- Umm el-Jimal
village located to the southwest of the Byzantine ruins.
History
The village was first settled in the second century A.D. following the incorporation of the Nabatean empire into the Roman empire by Trajan. This settlement was destroyed in the middle of the third century A.D., probably during the revolt against the Romans led by Queen Zenobia of Palmyra (de Vries 1990).de Vries, Bert. (1990) "Umm el-Jimal "Gem of the Black Desert" : A Brief Guide to the Antiquities", Amman: Al Kutba. 8-12.]
The Byzantine village began as a military outpost in the late Roman attempt to defend the Empire's periphery. A prosperous rural community developed around this outpost, reaching its peak in the sixth century A.D. Plague and war weakened the community, and the earthquake of
748 resulted in destruction from which it was never able to recover (de Vries 1990).The site remained unoccupied until the early 20th century when a community of
Druze settled in Umm el-Jimal for a few years reusing the ancient Byzantine structures, before abandoning the site again. The current village was established around 1950 and is built around the Byzantine remains (de Vries 1990).Notes
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