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This strange black city is
located about 20 kilometers east
of the provincial capital of
Mafraq, 87 kilometers from
Amman, and only 10 kilometers
from the Syrian border. Umm
al-Jimal is now known as the
Black Oasis because of the
black basalt rock from which
many of its houses, churches,
barracks and forts were built.
The precise history of Umm
al-Jimal is still unclear, but
historians believe that it was
built originally by the
Nabateans around 2000 years ago.
Under the Nabateans, the city
played host to a great number of
trading caravans. Indeed, the
name Umm al-Jimal means "Mother
of Camels" in Arabic. The large
vacant area in the town center
was reserved for traveling
caravans stopping in Umm
al-Jimal. When the Romans took
the city in the first century
CE, they incorporated it into
the line of defense for Rome’s
Arab possessions. The city lay
only six kilometers east of the
Via Nova Triana, which connected
Rome’s northern and southern
Arabian holdings. Umm al-Jimal
may have had as many as 10,000
inhabitants during its heyday.
There are no accommodations in
either Mafraq or Umm al-Jimal. |
