Overview

Bibliography

The site of al-Murayghat consists of a large ceremonial center on a small hill and a dolmen field surrounding it to the west. The cult center consists of numerous freestanding stones (menhir), some forming rows, others forming circles and rectangles, and still others exhibiting no discernable pattern. The specific representation of the stones and the presumed rituals or ceremonies in connection with the stones are unknown.

To the west of the ceremonial center is a large dolmen field. Most of the dolmen are located on the hill directly opposite the ceremonial center and most of the dolmen are oriented toward the center, but the dolmen were also erected on the hills to the north and to the south. A recent survey counted 75 dolmen, but many of those dolmen have collapsed and some are being destroyed by the stone quarry to the north.

Murayghat is located southwest of Ma'in in the hills overlooking the Dead Sea. The site has been visited by many of the early explorers of Jordan, including C. Condor, R. Savignac, A. Musil, and N. Glueck. The site was surveyed by Stephen Savage and Gary Rollefson in 2000 as part of a larger, regional project. Based on the pottery scattered across the site, Savage and Rollefson suggest an Early Bronze I date for the ceremonial center and dolmen field, though a date in the Early Bronze IV period is also possible.

The navigation map of this site is schematic and not to scale. The dolmens are numbered (in black) for reference purposes. Some dolmen that have been recorded in the past have since been destroyed or have not been photographed because of their poor condition, and so are not noted on the project. The stone structures (rows, circles, and rectangles) in the cultic center are also numbered (in red) for reference purposes. Freestanding menhir are not numbered. Some of the previously recorded menhir and stone structures are omitted from the project because they were not discernable at the site.