Watchtower in Rujm Al-Malfouf

Rujm Al-Malfouf is an ancient structure consisting of a round stone tower and several adjacent storerooms, located in the northern side of the Jabal Amman neighborhood of Amman, Jordan.

The structure was likely built in the 7th century BC during the Ammonite Kingdom, and was rebuilt and reused during the later Roman and Islamic periods. The site was excavated several times between 1969 and 2022, where several coins, potteries, and stamps were found. The tower-like building is similar to several structures on the plateaus of central Jordan, which were interpreted as "Ammonite towers" in the sense of border forts by Nelson Glueck in 1939, but are more recently considered to have fulfilled a variety of purposes across many historical periods, mainly of an agricultural and military nature.

On the southwestern side of Jabal Amman, a similar, now destroyed, smaller Ammonite tower stood, which is known as Rujm al-Malfouf South. It had a 13 meters diameter, compared to this tower's 22 meters diameter.

Tekst overgenomen uit “Rujm al-Malfouf” op de Engelstalige Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Watchtower in Rujm Al-Malfouf staat op plaats 324 van 6.412 in de bekendheidsranglijst van deze atlas en op plaats 3 van de 21 die de atlas in Jordanië in kaart brengt. Gebouwd in ca. 650 v.Chr., en daarmee ouder dan 100% van de gedateerde bouwwerken in de atlas — een van de 3 bouwwerken in de atlas die uit de 7e eeuw v.Chr. stammen. Zie hoe dat zich verhoudt in de kastelenstatistiek.

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