HISTORIC RELIGIOUS SITE
Church of Saint Stephen
Umm ar-Rasas · Byzantine church remains
- Locality
- Umm ar-Rasas
- Tradition
- Byzantine church remains
- Type of place
- HISTORIC RELIGIOUS SITE
- Coordinates
- 31.50146° N, 35.92149° E
- Identity
- Matched to a public listing
A brief history
Umm ar-Rasas, the ancient Kastron Mefa'a, lies about 30 kilometres south-east of Madaba, and archaeologists connect it with Mephaath, a settlement named in the book of Jeremiah. A Roman garrison held the site before Christian and then Muslim communities lived there. Michele Piccirillo uncovered the mosaic floor of the Church of Saint Stephen in 1986; it is the largest in Jordan. UNESCO inscribed the site as World Heritage in 2004.
Saints & traditions
The floor is dated 785 — a Christian mosaic laid under Muslim rule — and its panels name the cities of the region one by one: Jerusalem, Nablus, Gaza, Amman, Madaba, Alexandria and more.