Bronze Age

Excavations at Rabbah have revealed tombs, fortifications and a temple that appears to have been a site for human sacrifices. Some of the earliest occupational evidence in the area comes from tombs dating to the Middle Bronze Age—one of which contained an array of grave goods that likely indicate the burial place of a prominent warrior (Burdajewicz, “Rabbath-Ammon,” 1244).

During the Middle Bronze Age, fortifications at the citadel area were constructed and a water system might have been cut into the bedrock. The cistern appears to have been used at least through the Iron Age II, and possibly into the Hellenistic period. The fortifications are typical of the Middle Bronze Age in the Levant, including a sloping glacis and a retaining wall (Burdajewicz, “Rabbath-Ammon,” 1247). The city continued to be occupied in the Late Bronze Age, and the main citadel area appears to have maintained the massive fortification system from the Middle Bronze Age (Van der Steen, Tribes, 142–44; Burdajewicz, “Rabbath-Ammon,” 1247).

A temple discovered near Amman’s airport appears to have been first constructed in the Middle Bronze Age and remained in use until the end of the Late Bronze Age in the 13th century bc (Van der Steen, Tribes, 140–41; Fischer, “Chocolate,” 22; Dornemann, Archaeology, 22). The temple contained an altar, an installation identified as an incinerator, a variety of imported pottery, Egyptian stone vessels, scarab seals, jewelry, weapons, and several hundred fragments of burned human bones (Burdajewicz, “Rabbath-Ammon,” 1246). Due to the discoveries of the incinerator and the human remains, the temple has been identified as a place where human sacrifices were carried out (Burdajewicz, “Rabbath-Ammon,” 1246). Several tombs from the Middle and Late Bronze Ages were found near the temple site. The most significant finds in these tombs were Egyptian scarab seals and imported pottery (Burdajewicz, “Rabbath-Ammon,” 1244).