Ammonite Watchtower

About Ammonite Watchtower

Ammonite or Roman tower in Amman, Jordan

Rujm al-Malfouf is one of the oldest monuments in Amman: a round stone tower with adjoining storerooms on the northern side of Jabal Amman, west of the Fourth Circle, on a spot overlooking Wadi Saqra beside the Department of Antiquities' registration and research centre. It was most likely built by the Ammonites in the Iron Age, around the seventh century BCE, and was rebuilt and reused in the Roman and Islamic periods. The name al-Malfouf, "the rolled one", refers to its circular form: it is about 22 metres across and the surviving walls stand some four metres high, built of large, roughly dressed blocks of hard flint stone. Excavations between 1969 and 2022 showed that it had two or three storeys, a main entrance and four rooms, and yielded coins, pottery and stamps. A smaller twin, Rujm al-Malfouf South, once stood on the south-western side of Jabal Amman but has been destroyed. Such towers were long interpreted as frontier forts guarding Rabbath Ammon and watching for enemies; scholars today think they served a range of agricultural and military purposes across many periods. The site now sits in a quiet residential neighbourhood and makes a brief stop for anyone interested in the ancient roots of the city.

Where:

Amman, Jordan