The Umm el-Jimal Tale

Read this and think to yourselves, what is Medad thinking:

the village of Umm el-Jimal was first established by Nabataean settlers in the first century AD...In Roman times, the settlement*...As the succeeding Byzantine era progressed, the village's economy came to revolve around farming and trade; 15 churches were constructed in the fifth and sixth centuries, testament to the area's growing prosperity.

After the Muslim conquest, however, Umm el-Jimal's fortunes faded. It was gradually abandoned during the ninth century, and for much of the second millennium was only sporadically inhabited. In the mid 20th century, the Msa'eid tribe settled among the archaeological remains and built the village that surrounds them...In 2001, Umm el-Jimal was added to the World Heritage Site programme's tentative list; a final application to Unesco is currently underway.

And the answers are:

a)  where are Saeb Erekat's Natufians?

b)  the Muslims conquered?

c)  where was the robust, thriving indigenous Arab population between the 9th and 20th centuries?

d)  where are the ancient Jordanians?

e)  a "settlement"?

f)  why a Heritage site?

Did you guess correctly?

Any other reasons?

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*  Let's be exact:

During the 4th century AD, in response to the rebellion of Queen Zenobia of Palmyra, Roman armies allied with the Arab Tanoukhid Federation restored order in a destructive military campaign. At Umm el-Jimal the civilian settlement was replaced by a military garrison stationed in a purpose built fort, the early castellum

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