The village of Umm al-Walid is located south of the Jordanian capital Amman, according to archaeological studies. But, the citizens consider this area as in need of rehabilitation, in order to put it on the Jordanian archaeological map. It belongs to many ancient civilizations, and has been occupied since the Bronze Age.
History
The current modern-day village is largely built atop the remains of archaeological sites that are scattered throughout the town. The ruins are 15km southeast of Madaba. And via the surveys and excavations that occurred in this village, it became clear that it was a settlement since the Greek and Roman times. The work revealed Roman temples and burial sites dating back to the second century C.E. As for the Islamic period, Umm al-Walid became prominent as a summer settlement during the Umayyad period, where there were three Umayyad palaces built close together in the area, and an Umayyad mosque and summer residential settlement. The remains of these homes are still visible next to these palaces. Additionally there are dams close to the village: the Qanatir, which refers to dams used to store rainwater in the summer heat. It is clear from this that this was an agricultural settlement, in addition to being located along a trade route. Many trade caravans passed through Umm al-Walid, an activity that stopped after the Islamic capital moved from Damascus to Baghdad. During a study of the walls of the palaces and their arches and vaults, it was made clear that the site was re-used in the Abbasid period, and then the Mamluk period, where the vaults, arches, and small columns seemed clear and prominent.
Umm al-Walid castle
There are three Umayyad castles in Umm al-Walid, whose grand planning was part of the Umayyad period. Scientists have called these palaces the following names, attributed to their locations in reference to the ancient village: they are the Umm al-Walid eastern castle, the central castle, and the western castle. The architectural style is special in that it brings out the castles’ prominent features. The explorer, H.B. Tristram, acknowledged this the first time he saw the Greek hall. It has been in operation from 1988 to 1996, by a Swiss delegation led by Dr. Jacques Bujard.
General Plan
The castle is shaped like a cube, with dimensions of 70.5 x 70.5 m3 and is surrounded by fifteen towers, which contain entrances from the East, and a corridor and a main square. And beyond that, one enters the five wings of the palace, in front of which is an inner courtyard, one half exposed and the other half covered by a roof which is supported by arches. Each wing contains rooms and baths. The palace is covered with a layer of gypsum inside.
Main Hall
The main hall of the castle is cubic, its height 33 x 33 m3 and is tiled completely with trimmed stones. It is exposed to the open air, and surrounded on many sides by interior halls, and other halls separated by columns which support arches leading to the ceiling, which covers half of the inner hall and is located in front of each of the five wings so that each interior hall has one entrance.
Walls and Towers
The palace is built from trimmed stones, some of them taken from other buildings which date back to the previous eras, the Roman and Byzantine, and the walls inside are colored white, which was common in the Umayyad period. The palace contains fifteen hemispherical towers: three towers in each facade and two towers in the front facade and a tower in every corner three quarters of the circle. There are also aesthetically pleasing towers that also support the walls of the palace but have no defensive purpose. This was inferred because of its small size, and the fact that it was filled almost entirely with stones.
Important Discoveries
A stone porch, considered the first of its kind in Jordan in terms of style, was discovered in the 1993 season by a Swiss delegation of archaeologists. It was found in the northwestern hallway of the Umm al-Walid palace, in front of the gates to one of the rooms. It is an upper door sill with dimensions of 3.34 meters by 60 centimeters. It is covered with gypsum and fresco embellishments that depict a lion hunting a gazelle. It was found broken in two pieces, and it was then restored by the Swiss delegation.
