The impressive Umayyad architecture of the Qasr, the mosque, and houses is a unique example of Umayyad Jordan, forming an extended Umayyad archaeological park. The Hallabat Umayyad houses illuminate and disseminate the nature and density of Umayyad early Islamic occupation in Jordan.
In all the houses, we can find similar architectural features and types; each house consists of a group of rooms surrounding the open central courtyard, with a well planned water distribution system which also served the entire settlement. Every house had a cistern or a well nearby. The bell-shaped cisterns were dug into the bedrock and were completely plastered.
Typologically, the settlement is featured by two main architectural categories; the residential complex house and isolated houses. They were built directly on the bedrock. The building material is stone of different kinds, mainly limestone and re-used basalt blocks in addition to rough fieldstones. The stones were undressed and a coating was used in order to hide the irregular surfaces of the walls and reinforce the structures. The houses appear as spontaneous elements, which grew in the shadow of the Qasr. Indeed, the Hallabat settlement provides the opportunity to investigate the cultural significance of Umayyad residential architecture in relation to the palace.
