Professor Katharina Schmidt from the University of Münster recently provided an update on renewed excavations (2024–2025) at Jabal al-Qalʿa (the Citadel of Amman) in Amman, Jordan. This is the site of the Iron Age royal capital of the Ammonites, Rabbath-Ammon, or Rabbah in the Bible (e.g., 2 Sam 11:1; 1 Chr 20:1; Ezek 25:5; Amos 1:14). The German excavation team is focusing on a monumental building, part of which was first unearthed between 1987 and 1991, to determine whether it was simply an elite residence, or the palace of the Ammonite kings. So far, several new construction phases have been identified, and significant artifacts have been uncovered, including ivory inlays and fragments of alabaster vessels. Three sculpted heads were also discovered, dating to the Iron Age and depicting three women with curly hair and beautiful ornaments about their ears and necks. According to Schmidt, “The project aims not only to clarify the building’s function but also to refine its chronology, examine its integration into the Iron Age urban layout of the citadel, and assess how political changes affected architecture, governance, and expressions of elite representation in this Levantine kingdom.”
Source: https://anetoday.org/royal-capital-ammon/
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