More mosaics!

Today we left Amman for our drive south to Petra. On the way we stopped at another ancient site - Umm al Rasas. Here a magnificent mosaic floor, in the church dedicated to St Stephen, is in a better state of preservation than the floor at Madaba. It has been excavated and protected by a modern roof. Visitors can view the mosaics from raised galleries.

The floor in the main nave depicts the main towns of the west and east banks of the Jordan. Again most of the human, and some animal representations have been defaced. Those that are intact were hidden beneath altars or rugs.

The rest of the site features Roman remains including cisterns, oil and grape presses, houses, and other Christian churches also with mosaic floors which are covered for their own protection. Towers where Stylites lived are visible, and there are also buildings from the different Islamic dynasties on the site.