Overview

Bibliography

Umm al-Walid is a Umayyad outpost along the fringe of the eastern desert, approximately 16 kilometers south of Mushatta and 12 meters south of Qastal – two prominent Umayyad palaces in the region. Although the site was occupied during the Roman and Byzantine periods, all the extant remains today date to the Umayyad and Abbasaid periods – and they continued to be used into the late Islamic period.

Umm al-Walid was excavated by the Mission Archéologique Suisse en Jordanie from 1988 to 1996. The primary structures identified on the east side of the site are a large qasr or “fortress” and a mosque. The East Qasr is approximately 70 meters square and its walls are reinforced with 15 towers. In the center of the “fortress” is a large paved open courtyard, 30 meters square, surrounded by five covered subsidiary courtyards. To the east of the qasr is a mosque that gives clear evidence of two stages of construction – only the plan of the first stage is fully preserved.

On the western side of the site is a smaller qasr, approximately 46 meters square, that has not been restored like the East Qasr. The West Qasr was originally believed to have been built during the late Roman period, but reexamination of the evidence suggests that it too was built during the Umayyad period and continued to be used into later periods. It is similar in plan and architecture to the East Qasr. It is not included in the Virtual World Project due to its ruined condition.

Although termed a “qasr,” the structures probably functioned as khans along the desert road.

The archaeological strata uncovered at the site, as illustrated in the site plan, date to the following periods:

	Abbasid Period
	Umayyad Period