Humayma ( ar, الحميمة, al-Humayma) also spelled Humeima and Humaima, is the modern name of ancient Hawara.Humeima
at nabataea.net (copyright 2002)Ghazi Bisheh , 2018. 201
"Humayma" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers
Hawara was a trading post in southern

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

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 The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

port town of

Aqaba Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...

History

Humeima was occupied from about 90 BC until the Early Islamic period, and has

Nabataean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern L ...

, Roman,

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and Islamic remains, including a Roman bath and fort, five

churches, and a ''qasr'' or fortified palace from the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

Period.

Nabataean and Roman periods

The settlement was founded by Aretas III as a stop on the trade route from Petra to

Gulf of Aqaba The Gulf of Aqaba ( ar, خَلِيجُ ٱلْعَقَبَةِ, Khalīj al-ʿAqabah) or Gulf of Eilat ( he, מפרץ אילת, Mifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian ...

. During the Greco-Roman era, it was called "Auara" ( gr, Αὔαρα), derived from "Hawara", which means "''white''" in

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

Abbasid period

The town was the home of the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

, or

Banu Abbas The Abbasid dynasty or Abbasids ( ar, بنو العباس, Banu al-ʿAbbās) were an Arab dynasty that ruled the Abbasid Caliphate between 750 and 1258. They were from the Qurayshi Hashimid clan of Banu Abbas, descended from Abbas ibn Abd al-M ...

family, around AD 700, who eventually overthrew the Umayyad dynasty and took over the title of

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

, and as such it was the birthplace of the first three Abbasid caliphs:

As-Saffah Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Saffāḥ ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن محمد السفّاح‎; 721/722 – 8 June 754, al-Anbar) usually known as Abūʾl-ʿAbbās as-Saffāḥ or simply by his laqab As ...

(r. 750–754),

Al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور‎; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...

(r. 754–775) and

Al-Mahdi Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله المنصور; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name Al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abb ...

(r. 775–785). The family residence of the Abbasids was a large ''qasr'
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 The Umayyad desert castles, of which the desert castles of Jordan represent a prominent part, are fortified palaces or castles in what was the then Umayyad province of Bilad al-Sham. Most Umayyad "desert castles" are scattered over the semi-arid ...

, 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. Trekking from Petra to Wadi Rum

Notable residents

Chronologically: * Abd-Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (died c. 716 in Humayma), an early Muslim jurist and narrator of

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...

* Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdallah (c. 680 - c. 744), the progenitor of the Abbasid dynasty and a relative of Prophet Muhammad, born in Humayma * Sallamah Umm Abdallah, ancestor of Abbasid dynasty, mother of caliph al-Mansur and grandmother of Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi. *

(714–775), the second Abbasid Caliph (r. 754–775), born at Humeima *

(721/722–754), the first Abbasid Caliph (r. 750–754), born at Humeima *

(744/45–785), the third Abbasid Caliph (r. 775–785), born at Humeima * Ja'far ibn al-Mansur, Abbasid prince, father of Abbasid princess and consort Zubaidah (766? – 831)

References

External Links

Photos of Humayma
at the American Center of Research {{Authority control Ruins in Jordan Roman towns and cities in Jordan Abbasid architecture