site tours, homestays, local food, and activities such as cooking, carving basalt, Bedouin evenings, camping and biking.

Tel: 00962-797088168

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