![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Rujm_Al-Malfouf_Watch_Tower.jpg/640px-Rujm_Al-Malfouf_Watch_Tower.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Rujm al-Malfouf
Ammonite or Roman tower in Amman, Jordan / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rujm al-Malfouf or Rujm al-Malfouf North is an ancient structure consisting of a round stone tower and several adjacent storerooms, located in modern-day Amman, Jordan[1] (ancient Rabbath Ammon), on the northern side of Jabal Amman[2] and next to the Department of Antiquities.[3] Possibly built in the mid-first millennium BCE (Iron Age II period) during the Ammonite Kingdom, it was with certainty at least rebuilt and reused during the Roman period.[4] There are a number of tower-like 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 residential nature.[5][6] This article deals with the entire category of such sites, primarily though with Rujm al-Malfouf North.
![]() Rujm al-Malfouf North | |
Coordinates | 31.95772°N 35.904613°E / 31.95772; 35.904613 |
---|---|
Type | Ammonite tower |
History | |
Founded | 6th-5th century BCE (?); at least reused in the Roman period |
Site notes | |
Public access | Yes |
Rujm al-Malfouf South, now destroyed, was a smaller "Ammonite tower" on the southwestern side of Jabal Amman (13 m diametre, compared to the northern tower's 22 m diametre).[2][7]