A seismic vulnerability analysis carried out on the Stylite Tower at Umm ar-Rasas, Jordan, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is presented in this paper. The monument, a unique survived example of stylite towers in the Middle East, presents evidence of structural damage due to earthquakes. The study was based on preliminary investigations, which consisted in Schmidt-hammer tests executed on stone blocks and passive tromography tests on the ground. Two models were implemented for the tower. In the first one, the tower was considered as a rigid structure supported by means of an elasto-perfect plastic cushion at the base. In the second one, a finite element model was setup, with solid elements characterized by a Drucker-Prager yield criterion. In both cases a push over analysis was performed, which resulted in a very low resistance of the tower to seismic actions. The work is part of a preservation effort which will include the design of a retrofit intervention. © 2019, RILEM.

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