Umm el-Jimal is both a modern town and archaeological site of unknown
name, located about 70km northeast of Amman and just south of the Syrian
border. In ancient times the site was occupied from roughly the 1st to
8th centuries AD. After its decline Umm el-Jimal’s dark basalt
architecture lay silent until Syrian Druze and then others reoccupied it
at the start of the 20th century. Umm el-Jimal was a frontier town in
the desert, likely first inhabited by Nabataean traders caravanning
between Petra and Damascus. With the arrival of Rome in the second
century AD the village eventually became part of the Limes Arabicus—the
line of garrisoned forts that protected Roman Arabia. Even so Umm
el-Jimal’s inhabitants existed in relative autonomy, and by the 5th and
6th centuries it peaked as a prosperous Byzantine town of perhaps five
thousand souls. Over the following centuries Umm el-Jimal’s residents
remodeled and reused its stone structures, until its probable decline
and gradual abandonment in the late 8th century...
Using this Site
While the project web site continues to evolve,
information is organized according to the following scheme and is
accessible through the large buttons at the top of every page:
Overview
This introduction, director's welcome, news, and information geared to media outlets.
Fieldwork
Summaries of excavations and surveys by types of evidence such as architecture, inscriptions, ceramics, and bones.
Archive
A developing open catalogue of the field data created
by the project since its beginning in 1972, including publications, GIS
and 3D modeling, images, and drawings.
Findings
Timeline and brief overviews of academic
interpretation by topic, for example people and politics, religion and
society, environment, and site conservation.
Community
Umm el-Jimal's modern culture, oral history archive,
plans for a community-operated heritage center, and restoring the site's
ancient water system.
Museum
An online museum featuring a virtual-reality site
tour, short films, artifact highlights, Arabic-English educational
curriculum, UNESCO updates, and tourism information.
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