Umm Al-Jimāl: A Historical Overview
Paleolithic Evidence
(350,000 to 10,000 years BP)
A number of Paleolithic tools were found in the area of the village and its surroundings during a transect survey in 1998. Finds, all made of chert, included Acheulean handaxes from the Lower Paleolithic, Levallois cores and points from the Middle Paleolithic, and endscrapers and blades from the Upper Paleolithic (see Hoksbergen’s 2010 article in the Library). Hunter-gatherers were no doubt attracted to the area because the wadis provided a seasonal water source.
There is no Neolithic, Bronze, or Iron Age evidence in the immediate vicinity of Umm Al-Jimāl. To the east, however, the desert was a fertile hunting ground and still bears ample evidence of construction and habitation from these periods, from domestic structures, epigraphy, and kites, to larger settlements like Jawa.
Upper Paleolithic artifacts (B. Hoksbergen)
Nabataean Settlement at Umm Al-Jimāl (1st cen. CE)
Settlement at Umm Al-Jimāl began in the later 1st century CE, at which time the area was part of the Nabataean Kingdom (est. c. 168 BC). The prosperity of the kingdom hinged on Nabataean control of lucrative trade routes that brought incense and other goods to places as far as Europe and the Far East (Graf and Sidebotham, 2003). Petra in southern Jordan was the capital of the kingdom for much of its lifespan, but during the reign of Rabbel II (70–106 CE) it has been argued that the king, and so too the capital, moved north to Bostra in southern Syria. Ceramic and epigraphic evidence show that settlement was spreading into the rural hinterland in Syria and Jordan during this period, probably in part directed by Nabataean authorities.
The first settlement at Umm Al-Jimāl is southeast of the fenced site in an area known as the Early Village (or al-Herri, the ruins) due to its small size in comparison to the town and the fact that it was no longer inhabited after the Late Roman or Early Byzantine period The full extent of this settlement is unknown, in large part due to 19th- and 20th-century developments, but previous excavations by the Umm Al-Jimāl Archaeological Project (revealed several domestic complexes in the area, all of which were constructed in the Late Roman period. No significant architectural remains were found: walls were rarely more than a few courses high, their stones having been repurposed to build structures in the later town. After the domestic abandonment, the buildings all showed evidence of intentional dumping of debris–mostly pottery, and much of it burned. It is probable, therefore, that once the building material was removed the space was then used to dispose of garbage from the town.
The Early Village Excavations: Area R (A. Meskil & G. de Vries)
The village is particularly significant because its Late Roman homes are the earliest domestic structures thus uncovered at Umm Al-Jimāl. Due to the partial destruction of the town and village during the Palmyrene Rebellion in the late 3rd century CE and the subsequent reconstruction, the houses in the town thus far date to the Byzantine period and later. While the town stands as the striking epitome of rural life at Umm Al-Jimāl, the village is nonetheless key to understanding its history and key aspects of its formation.
Under Roman, Byzantine, & Islamic Rule
(2nd–8th cen. CE)
In 106 CE, following the death of Nabataean King Rabbel II, the kingdom was annexed by the Roman Empire and became part of the province of Arabia, of which Bostra was the capital.
Imperial influence appears to have been minor at Umm Al-Jimāl over the first couple centuries of Roman rule. The West Gate was dedicated during the co-regency of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus (c. 177–80 CE), and the probable civic building, the Praetorium, also dates to this period. Parts of the town wall and the large reservoir in the central area of the settlement were also constructed during this phase. No military fortifications have been found from this period
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Plan of the West Gate (L. Cahill)
The Praetorium, with wooden supports for stability (UJAP)
In Syria and parts of Northern Jordan, there was unrest and destruction during Queen Zenobia of Palmyra's conquests and Emperor Aurelian's reconquest (c. 270–72 CE). At Bostra, for example, a sanctuary dedicated to the patron god of the legion was destroyed by the Palmyrenes. Destruction at Umm Al-Jimāl in the late 3rd century is best evidenced by the thick, burned deposit of pottery and other debris found beneath the re-built Roman road (c. 300 CE) leading from the West Gate to the via nova (see Osinga and de Vries 2022 in the Library). Two inscriptions of the same text found in secondary use at Umm Al-Jimāl, one in Nabataean and one in Greek, provide an explanation for why Umm Al-Jimāl may have been caught in the crosshairs of battle. The inscriptions (c. 260–65 CE) link the Tanoukh, an Arab tribal confederation allied with Rome, and 3rd-century Umm Al-Jimāl. [View them in the inscriptions slideshow]
Following the damage to the village and town during the Roman-Palmyrene conflict, there was gradual rebuilding. The Romans constructed a castellum as well as a new road leading from the West Gate. Architectural fragments from the village were taken away and reused in the town, and by the 5th century CE the early village was little more than a place to dump debris. Civilian construction alongside imperial efforts is possible; further archaeological study is necessary to understand a detailed chronology of domestic settlement in this early expansion of the town.
