Humeima

Humayma, also spelled Humeima (Arabic: الحميمة‎, romanized: al-Humeima), is the modern name of ancient Hawara.[1][2][3] Hawara was a trading post in southern Jordan that was founded by the Nabataean king Aretas III in the early first century BC.[1] 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.[4]

Humayma
Arabic: الحميمة‎
Shown within Jordan
LocationJordan
RegionAqaba Governorate
Coordinates29°57′0″N 35°20′49″E

History

Humeima was occupied from about 90 BC until the Early Islamic period,[5] 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.[1][3]

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.[6] During the Greco-Roman era, it was called "Auara" (Greek: Αὔαρα), derived from "Hawara", which means "white" in Aramaic.[7]

Umayyad period

The town was the home of the Abbasid, or Banu Abbas 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: As-Saffah (r. 750–754), Al-Mansur (r. 754–775) and Al-Mahdi (r. 775–785).

Climate

As rainfall is only 80 mm[8] annually, an extensive water storage and irrigation works lies in the ruins.[2][9]

Notable residents

See also

References
  1. John Peter Oleson. "The history and goals of the Humayma Excavation ProjectT". University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  2. Humeima at nabataea.net (copyright 2002)
  3. Ghazi Bisheh , 2018. 2018."Humayma" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers.
  4. 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.
  5. Humaima Attraction in Aqaba Humayma.
  6. Ghazi Bisheh , 2018. "Humayma" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers.
  7. "Auara, Humayma". Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
  8. http://jmd.gov.jo/en/rainfall
  9. Trekking from Petra to Wadi Rum.
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