Unwilling to spend the afternoon napping, Susan and I decided to go on an adventure. We heard that Umm al-Jimal, which is located near the Jordanian-Syrian border, was free of charge, un-policed, and beautiful. So we loaded Willy up, along with some water bottles, and set out with our trusty map.
After a few wrong turns (since signs in English can be few and far between, Sherry's compass is often our most reliable indicator that we're heading in the right-ish direction) and some very windy roads, we found ourselves pulling into the parking lot of my favorite "Eastern Desert" site yet.
In 1913, archeologist H.C. Butler wrote: "Far out in the desert, there is a deserted city all of basalt, rising black and forbidding from the grey of the plain." He was not exaggerating. Umm al-Jimal was a Roman fortress town and built and inhabited at the same time as Jerash. But where Jerash is full of temples and theatres and fancy fountains and columned marketplaces, Umm al-Jimal felt like a real town, where real people actually lived. The Norman Rockwell of the ancient towns of Jordan if you will. And the black basalt was truly striking and perhaps a reason why I enjoyed our ramble so much - it was nice to see a building material other than the ubiquitous white limestone.
Sadly, we had left our guidebook behind so we missed some of the churches that sprang up in the Byzantine era. Apparently there was also a section of the old Roman highway, the Via Nova Traiana. Guess we'll just have to go back...
Susan, showcasing the "corbelled" ceilings
moonscape!
poor Wills - he will never escape the scourge of being placed in small spaces
an Umm al-Jimal apartment complex - three stories still standing...
looking dramatically into the distance
bonus - we got to see a beautiful sunset on our way back into town
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