“Rabbath of the Ammonites”

Rabbath Ammon it was called in ancient times, a place-name we might translate as the Ammonite Heights. During the Iron Age, it was the capital of the kingdom of Ammon, rival of the biblical Israelites.

The remains of the ancient Ammonite acropolis are perched atop a rocky outcrop overlooking the bustling capital of modern Amman, Jordan. Known today as Jebel al-Qal’a, or the Citadel, the hill is an L-shaped plateau of about 40 acres divided into three levels, or terraces. Precipitous wadis (dry river beds) surround the plateau on all sides except the north. Below the southern flank—the long east-west base of the L—flows the Sayl Amman, which joins the Wadi Zarqa (referred to in the Bible as the Jabbok River) in its tortuous descent to the Jordan Valley.