The Umm ar-Rasas mosaics are a number of Byzantine mosaics discovered by Michele Piccirillo in the ruins of the Church of St. Stephen in Umm ar-Rasas, Jordan, in 1986.
Of particular note is a mosaic floor dated to 785, the largest one in Jordan, with a series of panels depicting the most important cities of the region.
Town mosaic Outer frame, left (northern) side A series of eight cities in Palestine are shown in the frame: Jerusalem (Hagia-polis [Holy City]) Nablus (Neapolis) Sebastia (Sebastis) Caesarea Lydda (Diospolis) Bayt Jibrin (Eleutheropolis) Ascalon (Askalon) Gaza
Outer frame, right (southern) side Seven cities in Transjordan are shown in the frame: Kastron Mefaa (Umm er-Rasas) Philadelphia (Amman) Madaba Esbounta (Heshbon) Belemounta (Ma'in) Areopolis (Rabba) Charachmoba (Al-Karak)
Two additional cities are shown at the head of each aisle: Limbon Diblaton
Inner frame The inner frame includes illustrations of ten cities in the Nile Delta: Alexandria Kasin (Ras Kouroun) Thenesos Tamiathis Panau Pelusium Anticiaou(?) Eraklion (either Heracleopolis Parva / Sethroë or Heracleion) Cynopolis Pseudostomon.
See also Early Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East; although dating to the Abbasid period, the mosaics there are part of the Byzantine tradition
References
Bibliography
External links Ghazi Bisheh "Church of St Stephen" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2023. 2023.