Since the end of the last century, the antiquities of Umm ar-Rasas have attracted the attention of many historians and tourists, especially when the Department of Antiquities began conducting seasonal excavations at the site starting in July 1986 in the Synod of St. Stephen, on the northern side of the ruins.

No one knows where "Umm ar-Rasas" got its Arabic name. Some believe that the Bedouins named it by this name in relation to some of the lead sarcophagi that they found among the ruins, and some say that the verb “Ras (in Arabic) Stacking” means joining things together, and that Umm Ar-Rasas was named by this name in relation to its compact and well-built walls.

As for her old name, nothing was known about him at first. At the end of the nineteenth century, the archaeologist Jermir Deran considered that Khirbet Umm ar-Rasas "Maif'at" mentioned in the book of Joshua bin Nun. The inscriptions found in churches prove that its ancient name is "Maif'at". And the book of Joshua the son of Nun mentions that Moses the prophet gave the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their families a land from “Aroeer" which is on the side of the Arnon Valley, and the city in the middle of the valley, and all the Najd at Medeba, and Heshbon with all its cities in the Najd: Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baalon, and Bahsa Qadyamoot and Mephat..." (Joshua 13:18). The book mentioned that it later became for the families of the sons of Merari the Levites (21:37). It was also mentioned in the book of Jeremiah the prophet, where he said: “The judgment has been fulfilled over the land of the plain, on Holon, Bahsa, and Mephat” (Jeremiah 48:21.)

As for the ruins of Umm al-Rasas, they consist of: the Roman camp, which is a rectangular fortress surrounded by tall, sturdy walls supported by a number of towers and buttresses; And the neighborhood that lies north of the camp, and it is likely that this neighborhood is the old town that existed before the Romans came. There is a watchtower with a height of fifteen meters, surrounded by a courtyard, in which a church was built. The tower is located about a kilometer and a half to the north of the neighborhood and the camp. There are a number of ancient wells and caves. The whole area was dependent on the use of cisterns in which rain water was collected in the winter.

Umm al-Rasas Churches

The excavations at Umm al-Rasas have not yet been completed, so it is not possible to know the exact number of churches in it. However, fourteen churches were found, including four inside the fortress and ten outside the fortress. The most important of these churches are:

1. Two churches as if they were twins on the northeastern side of the camp, each with an apse overlapping the wall. The northern church is rectangular in shape. It was built in the middle of the sixth century AD, after the camp was converted to civilian purposes. It has one fortress separated from the choir by two adjacent corridors between three rows of columns. The mosaic of the church dates back to the year 578/579 or the year 593/594 AD. As for the second church, which is adjacent to the aforementioned church from the south, no writing was found in it mentioning the date of its construction. However, archaeologists, when comparing the mosaic of this church with the mosaics in the Diocese of Madaba, conclude that it was built in the middle of the sixth century. It is as low as the mosaic art in St. George Church, the Church of the Priest John in Khirbet Al-Makhait, and the Church of the Deacon Thomas in the eyes of Moses. There is no door between the two churches, which indicates that the two churches were not built at the same time, and it seems that one of them was built in honor of one of the martyrs, and that the other was dedicated to the recitation of the usual daily prayers.

2. The Church of Bishop Sergius: It was built with sturdy square stones, and it does not have a southern wall. In its place, two arches and a balustrade were erected, separating it from a third church in the small square adjacent to it. The church of St. Sergius came in the form of a basilica, and it has three apses and a sacristy. Its central apse was paved from the inside with the stone seats for the clergy, and the choir rises two steps above the level of the church and the bases of the temple can be seen. The church was decorated with mosaics at the time of Bishop Sergius in the year 587 AD. As for the floor of the altar and the Holy of Holies, it was covered with mosaics that depict many wonderful scenes, and there are geometric shapes adorned with crosses.

3. The Church of St. Stephen: It is located at a height of one meter from the church of Bishop Sergius. It was built in the form of a basilica. It is worth noting that the construction work in it is very modest, while the floor is very rich in drawings, which makes it a rare masterpiece that is not matched in all the monuments of Jordan except for the mosaic map in Madaba.

In the churches of Umm al-Rasas, many writings were found that reveal a wonderful page of the history of this city and the Christian life in it, including donations, offerings, prayers and invitations to artists who made mosaics, donors and priests. Certainly, there are still many other writings that shed light on an era in Jordan's history that we do not know much about yet.