Photo: Bashar Tabbah, CC BY-SA 4.0 Source
Umm ar-Rasas
I have been hereSign in to keep track of the places you have been.I want to go hereSign in to keep a list of places you want to visit. Travel advice: Be aware of safety risksParts of this country have stricter advice: Travel only if necessaryAdvice from the Dutch government. Always read the current advice before you travel.Last changed: 08-09-2026Read the current adviceUmm ar-Rasas (Arabic: أم الرّصاص; ancient name: Kastron Mefa'a) is located 30 km southeast of Madaba in the Amman Governorate in central Jordan. It was once accessible by branches of the King's Highway, and is situated in the semi-arid steppe region of the Jordanian Desert. The site has been associated with the biblical settlement of Mephaat mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah. The Roman military utilized the site as a strategic garrison, but it was later converted and inhabited by Christian and Islamic communities. In 2004, the site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is valued by archaeologists for its extensive ruins dating to the Roman, Byzantine, and early Muslim periods. The Franciscan academic society in Jerusalem, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (SBF), carried out excavations at the north end of the site in 1986, but much of the area remains buried under debris.
Source: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA