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Tafilah

Tafilah (Tafila)
مدينة الطفيلة
Tophel (in Edomite)
City
Official seal of Tafilah (Tafila)
Seal
Tafilah (Tafila) is located in Jordan
Tafilah (Tafila)
Tafilah (Tafila)
Coordinates: 30°50′24″N 35°36′0″E / 30.84000°N 35.60000°E / 30.84000; 35.60000
Country Jordan
Province Tafilah Governorate
Founded 1100 B.C.
Municipality established 1914
Government
 • Type Municipality
 • Mayor Khalid Huneifat
Area
 • City 18.518 km2 (7.150 sq mi)
 • Metro 38.771 km2 (14.970 sq mi)
Elevation 940 m (3,080 ft)
Population (2009)
 • City 38,428
 • Metro 110,000
Time zone GMT +2
 • Summer (DST) +3 (UTC)
Area code(s) +(962)3
Website http://www.tafila.jo

At-Tafilah (Arabic: الطفيلة‎‎), also spelled Tafila, is a town with a population of 39,000 people in southern Jordan, located 183 kilometers (114 mi) southwest of Amman. It is the capital of Tafilah Governorate. It is well known for having green gardens which contain olive and fig trees, and grape-vines. Tafilah was first built by the Edomites and was called Tophel.

There are more than 360 natural springs in the at-Tafilah area, including the natural reservoir of Dana and hot natural springs at Afra and Borbeata. There are two phosphate and cement mines in at-Tafilah which are one of the country's main income sources.

As with other parts of the Levant, signs of habitation in Tafilah Governorate have been found dating from the Palaeolithic periods.

In 1984 a team of archeologists from the University of Arizona discovered stone tools estimated at 90,000 years old in caves in Ain Defla and Hessa. Although no human remains could ever be found dating from that era, the discoveries of prehistoric tools supplied scientists with much information about human civilization stages in the Levant

The oldest known civilization to establish a kingdom on Tafilah soils was that of Edom, and Tafilah lies on the ruins of the Edomite city of Tophel. The capital of Edom was at Busairah 23 km to the south of Tafilah. The Edomites often allied with their neighbors in Moab. Tafilah was then annexed to the Nabatean kingdom who had their capital in Petra. Following the Roman invasion, it was ruled by the Ghassanids, under Rome's authority.


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