Muallaqat al-Dayr

According to Archaeology Professor Randa Kakish, "Raising doves for food, as sacrificial animals, for communication and pleasure or even for magic or oracular prophecies was wide-spread in the ancient world, where man was able to attract wild doves with food and a safe place to nest." In her 2012 essay, Professor Kakish quotes E. Post's observations from his 1886 scientific expedition, where people at al-Dayr called the structure “pharmacy of doves,” a name that alludes to this past usage. The continuous reuse of such caves makes dating their origin difficult, but her analysis of a newly discovered dovecote at 'Ain al-Baida, allow to assume that the site at Iraq al Amir is as old as from the late Iron II period.

Further reading:
Randa Kakish: Evidence for Dove Breeding in the Iron Age: A Newly Discovered Dovecote at ‘Ain al-Baida/‘Amman, University of Jordan, Journals Portal, Volume VI, No.3, 2012