The prophet Jeremiah included Umm Ar-Rassas, known during biblical times as Mephaath, in his cursing of Moab (Jeremiah 48:21). After the Romans took over, they garrisoned an army nearby because of the area’s strategic importance as a frontier station. During the Byzantine era, Umm Ar-Rasas was a major center of Christianity and had at least fifteen churches. Modern excavations have uncovered many foundations, and two churches—St. Stephan’s and the Church of Bishop Sergius—contain spectacular Byzantine mosaics. The main mosaic in St. Stephan’s, which is particularly well preserved, has a border depicting fifteen major Byzantine cities, from both the east and the west sides of the Jordan River, including Philadelphia, Madaba, Karak, and Jerusalem. Outside this border is another depicting ten cities on the Nile Delta.