Umm Al-Jimal, Jordan

The extensive black basalt city of Umm Al-Jimal, anciently called "Black Gem of the Desert", lies like a dark encrustation on the flat desert of northern Jordan. So many of the buildings still stand to two, or even three, storeys that it seems as if its abandonment must have been within living memory - in fact it has been deserted for about 1200 years.