In the heart of Amman, relics of a little-known era live on

AMMAN - Between the villas of Jabal Amman lie some of the last traces of "Ammonite Jordan".

Rujm Al Malfouf, a large stone tower and annex, is one of a series of some 30-odd fortresses dotting the Kingdom that date back to the little-known period.

The function and origin of the 22-metre-diametre stone tower, which lies across the street from the Department of Antiquities, has had archaeologists and historians disagreeing for decades.

Many of the fortresses, built on sites overlooking valleys or perched upon hilltops, are now either in agricultural areas or in the midst of rising metropolises.

Initial excavations at Rujm Al Malfouf, which has been examined at different times for nearly two centuries, dated the tower to the early Roman occupation of the region.

However, the site's construction was considered poor craftsmanship by Roman standards and the building material did not conform to the monuments and structures found in ancient Gerasa (Jerash), Gadara (Um Qais) and other Roman sites across the country.

Further discoveries of pottery and other findings at similar fortresses dated the tower to an earlier period, the Middle Iron Age, around the 6th century BC - although this is still under debate.

The original intended use of the megalithic structures, which can be found around Amman, Madaba and Irbid, also remains a source of debate.

Some believe the towers were military installations, using their position overlooking valleys to secure Ammonite territory and prevent potential raids.

Other experts, however, see the stone towers as agricultural buildings designed to protect fertile farmlands and harvests from nomadic hordes and thieves as well as grain storage.

A third school of thought believes the watchtowers evolved over time, established originally for defense purposes and later converted to agricultural lookouts in peacetime.

Little is known of the so-called Ammonite period in Jordan, with an incomplete view from archaeological excavations revealing their way of life, but the era's greatest specimens such as Rujm Al Malfouf remain an echo of the long-lost and little-understood civilization.

The three-storey tower now stands a mere five-and-a-half metres, its stone stairs crumbling and the surrounding annex in ruins.

With the secrets of the Ammonites gone, the tower remains, overlooking the developments of modern Amman - a city to which some believe the ancient civilization lent its name.