Khirbet et-Tannur
خربة التنور | |
Khirbet et-Tannur temple ruins | |
Khirbet et-Tannur Shown within Jordan | |
| Location | Tafilah Governorate, Jordan |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 30°58′07″N 35°42′23″E / 30.96861°N 35.70639°E |
| History | |
| Material | mainly limestone; also flint |
| Cultures | Nabataean, with archaising Edomite elements |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Nelson Glueck (1937) |
| Condition | in ruins |
| Public access | yes; reliefs in Jordan Archaeological Museum in Amman and the Cincinnati Art Museum |
Khirbet et-Tannur (Arabic: خربة التنور) is an ancient Nabataean temple situated on top of Mount Tannur, in today's Jordan. Whom the temple was dedicated to is not yet certain; based on the iconography of the deities depicted, it was either the fertility goddess Atargatis and Zeus-Hadad, or perhaps other Nabataean gods with similar attributes. The only inscription which mentioned a deity was in reference to the Edomite god Qos, who was the equivalent of the Arab god Quzah, the god of the sky.
While no dating is established, the temple went through three different phases. The earliest phase of the temple is usually dated around 8-7 BC on the account of an inscription engraved on a small stone block. The final phase was dated by Nelson Glueck judging from the temple's sculptures and architectural principles to about the first quarter of the second century AD.