Jawa is the site of the oldest proto-urban development in Jordan, dating from the late 4th millennium BC (Early Bronze Age).

Jawa was first reported by French explorer Antoine Poidebard, who flew over and photographed the site in 1931, mistaking it for Roman ruins.

"[3] Finally, in 1950, an expedition led by epigrapher F. V. Winnett reached the site and documented some of the inscriptions there.

Amongst their number was Lankester Harding, who suggested that the remains were not Roman but in fact dated to the Early Bronze Age.

It extended over 100,000 m2[1] and consisted of a walled town and extensive earthworks to divert winter floods from the wadi into a series of reservoirs.

[5] It is located on the southern edge of an area of basalt which runs across Syria and eastern Jordan and is an attempt to harness the major water resources of Wadi Rajil: a dry river bed which floods irregularly during the winter months.

Research suggests that the community at Jawa could survive on 3% of that total flow: if they could store it in sufficient quantities to last through the four dry summer months.

[10] Based on the size and density of houses in the excavated areas, Helms estimated that the maximum population of the town was between 3,000 to 5,000.

The small amount of rainfall, perhaps 150 mm per year, which fell on local micro-catchments, was also harnessed by a long series of primitive canals leading to the reservoirs.