Umm Al Jimal
It is a village in Northern Jordan approximately 74 km from Amman, an hour and a half drive.
The name Umm Al-Jimal translates to "mother of camels" and thus it is believed that it was a camel stop on an ancient trading route from Damascus. Dubbed as the "Black Gem of the Desert" due to the basalt black mansions and towers that are still standing till these days, and have long inspired poets.
In circa 749, an earthquake destroyed much of the area and Umm al-Jimal was abandoned like other towns and villages. The village remained uninhabited for nearly eleven hundred years until the modern community developed in the twentieth century.
You can visit the Nabataean, Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad archaeological site of Umm el-Jimal, the Roman gate and fortifications, Byzantine churches, tall barracks with their little chapel, several large churches, numerous open and roofed water cisterns, the outlines of a Roman fort, and the remains of several town gates.
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