Skip to content
0 WhatsApp
The Byzantine barracks at Umm el-Jimal

Eastern desert

Umm al-Jimal

The "black oasis": a whole town of black basalt houses, churches and water cisterns near the Syrian border, inscribed by UNESCO in 2024.

  • UNESCO World Heritage

Umm al-Jimal grew from a Nabataean village into a Roman and Byzantine farming town and lived on into the Umayyad period. Because the builders used basalt – even for roofs, with long stone beams – many houses still stand two storeys high.

Walk through the barracks, the Double Church and courtyards with stairs that lead to nowhere, and see how the town collected every drop of rain in cisterns.

Don't miss

  • Two-storey basalt houses
  • The Barracks tower
  • Byzantine churches
  • Ancient water system
The Byzantine barracks at Umm el-Jimal Black basalt ruins of Umm el-Jimal Barracks and tower at Umm al-Jimal in northern Jordan

Tours that visit Umm al-Jimal

Getting around

Private transfers, drivers and guides that cover this area.

Nearby

Arch of Hadrian at the southern entrance to Jerash Jerash One of the best-preserved Roman cities outside Italy – temples, theatres and a colonnaded street almost a kilometre long. 8 tours Temple of Hercules on the Amman Citadel Amman Jordan's white-stone capital on seven hills: a Roman theatre, the Citadel, lively downtown souks and modern cafés. 10 tours Archaeological site of Tell Mar Elias near Ajloun Anjara & Tell Mar Elias Two Christian pilgrimage sites in the Ajloun hills: the shrine of Our Lady of the Mountain and the hill of the Prophet Elijah. 2 tours Ajloun Castle, the medieval Ayyubid fortress in northern Jordan Ajloun A hilltop castle built by a commander of Saladin, surrounded by the greenest forests in Jordan. 4 tours