Umm el-Jimal

Umm el-Jimal stands on the basalt plain south of the Syrian border, a town built entirely of black volcanic stone that grew from a Nabataean and Roman settlement into a substantial Byzantine and early Islamic community before being abandoned. Its buildings survive to two and three storeys, with corbelled roofs of basalt slabs, cisterns, churches and houses standing among the rubble. UNESCO inscribed it in 2024.

What you actually see

• The black basalt buildings - houses standing two and three storeys high in volcanic stone.
• The corbelled roofs - basalt slabs spanning rooms without timber.
• The churches - the Byzantine buildings among the domestic quarters.
• The water system - the cisterns and channels that made settlement possible.

When to go

March to May and October to November are the comfortable months. Summer heat on the basalt plain is severe. Winter can be cold and windy.

Honest expectations

There is no shade anywhere on the site and the black stone radiates heat. The ruins are largely unconsolidated with loose stone underfoot. Interpretation is limited.

Nearby

Mafraq is west, and Qasr Burqu' is far east in the desert.