Umm ar-Rasas

Um er-Rasas (Kastrom Mefa'a)
Native name أم الرّصاص
Location	Amman Governorate, Jordan
Coordinates	31°30′2.83″N 35°55′12.95″E / 31.5007861°N 35.9202639°E / 31.5007861; 35.9202639
Elevation	760
Built	5th Century
Governing body	Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities of Jordan
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, iv, vi
Designated	2004 (28th session)
Reference no.	1093
Region	Arab States
Location of Um er-Rasas (Kastrom Mefa'a) in Jordan

Umm ar-Rasas (Arabic: أم الرّصاص), ancient name: Kastron Mefa'a, is located 30 km southeast of Madaba in the Amman Governorate in central Jordan. It was once accessible by branches of the King's Highway, and is situated in the semi-arid steppe region of the Jordanian Desert. The site has been associated with the biblical settlement of Mephaat mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah. The Roman military utilized the site as a strategic garrison, but it was later converted and inhabited by Christian and Islamic communities. In 2004, the site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site,^[1] and is valued by archaeologists for its extensive ruins dating to the Roman, Byzantine, and early Muslim periods. The Franciscan academic society in Jerusalem, Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (SBF),^[2] carried out excavations at the north end of the site in 1986, but much of the area remains buried under debris.