<< Our Photo Pages >> Umm Al-Rasas - Ancient Village or Settlement in Jordan
Submitted by motist on Tuesday, 28 September 2010 Page Views: 7460
DigsSite Name: Umm Al-Rasas Alternative Name: Kastrom Mefa'a,MefaatCountry: Jordan Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Madaba Nearest Village: Al-Juma'yyil
Latitude: 31.500499N Longitude: 35.920115E
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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External Links:
The most important discovery on the site was the mosaic floor of the Church of St Stephen. It was made in 785 (discovered after 1986). The perfectly preserved mosaic floor is the largest one in Jordan. On the central panel hunting and fishing scenes are depicted while another panel illustrates the most important cities of the region (including Kastron Mefaa, Philadelphia, Madaba, Esbounta, Belemounta, Areopolis, Charac Moaba, Jerusalem, Nablus, Caesarea and Gaza). The frame of the mosaic is especially decorative. Six mosaic masters signed the work: Staurachios from Esbus, Euremios, Elias, Constantinus, Germanus and Abdela. It overlays another, damaged, mosaic floor of the earlier (587) "Church of Bishop Sergius." Another four churches were excavated nearby with traces of mosaic decoration.
It can be reached from Madaba directly. The Town of Um Al Rasas, as it is known, was an important town in the Nabatean times and became a frontier station in the Roman time. The city wall, houses and churches are the remains of the ancient Kastron Mefaa.
The ruins of Umm al-Rasas in the eastern steppe of Madaba has been inscribed on the World Heritage List at the 28th Session of the World Heritage Committee held between June 28 to July 7 in Suzhou, China.
The prestigious international acknowledgment is a reward to the joint efforts of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan and of the Franciscan Archaeological Institute on Mount Nebo that started the archaeological excavations of the ruins located 30 km east of Madaba.
The joint venture started in the summer 1986 with the discovery of the amazing floor mosaic of the Church of Saint Stephen, dated to the Eighth Century in the Umayyad period, with the architectural representations of eight cities of Palestine, starting with the vignette of Jerusalem (The Holy City), nine cities of Jordan with Amman, Madaba and Kastron Mefaa, and ten cities of Egypt with Alexandria.
The Greek inscriptions gave the possibility to identify the ruins of Umm al-Rasas with the historical city of Kastron Mefaa. The name of the ancient town was written two times in the main inscription in the nave, and a third time as a label of the architectonic plan of the city itself depicted among the cities of Jordan.
The Moabite town of Mefaat on the high plateau of Moab was already known to the Bible, where it is recorded together with Madaba, Main, Nebo, Hesban, Elal and many other localities on the road which connected central Moab to the north.
In the Roman period, Kastron Mefaa was the military camp of the unity of the Arab cavalry auxiliary troops of the Roman army under the command of the Dux Arabiae.
In the Byzantine period, according to the results of the archaeological campaigns, which continued until this summer 2004, the town reached the peak of its urban development with civil houses built inside and outside the walls of the Roman camp, and a dozen of churches beautifully paved with floor mosaics at the time of Sergius, Bishop of Madaba, at the end of the Sixth Century A.D.
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Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.