Khirbat al-Minya served a number of purposes, including as local administrative center for a subregion of the Jund al-Urdunn ("District of Jordan") and as a contact point for 'Umar and local Arab tribes. It also could have served as a caravanserai for merchants traveling along the Sea of Galilee or northeast from the lake shore to the coast. Another purpose of Khirbat al-Minya was a winter retreat for the governor of Tiberias or an alternative for the traditional summer retreat for the governor at Baysan.[1]