Overview

Bibliography

Humayma is a Nabatean through Early Islamic site at the northern end of the Hisma desert, which stretches down into Saudi Arabia. It is about halfway between Petra and Aqaba. The Nabateans knew the site as Hawara, the Romans as Hauarra, and the Arabs as Humayma. It is located along the King’s Highway and after the Roman annexation of Nabataea, the Via Nova Traian. The site has been excavated since 1986 by John P. Oleson of the University of Victoria. In 1998, he was joined by Barbara Reeves of Queen’s University. Excavations have continued up to the present.

The site was founded by the Nabatean King Aretas III around 80 C.E. Most of the settlement during this period was seasonal and transitory, as attested by a large Nabatean campground. The Nabateans, however, constructed an extensive water system, including covered aqueducts from ‘Ain al-Ghana and ‘Ain al-Jammam, 27 kilometers to the north, numerous cisterns, and a large open reservoir. A few houses were also constructed, but they were rebuilt during later periods.

Soon after Trajan annexed the Nabatean kingdom in 106 C.E., A large fort was built along with the Via Nova Traian — it is the earliest large Roman fort in Jordan. The fort included all the usual buildings: Praetorium, Principia, Horreum, barracks, a latrine, and a large open pool that functioned as a reservoir (if not a swimming pool). The Romans rebuilt some of the Nabatean houses, a Nabatean shrine to Dushara, and a bathhouse.

During the Byzantine period, after the populace was largely Christianized, church-building took over Humayma. At least five apsidal churches were built. Some of the churches continued to be used into the early Islamic period, though most were remodeled into houses.

Humayma is most well known as the family home of the Abbasid dynasty. At the end of the seventh century, Ali ibn Abd-Allah ibn al-Abbas, a descendant of the Prophet’s uncle, purchased the settlement and built a qasr and a mosque. From this settlement, the Abbasid family plotted and carried out their revolt against the Umayyad dynasty in 749 C.E. After the success of the revolt, however, the family moved to Iraq and established their caliphate in the newly founded settlement of Bagdad. Humayma was slowly abandoned until some rebuilding can be detected from the Ottoman period. Both the Abbasid family qasr and the mosque have been uncovered and are visible in Virtual World Project.

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

	Early Islamic Period
	Byzantine Period
	Late Roman Period
	Nabatean Period