Gradually the history of the place unraveled into strata and periods with distinct personalities – a Paleolithic band, Nabataean-Roman and Byzantine- Islamic settlements; yes, Islamic! After a long gap people resettled, the Druze before World War I (who supposedly left “because of the gnats”), British and the French soldiers, who left their tent bases - and a hand grenade, and finally by the Mseid, who’ve stayed and grown to a thriving village 6000 strong, and whose friendship we treasure.
There were also discoveries. After careful survey and excavation, the shapeless ruins inside the East Gate turned into a cohort-sized Tetrarchic castellum; al-Herri, an apparently natural deposit of lichen-coated basalt area of field stones, became the second-third century “village of the workers.” One day in 1993 a horse in Sheik Serour’s olive garden fell through the surface into a cist grave. That accident triggered the excavation of hundreds of individuals from the late Roman-era population.
This website is part of a major push by the Umm el-Jimal Project and Open Hand Studios to create a virtual museum that will present Umm el-Jimal in dramatically new ways, and bring together electronic Umm el-Jimal, ancient Umm el-Jimal, and the present village for you to visit. I hope you stop by often, and share our excitement over the eerie beauty and fascinating history of Umm el-Jimal!
Bert de Vries
Director, Umm el-Jimal Project
Page 1
There were also discoveries. After careful survey and excavation, the shapeless ruins inside the East Gate turned into a cohort-sized Tetrarchic castellum; al-Herri, an apparently natural deposit of lichen-coated basalt area of field stones, became the second-third century “village of the workers.” One day in 1993 a horse in Sheik Serour’s olive garden fell through the surface into a cist grave. That accident triggered the excavation of hundreds of individuals from the late Roman-era population.
This website is part of a major push by the Umm el-Jimal Project and Open Hand Studios to create a virtual museum that will present Umm el-Jimal in dramatically new ways, and bring together electronic Umm el-Jimal, ancient Umm el-Jimal, and the present village for you to visit. I hope you stop by often, and share our excitement over the eerie beauty and fascinating history of Umm el-Jimal!
Bert de Vries
Director, Umm el-Jimal Project
Page 1