for the village in Yemen see Tafilah, Yemen

Tafilah, Yemen

Tafilah, Yemen is a village in eastern Yemen. It is located in the Hadhramaut Governorate.-External links:*...

At-Tafilah (also spelled Tafila) is a town with a population of 39,000 people in southern Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, located 183 kilometres (113.7 mi) southwest of Amman

Amman

Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...

. It is the capital of Tafilah Governorate

Tafilah Governorate

Tafilah 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, Aqaba Governorate to the south, and by Israel to the west. The area of this...

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

Olive

The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...

 and fig

Ficus

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...

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

Edom

Edom or Idumea was a historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region...

ites 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

Phosphate

A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

 and cement

Cement

In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...

 mines in at-Tafilah which are one of the country's main income sources.

History

As with other parts of the Levant

Levant

The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...

, signs of habitation in Tafilah Governorate

Tafilah Governorate

Tafilah 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, Aqaba Governorate to the south, and by Israel to the west. The area of this...

 have been found dating from the Palaeolithic periods.
In 1984 a team of archeologists from the University of Arizona

University of Arizona

The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...

 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

Edom

Edom or Idumea was a historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region...

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

Tophel

Tophel or Tofel 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 Dizahab." . It is identified as Tafilah in Jordan north to...

. The capital of Edom was at Busairah

Bozrah

Botsra, Botzrah, Bozrah is an ancient biblical city in southern modern-day Jordan, now Bouseira 20 Km to the south of Tafilah,between Tafilah and Shoubak.-History:...

 23 km to the south of Tafilah. The Edomites often allied with their neighbors in Moab

Moab

Moab is the historical name for a mountainous strip of land in Jordan. The land lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by numerous archeological findings, most notably the Mesha Stele, which describes the Moabite victory over...

. Tafilah was then annexed to the Nabatean kingdom who had their capital in Petra

Petra

Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited...

. Following the Roman invasion, it was ruled by the Ghassanids

Ghassanids

The Ghassanids were a group of South Arabian Christian tribes that emigrated in the early 3rd century from Yemen to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Holy Land....

, under Rome's authority.

Tafilah then came under Muslim rule, but was for a brief period of time under Crusader

Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...

 rule.

Role in Arab Revolt against (Battle of Tafileh)

On January 25, 1918, Arab and Allied forces of the Arab Revolt

Arab Revolt

The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...

 under T.E. Lawrence and Prince Zeid bin Hussein destroyed a 900-strong Turkish force near Tafilah, which Lawrence referred to in his memoir Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Seven Pillars of Wisdom is the autobiographical account of the experiences of British soldier T. E. Lawrence , while serving as a liaison officer with rebel forces during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turks of 1916 to 1918....

as "Tafileh".

Education

There is one university in Tafilah, Tafila Technical University

Tafila Technical University

Tafila Technical University , is the 9th public university in Jordan. It is located in the Tafila Governorate, 187 km from Amman. It has been established following a Royal Decree on 17/1/2005 to replace Tafila Applied University College ,...

. 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.

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)

Economy

Although Tafilah Governorate

Tafilah Governorate

Tafilah 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, Aqaba Governorate to the south, and by Israel to the west. The area of this...

 is rich in history, having been the site of the ancient kingdom of Edom

Edom

Edom or Idumea was a historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region...

, 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

Dead Sea

The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...

 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.

However, Tafilah Governorate

Tafilah Governorate

Tafilah 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, Aqaba Governorate to the south, and by Israel to the west. The area of this...

 is rich in natural resources. Reserves in the governorate are estimated at one million tons of copper and half a million tons of Manganese

Manganese

Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...

, while Phosphate

Phosphate

A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...

 mining is one of the main industries in the governorate.

The towns in Tafilah governorate are mostly located at elevations exceeding 1000m above sea level. In the year 2008 there was a total area of 42.210 Km² of fruit and olive farms in Tafilah Governorate

Tafilah Governorate

Tafilah 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, Aqaba Governorate to the south, and by Israel to the west. The area of this...

of which more than 31 Km² were olive farms. In the tourism section, Tafilah depends mostly on domestic tourists who visit the hot water springs and the natural reserves in the governorate.