Um Rassas
Finest Byzantine church mosaics in the Middle East
Umm al-Rasas (also spelled Umm ar-Rasas and Um er-Rasas) is an important archaeological site that was declared a World Heritage Site in 2004. Its structures date from the 3rd to 9th centuries and most have not yet been excavated. The site is especially known for its magnificent Byzantine mosaics, which have been uncovered in two churches dating from the 6th and 8th centuries.
This site has been inhabited since at least the Iron Age (7th century BC), as attested by artifacts such as a basalt pillar base and a stone scarab. In ancient times, it was a Moabite town called Kastron Mefaa. The prophet Jeremiah mentioned the city (as "Mephaath") in his condemnation of Moab (Jeremiah 48:21). The 4th-century church historian Eusebius recorded that a Roman army unit was stationed here, Excavations began in 1986 at the north end of the site and have continued ever since. Most of the site still remains buried under rubble, This rectangular walled city, located about 30 km southeast of Madaba, lays in ruins, but several buildings in its eastern part, including churches, a courtyard with a well, staircases and beautifully curved stone arches have been excavated and restored.
The main attraction, though, lays outside the city walls; it is the newly unearthed Church of St. Stephen with its perfectly preserved remarkable mosaic floor, the largest one in Jordan.
It contains the images and portraits of 27 Old and New Testament cities of the Holy Land from both east and west of the Jordan River and of Egypt, Like Philadelphia (Amman), Madaba, Esbounta (Heshbon), Belemounta (Ma'aan), Areopolis (Ar-Rabba), making it a discovery second only to the Mosaic Map of Madaba. Less than 2 km north of the fortified town, the highest standing ancient tower of Jordan puzzles the specialists, a 15 meter high, Byzantine square tower with no door or inner staircase, thought to be used by early Christian monks seeking solitude, now inhabited by swarms of bird.
• Umm al-Rasas is more important to archaeologists.