Um Ar-Risas
Um ar-Risas is Jordan’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site, having joined the list of Cultural Heritage treasures in 2004. As with many archaeological sites in this history-rich country, much of the extensive ruins remain unexcavated.
The visible remains belong to the Roman settlement of Mefa’a, once an important garrison town along the Limes Arabicus—the fortified frontier protecting vital trade routes from incursions across the eastern desert. The site also contains the remains of four large Byzantine-era churches, along with several smaller ones scattered throughout the area.
The most remarkable of these is St. Stephen’s Church, located in the northeastern corner of the site. It houses one of Jordan’s most spectacular mosaic floors. Crafted with dramatic black basalt, the mosaic features medallions along its borders depicting detailed “town plan” representations of major Christian cities in Palestine and Jordan along the pilgrimage route from Constantinople. A distinctive section of the mosaic also portrays key Christian sites in Egypt during the late Byzantine period.
Perhaps the most striking feature of Um ar-Risas is the Stylite Tower, rising approximately 13 meters above the ground. This tower is the sole surviving example of two that once stood on the site and is the only known Stylite tower in the region to remain largely intact. Characteristically lacking a staircase and topped with a circular living platform, the tower was once inhabited by an ascetic hermit who withdrew from worldly life to devote himself to prayer and meditation closer to God.
As with the famous Stylite tower of St. Simeon in northern Syria, the hermits of Um ar-Risas likely attracted a steady flow of pilgrims from distant lands as well as local Christian visitors. These holy men were renowned for offering religious instruction, resolving personal disputes, and presiding over lively doctrinal debates.
Ongoing and future excavations are expected to reveal evidence of even earlier occupation. Artefacts dating back to Iron Age II, along with reused dressed stones bearing Thamudic and Nabatean inscriptions, suggest that Um ar-Risas occupied a long and significant place along ancient trade corridors, giving the site a deeply layered and evocative history.
