Murayghat and its Ritual Landscape

The site of Murayghat is situated in the limestone hills 3 km south-west of Madaba, close to Ma’in and the Wadi Zarqa Ma’in. The site consists of a central hill and a surrounding landscape with many archaeological remains, such as caves, dolmen structures, standing stones and stone circles.

The central hill

The central hill of Murayghat has many remains of stone structures consisting of walls and arrangements of orthostats. The remains of stone structures can be traced as circular alignments and horseshoe shaped structures, along with rectangular structures. Some entrance like structures has been recorded at the eastern and western slope of the central hill. In addition, concentrations of cobblestones may be interpreted as remains of foundation material.  

Dolmens structures, standing stones and stone circles

The surrounding landscape has remains of many different archaeological features. These count standing stones, dolmen structures and other stone structures. One feature is the famous standing stone at Murayghat, the so-called Hajr al-Mansub. A number of lesser known standing stones (also known as menhirs or masseboths) have also been identified. The landscape is dotted by many dolmen structures located on the surrounding hillsides. Also discernable in the landscape are a number of caves, some of which are natural and some which appear manmade.

View of dolmen located on one of the hills surrounding Murayghat