Abstract
The West Church is one of the largest churches of Umm el-Jimal archaeological site which comprises 16 churches. The date of the construction of the church is debated and the dates of its latest stages of renovation and use are obscure. This research aims to investigate the chronology of the church and clarify the dates of the latest renovation of its mosaic and plaster floors. The radiocarbon dates are carried out on organic inclusions of mortars and plasters from the floors of the church collected from three trenches opened in different locations of the church. The radiocarbon dates showed that the mosaic floors of the nave and the raised chancel, built with the same technology, were paved contemporaneously between 433 and 565 cal AD, while the plaster floor of the courtyard at the east entrance of the north room of the church was paved before the 551 cal AD (433 and 539 cal AD). The results include an old date (16–203 cal AD), which might represent an older phase of the church’s history or more probably an earlier structure. The date of the mosaic, which more probably indicates its construction rather than a renovation phase, agrees with the dates of the pottery sherds (although few and small) uncovered from the excavated trenches. The date of the mosaic floor that lies before 565 cal AD contradicts the general trend of the dates for the renovation of other churches, after 551 AD, the date of the disastrous earthquake that affected the Umm el-Jimal site.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The author confirms that all data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
References
Al-Bashaireh K (2014) Reconstructing the chronology of the house XVII-XVIII complex at Umm El-Jimal, east Jordan: radiocarbon dates of organic inclusions of architectural mortars. Radiocarbon 56(1):245–256
Al-Bashaireh K (2016) Use of lightweight lime mortar in the construction of the West Church of Umm el-Jimal, Jordan: radiocarbon dating and characterization. Radiocarbon 58(3):583–598
Al-Bashaireh K (2017) Umm el-Jimal cathedral, Jordan: inscriptions and radiocarbon dates. Arabian Archaeology Epigraphy 28(1):61–66
Al-Bashaireh K, Lindauer S (2023) The chronology of Julianos Church, Umm el-Jimal, Jordan: AMS radiocarbon dates of its synthronon. Arabian Archaeology Epigraphy 34(1):111–118
Bronk Ramsey C (2009) Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1):337–360. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200033865
Brown RM (2009) The druze experience at Umm al-Jimal: remarks on the history and archaeology of the early 20th century settlement. Studies History Archaeology Jordan 10:377–388
Butler HC, Smith EB (1929) Early churches in Syria: fourth to seventh centuries. Hakkert, Amsterdam
Butler HC (1913). Ancient architecture in Syria, Southern Syria: Umm Idj-Djmâl. Division II. Leiden: Brill.
Corbett GUS, Reynolds JM (1957) Investigations at “Julianos’ Church” at Umm-el-Jemal. Papers British School at Rome 25:39–66
Darawcheh R, Sbeinati MR, Margottini C, Paolini S (2000) The 9 July 551 AD Beirut earthquake, eastern Mediterranean region. J Earthquake Engin 4(04):403–414
De Vries B (1985) Urbanization in the basalt region of north Jordan in late antiquity: the case of Umm el-Jimal. Studies History Archaeol Jordan. 2(2):249–256
De Vries B (1990) Umm el-Jimal: “Gem of the Black Desert”; a brief guide to the antiquities. Amman, Al Kutba
De Vries B (1998) Umm el-Jimal: a frontier town and its landscape in Northern Jordan. J Rom Archaeol 26:229–241
Dunn EA (2002) A case study of ancient mortars and concretes from Umm al-Jimal, Jordan with implications for archaeological site conservation. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Minnesota, Minnesota
Evans JA (2005) The Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine Empire. Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport
Freeman P (2001) Roman Jordan. In: MacDonald B, Adams R, Bienkowski P (eds) The archaeology of Jordan. Academic Press, Sheffield, pp 427–460
Jull AJT, Burr GS, McHargue LR, Lange TE, Lifton NA, Beck JW, Donahue DJ, Lal D (2004) New frontiers in dating of geological, paleoclimatic and anthropological applications using accelerator mass spectrometric measurements of 14C and 10Be in diverse samples. Global Planetary Change 41(3–4):309–323
Piccirillo M (1985) Rural settlements in Byzantine Jordan. Studies History Archaeology Jordan (SHAJ) II:257–261
Reimer PJ, Austin WE, Bard E, Bayliss A, Blackwell PG, Ramsey CB, ... & Talamo S. (2020). The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon age calibration curve (0–55 cal kBP). Radiocarbon, 62(4), 725-757
Rohl DJ (2019) Umm el-Jimal Project 2019 Excavations. Unpublished report submitted to the Department of Antiquities of Jordan
Rohl DJ (2022) Umm al-Jimal Initial Excavation Report 2022. Unpublished report submitted to the Department of Antiquities of Jordan
Sbeinati MR, Darawcheh R, Mouty M (2005) The historical earthquakes of Syria: an analysis of large and moderate earthquakes from 1365 BC to 1900 AD. Annals Geophysics 4(3):347–435
Stuiver M, Polach HA (1977) Discussion reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19(3):355–363
Watson P (2001) The Byzantine Period. In: MacDonald B, Russell A, Bienkowski P (eds) The archaeology of Jordan. Press, Sheffield, Sheffield Academic, pp 461–502
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the CEZA Archaeometry Center (Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archäometrie gGmbH) for hosting the first author and using its facility to carry out the research, and the Humboldt Foundation for funding his stay in CEZA. The authors acknowledge Elizabeth Osinga (co-director of the Umm el-Jimal Project) for her help with the dates of the excavated ceramics and ideas of the church’s phasing.
Funding
The first author was funded by fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, Germany, and hosted by the CEZA Archaeometry Center (Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archäometrie gGmbH), Germany.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Al-Bashaireh, Khaled wrote the main manuscript text, and Friedrich, Ronny wrote the 14C section and added related figures, in addition to language edits.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Al-Bashaireh, K., Friedrich, R. AMS radiocarbon chronology investigation of the West Church of Umm el-Jimal, Northeast Jordan. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 16, 13 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01921-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01921-2