The later 5th and 6th centuries CE saw a flurry of domestic construction as well as the erection of sixteen churches. The Islamic conquest of north-eastern Jordan in 636 CE century had no immediate impact on the site, and life continued in the 7th and 8th centuries with some new construction, remodelling of old structures, and the possible conversion of some churches into mosques.
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The Barracks (UJAP)
Traditionally, the “abandonment” of Umm Al-Jimāl by the turn of the 9th century CE was attributed to the 749 earthquake, which caused major damage to some sites nearer to the epicenter in the Jordan Valley; however, the archaeological evidence points strongly to the absence of serious destruction at the site. The reasons for sedentary abandonment of Umm Al-Jimāl and many in the wider region are no doubt more complex, reflecting numerous changes from shifting trade routes to lingering plague and climate concerns.
Seasonal & Temporary Settlement
(9th–18th cen. CE)
While Umm Al-Jimāl was no longer a permanent settlement after the 8th century CE, it was by no means completely abandoned. While there are is no identifiable ceramic or other material evidence from the 9th to 11th centuries CE, it is still possible that the site or its hinterland was visited occasionally or seasonally. Nomadic life in the eastern desert was still thriving, and some Umm Al-Jimāl residents may have embraced that lifestyle. Sedentarism and nomadism fluctuated throughout time, with people adapting their lives to local conditions.
The next major evidence at Umm Al-Jimāl comes in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, when ceramics, coins, and other small finds attest to activity. Scattered material culture from these periods are common in small amounts across much of the site; however, evidence of construction is rarer, and there is no indication that permanent settlement recommenced. The best example is House XVIII, where excavations coupled with C14 dating of a second coat of plaster revealed efforts to clean and refurbish the exterior reservoir and interior cistern (See Al-Bashaireh’s 2014 article in the Library). Water, ever a precious commodity, is what drove the renovations. At present, excavations have not revealed evidence of settlement proper at the site during this period. It is therefore probable that Umm Al-Jimāl was visited temporarily or seasonably by travellers/pilgrims along the north-south route as well as nomadic tribes from the eastern desert. Its standing architecture and abundant reservoirs would provide shelter and water, and habitual visitation would explain the construction of at least one minaret, but also the lack of stratified domestic finds.
House XVIII's interior cistern - Trench C.2 (UJAP)
Ottoman- & Mandate-Period Developments (19th–early 20th cen. CE)
During the Ottoman and Mandate periods there is evidence of transient use and then of later reoccupation within some of the buildings, but the chronology of this activity and its intensity is impossible to analyze with so little material culture evidence left behind.
In the early 20th century, Druze families fleeing conflict in Syria took up residence in parts of the site and instituted some repairs to the structures (See Brown’s 2009 article in the Library).
House 35 Druze-reconstructed arch (R. Sherrod)
The alterations have been documented, though they can be difficult to differentiate from Middle Islamic alterations. These changes to the architecture, usually creating/restoring arches or repairing roofs, are nonetheless an important part of Umm Al-Jimāl’s historical and cultural journey, continuing many of the techniques of the original builders. The Druze left around 1935 with the establishment of the modern border between Jordan and Syria, which limited their access to the Jebel Druze.
The French and British armies camped near the Barracks and the West Church, respectively, from the mid-1920s to late 1930s. This occupation appears to have brought no destruction and little alteration: in fact, the army pavement constructed in the Barracks protected the earlier stratigraphy from disturbance or contamination.
Ancient lintel etched with modern name (UJAP)
The Mas’eid & Modern Community (early 20th cen. CE–present)
The local Mas'eid Bedouin tribe took up residence around and within the ruins, principally from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Names written on doorways, some still visible today, record the residents of the ancient-turned-modern homes during this period. In House XVII, an excavated stable contained modern as well as ancient dung—a striking example of continuity. As with the Druze occupation, there were few physical changes to the site’s architecture, in large part because tents were used for habitation, and thus the property’s authenticity and integrity remain high.
The Department of Antiquities of Jordan installed a fence around the town site in 1972, and the modern settlement grew all around it. The central location of the property in modern Umm Al-Jimāl means that the site continues today to be navigated on foot by residents travelling to work, home, and school. The ancient site is therefore very much a part of the everyday lives of the local community.