Humayma

Humayma
الحميمة (Arabic)
Humayma in 2013
Humayma is located in Jordan
Humayma
Location within Jordan
29°57′0″N 35°20′49″E / 29.95000°N 35.34694°E / 29.95000; 35.34694
LocationJordan
RegionAqaba Governorate

Humayma (Arabic: الحميمة, romanized: al-Humayma) also spelled Humeima and Humaima, is the modern name of ancient Hawara. Hawara was a trading post in southern Jordan that was founded by the Nabataean king Aretas III in the early first century BC. It is located 45 km to the south of the Nabataean capital Petra and 55 km to the north of the Red Sea port town of Aqaba.

History

Humeima was occupied from about 90 BC until the Early Islamic period, and has Nabataean, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic remains, including a Roman bath and fort, five Byzantine churches, and a qasr or fortified palace from the Umayyad Period.

Nabataean and Roman periods

Landscape south of Humayma

The settlement was founded by Aretas III as a stop on the trade route from Petra to Gulf of Aqaba. During the Greco-Roman era, it was called "Auara" (Greek: Αὔαρα), derived from "Hawara", which means "white" in Aramaic.

In 2012 and 2014, more than 150 petroglyphs were documented during a survey at Humayma. Most were simple figures, but one stands out as a detailed depiction of a religious ceremony. The scene shows a human figure performing a religious offering to a deity. This petroglyph is one of the most intricate found at the site, and its dating suggests it was created during the Nabataean or Roman periods, between the late 1st century BC and the 5th century AD.

Abbasid period

The town was the home of the Abbasid family, around AD 700, who eventually overthrew the Umayyad dynasty and took over the title of caliph, and as such it was the birthplace of the first three Abbasid caliphs: Al-Saffah (r. 750–754), Al-Mansur (r. 754–775) and Al-Mahdi (r. 775–785). The family residence of the Abbasids which was a large qasr had a roughly square plan, approximately 61 by 50 m, with a recessed entrance facing east, and a large central court, arguably one of the so-called desert castles, of which very little remains today.

Climate

As rainfall is only 80 mm annually, an extensive water storage and irrigation works lies in the ruins.

Notable residents

Chronologically:

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Hawara as mentioned by Ptolemy in the Tabula Peutingeriana.

References

  1. 1 2 3 John Peter Oleson. "The history and goals of the Humayma Excavation ProjectT". University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  2. 1 2 Ghazi Bisheh, 2018. 2018."Humayma" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers.
  3. ↑ Oleson, J. P., "Humaima" in: The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Archaeology in the Near East, E. M. Meyers (ed), Oxford, 1997, Vol. 3, pp.121–2.
  4. ↑ Humaima Attraction in Aqaba Humayma Archived 2018-03-06 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ Ghazi Bisheh, 2018. "Humayma" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers.
  6. ↑ "Auara, Humayma". Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
  7. ↑ Reeves, M. Barbara (2015). "A petroglyph of a religious ceremony at Humayma". Journal of Roman Archaeology. 28: 451–460. doi:10.1017/S1047759415002597. ISSN 1047-7594.
  8. ↑ Bisheh, Ghazi (2021). "Humayma". Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers (MWNF). Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  9. ↑ "JMD English Site".
  10. ↑ Trekking from Petra to Wadi Rum.

Sources