AMMAN — Qasr ed Deir is a site located some five kilometres southwest of Tafileh and around 1.5 kilometres north of the modern town of Al Ain Al Baida.

 

It sits directly across the valley from the prominent ancient Edomite stronghold of Sela.

 

The main monument—often referred to in archaeological registry systems as a "temple"—is a highly visible, almost square structure measuring roughly 21 by 17 metres. The temple is associated with an ancient cemetery located immediately to its east.

 

While the area has deeper Nabataean or Roman landscape ties, archaeological excavations led by Polish research teams (such as those from the Jagiellonian University) have focused heavily on documenting its architectural phases, which include prominent medieval and potentially monastic use.

 

The site was first formally recognised by a pioneering US archaeologist Nelson Glueck in 1934, following initial geographic surveys in the region by Czech explorer Alois Musil in 1900.

 

“The building covers an area of 396.37 square metres. It was used as a monastery during the Byzantine period, an inference drawn from a group of crosses carved inside the structure. However, this use appears to have been confined to the Byzantine period,” said Jordanian archaeologist Eslam Dawodieh.

 

Given that the site was reoccupied and reused from the Iron Age through to the late Islamic periods, the function of the building during the periods preceding and following the Byzantine remains unknown, Dawodieh added.

 

“Yet, MacDonald indicated during his surveys that the site might be a watchtower, this information is unconfirmed. The foundations of the building and of the site in general, date to Iron Age I/Iron Age II [the ‘Kingdom of Edom’],” Dawodieh noted.

 

However, analysis of pottery sherds from the site suggests they may date to the Early Bronze Age, since many Early Bronze Age sherds were recovered.

 

“This is according to a report on an archaeological sounding by a team from Jagiellonian University,” she explained.

 

“I can say that all our current knowledge of the site amounts to no more than a monastery dating to the Byzantine Period. We know it has been scientifically excavated only twice,” Dawodieh said.

 

The archaeologist noted that it is therefore still too early to determine whether it functioned only as a watchtower or a monastery, since it may also have been a fortress or a storage facility.

 

“Furthermore, during the next phase, we will conduct limited excavations and soundings at different locations within the structure in order to clarify its function,” Dawodieh stressed.