Church of St. Stephen complex
Informative photo tour through the Church of St. Stephen complex at Umm er-Rasas, including several churches, chapels and adjacent structures.
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The St. Stephen's church is located southeast of, and one meter higher than, the Church of Bishop Sergius. It was built above an older monument. A small section of a lower mosaic floor was found under the base of the altar (to be seen in this photo).
It was completed in October 785, at the time of Bishop Sergius II, in honor of Saint Stephen by care of the deacon John, who was "chief of the Mefaaites and econom” and with the collaboration of all the people of Kastron Mefa'a "who love Christ".
The wealth of inscriptions and the quality of the mosaic pavement make St. Stephen's church one of the most important archaeological monuments in Jordan. The mosaics are the best dated evidence of the welfare of a flourishing urban Christian community in the region, still well organized as part of the bishopric of Madaba in the changed political context of the Umayyad and even the Abbasid periods.
© Photo: Haupt & Binder
Groundplan: UiU, based on a drawing by the Department of Antiquities (DoA), Jordan
Informative photo tour through the Church of St. Stephen complex at Umm er-Rasas, including several churches, chapels and adjacent structures.
The second of the four major caliphates established after the death of prophet Muhammad (632 AD). Ruled by the Umayyads, the first dynasty of caliphs, 661–750, with their capital in Damascus 661–744. Their empire stretched from Central Asia to Morocco and Spain and was the largest in the world at that time.
In 750 the Umayyads were defeated by the Abbasids. Some survivors of the dynasty escaped and established the Emirate and then Caliphate al-Andalus in present-day Spain, with Córdoba as their capital, where they ruled until 1031.
More about in AD Jordan:
- Desert Castles
- Amman Citadel