Most of this archae­o­log­i­cal site, which start­ed as a Roman mil­i­tary camp and grew to become a town from the 5th cen­tu­ry, has not been exca­vat­ed. It con­tains remains from the Roman, Byzan­tine and Ear­ly Mus­lim peri­ods (end of 3rd to 9th cen­turies AD) and a for­ti­fied Roman mil­i­tary camp. The site also has 16 church­es, some with well-pre­served mosa­ic floors. Par­tic­u­lar­ly note­wor­thy is the mosa­ic floor of the Church of Saint Stephen with its rep­re­sen­ta­tion of towns in the region. Two square tow­ers are prob­a­bly the only remains of the prac­tice, well known in this part of the world, of the stylites (ascetic monks who spent time in iso­la­tion atop a col­umn or tow­er). Um er-Rasas is sur­round­ed by, and dot­ted with, remains of ancient agri­cul­tur­al cul­ti­va­tion in an arid area.