The Umm ar-Rasas mosaics are a number of Byzantine mosaics discovered by

Michele Piccirillo Michele Piccirillo (born 29 January 1970 in Modugno, Italy) is a professional boxer in the welterweight () division. Amateur career Michele Piccirillo was an Italian boxer who earned the nickname “Il Gentleman del Ring” for his elegant fi ...

in the ruins of the Church of St. Stephen in

Umm ar-Rasas Umm ar-Rasas ( ar, 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 ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, in 1986. Of particular note is a mosaic floor dated to 785, the largest one in Jordan, with a series of panels illustrating the most important cities of the region.

Town mosaic

Outer frame, left (northern) side

A series of eight cities in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

are shown in the frame: *

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

(Hagia-polis oly City *

Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...

(Neapolis) * Sebastia (Sebastis) *

Caesarea Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesare ...

* Lydda (Diospolis) * Eleutheropolis ( Bayt Jibrin) * Ashkelon (Askalon) * Gaza File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen Jerusalem 2785.jpg , Jerusalem File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen Nablus 2786.jpg, Nablus File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen Sebastia 2787.jpg, Sebastia File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen Caesarea 2788.jpg , Caesarea File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen Lidda 2789.jpg , Lydda File:Church of St. Stephen, mosaic depicting the city of Eleutheropolis (Beit Guvrin), Um er-Rasas, Jordan.jpg , Eleutheropolis (Bayt Jibrin) File:Church of St. Stephen, mosaic depicting the city of Askalon (Ashkelon), Um er-Rasas, Jordan.jpg , Ashkelon File:Umm ar-Rasas mosaic Gaza.png, Gaza

Outer frame, right (southern) side

Seven cities in

Transjordan Transjordan may refer to: * Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River * Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan * Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946) * Hashemite Kingdom of ...

are shown in the frame: * Kastron Mefaa (Umm er-Rasas) * Philadelphia (

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

) * Madaba * Esbounta (

Heshbon Heshbon (also Hesebon, Esebon, Esbous, Esebus; ar, حشبون, links=no, la, Esebus, links=no, he, חשבון, links=no, grc, Ἐσεβών, Ἐσσεβών, Ἐσβούτα, Ἐσβούς, Ἔσβους, Ἔξβους, links=no) were at leas ...

) * Belemounta ( Ma'in) * Areopolis (

Rabba Rabba () is a town in Jordan in the Karak Governorate. As ancient Areopolis, it is a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. Rabba lies about 15 kilometers north of the city of Al-Karak. It had a population of about 7200 in 2015. ...

) * Charachmoba (

Al-Karak Al-Karak ( ar, الكرك), is a city in Jordan known for its medieval castle, the Kerak Castle. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria. Al-Karak is the capital city of the Karak Governorate. ...

) Two additional cities are shown at the head of each aisle: * Limbon * Diblaton File:Jordan Um ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen 2734 Kastron Mefa'a.jpg, Kastron Mefaa (Umm er-Rasas) File:Church of St. Stephen, mosaic depicting the city of Philadelphia (Amman), Um er-Rasas, Jordan.jpg , Philadelphia (

) File:Jordan Um ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen 2736 Madaba.jpg, Madaba File:Church of St. Stephen, mosaic depicting the city of Esbounta (Hesban), Um er-Rasas, Jordan.jpg , Esbounta (

) File:Jordan Um ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen 2740 Main.jpg, Belemounta ( Ma'in)

Inner frame

The inner frame includes illustrations of ten cities in the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...

: *

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

* Kasin (

Ras Kouroun Ras Kouroun, El-Katieh, or El-Kas, also known as Casius Mons in Latin, or Kasion Oros to Greek geographers such as Herodotus (who considered it to mark the boundary between Egypt and Syria), is a small mountain near the marshy Lake Bardawil, the ...

) * Thenesos * Tamiathis * Panau *

Pelusium Pelusium ( Ancient Egyptian: ; cop, /, romanized: , or , romanized: ; grc, Πηλουσιον, Pēlousion; la, Pēlūsium; Arabic: ; Egyptian Arabic: ) was an important city in the eastern extremes of Egypt's Nile Delta, 30 km to ...

* Anticiaou(?) * Eraklion (either Heracleopolis Parva / Sethroë or

Heracleion Heracleion (Ancient Greek: ), also known by its Egyptian name Thonis ( Ancient Egyptian: ; cop, Ⲧϩⲱⲛⲓ , ; Ancient Greek: ) and sometimes called Thonis-Heracleion, was an ancient Egyptian port city located near the Canopic Mouth of ...

) *

Cynopolis Cynopolis ( gr, Κυνόπολις for "city of the dog") was the Hellenistic toponym for two cities in ancient Egypt. Both Cynopolis superior and Cynopolis inferior were bishoprics in Christian times. Cynopolis superior Cynopolis was the Gre ...

* Pseudostomon. File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen mosaic border 2751.jpg, Alexandria File:Umm ar-Rasas 45.JPG , Kasin (

) File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen mosaic border 2752.jpg, Thenesos File:Jordan Um ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen 2721 edit.jpg , Tamiathis File:Umm ar-Rasas 20.JPG, Panau File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen mosaic border 2741.jpg,

File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen mosaic border 2743.jpg, Anticiaou(?) File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen mosaic border 2746.jpg, Eraklion File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen mosaic border 2773.jpg,

File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen mosaic border 2776.jpg, Pseudostomon

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{cite thesis , last=Eckersley , first=Tracey , title=Putting Christians on the map : topographic mosaics from late antique Jordan as representations of authority and status. , year=2016 , publisher=University of Louisville , doi=10.18297/etd/2484, url=https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd/2484/, doi-access=free

External links

* Ghazi Bisheh
Church of St Stephen
in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2023. 2023. 1986 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in Jordan Byzantine mosaics