Tafilah ( ar, الطفيلة, 'aṭ-Ṭafīlah, ), also spelled Tafila, is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

with a population of 27,559 people in southern

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, located southwest of Amman. It is the capital of

Tafilah Governorate Tafilah ( ar, الطفيلة) is one of the governorates of Jordan, located about 180 km south-west of Amman, Jordan's capital. Tafilah Governorate is bordered by Karak Governorate to the north, Ma'an Governorate to the east and south, Aqa ...

. It is well known for having green gardens which contain olive and

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

trees, and grape-vines. Tafilah was first built by the

Edom Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...

ites and was called

Tophel Tophel or Tofel (תפל) was an Edomite town mentioned in the Hebrew Bible: "These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the desert east of the Jordan — that is, in the Arabah — opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and ...

. There are more than 360 natural springs in the at-Tafilah area, including the natural

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

of Dana and hot

natural spring A spring is a point of exit at which groundwater from an aquifer flows out on top of Earth's crust (pedosphere) and becomes surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fres ...

s at Afra and Burbeita. There are two phosphate and cement mines in at-Tafilah, which are one of the country's main income sources.

History

Iron Age to Crusader period

The oldest state formation established in the region on Tafilah was the kingdom of

, and Tafilah lies on the ruins of the Edomite city of

. The capital of Edom was at Busairah 23 km to the south of Tafilah. Tafilah was later annexed by the

Nabatean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Lev ...

kingdom who, had its capital at Petra. Following the Roman invasion, it was ruled by the Ghassanids, under

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

authority. Tafilah then came under Muslim rule, interrupted for a brief period of time by Crusader rule.

Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule

During the

Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On ...

, in January 1918, the village and the region around it were captured in the Battle of Tafilah, thanks to what was described as a "brilliant feat of arms", by Arab troops under the command of

T.E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–191 ...

Jaafar Pasha Ja'far Pasha al-Askari ( ar, جعفر العسكري; 15 September 1885 – 29 October 1936) served twice as prime minister of Iraq: from 22 November 1923 to 3 August 1924; and from 21 November 1926 to 31 December 1927. Al-Askari served in th ...

Al-Askari, and

Prince Zeid bin Hussein Zaid bin Hussein, GCVO, GBE ( ar, زيد بن الحسين; February 28, 1898 – October 18, 1970) was an Iraqi prince who was a member of the Hashemite dynasty and the head of the Royal House of Iraq from 1958 until his death, after the roya ...

Population

In 1961 there were 4,506 inhabitants in Tafila.

Education

There is one university in Tafilah,

Tafila Technical University Tafila Technical University (TTU) (Arabic ''جامعة الطفيلة التقنية''), is a public university in Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. ...

. Founded in 1986 as a university college, it expanded to a university in 2005. The university as of the academic year 2009/2010 includes six colleges.Tafila Technical University
/ref>

Districts

The city of Tafilah is organized into six districts: * Al Ees (منطقة العيص) * Al Baqee' (منطقة البقيع) * Wadi Zaid (منطقة وادي زيد) * Aimah (منطقة عيمه) * Al Hussein (منطقة الحسين ) * Ain Al Baidha (منطقة العين البيضاء) * Al Mansoura (منطقه المنصوره)

Tourism

Although

is rich in history, having been the nucleus of the ancient kingdom of

, it has one of the lowest numbers of tourists in Jordan. This is due to the fact that Tafilah is off the beaten track; Jordan's main highways do not pass through or nearby the city. The two main highways connecting north to south Jordan are the Dead Sea Highway (Highway 65) and the Desert Highway (Highway 15). To go to Tafilah from the Desert Highway, one must take Highway 60 west at Jurf Al Darawish. The nearby traditional village of Dana and the

Dana Biosphere Reserve Dana Biosphere Reserve is Jordan's largest nature reserve, located in south-central Jordan. Dana Biosphere Reserve was founded in 1989 in the area in and around the Dana village and Wadi Dana comprising . Human presence The people of the Ata' ...

in Wadi Dana is a unique tourist attraction.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tafila, At- Populated places in Tafilah Governorate