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Situated in north-central Jordan, Amman is the administrative centre of the Amman Governorate. The earliest evidence of settlement in Amman is in a Neolithic site known as ‘Ain Ghazal, where some of the oldest human statues ever found dating to 7250 BC were uncovered. During the Iron Age, the city was known as Ammon, home to the Kingdom of the Ammonites. Approximately two million visitors arrived in Amman in 2014, which made it the 93rd most visited city in the world and the 5th most visited Arab city. Amman derives its name from the 13th century BC when the Ammonites named it “Rabbath Ammon”, with the term Rabbath meaning the “Capital” or the “King’s Quarters”.
Over time, the term “Rabbath” was no longer used and the city became known as “Ammon”. The influence of new civilizations that conquered the city gradually changed its name to “Amman”. The name was given as an adulation to his own nickname, Philadelphus. Ain Ghazal Statues on display at The Jordan Museum.
Dating back to 7250 BC, they are considered to be among the oldest human statues ever found. The neolithic site of ‘Ain Ghazal was found in the outskirts of Amman. Ain Ghazal is well known for a set of small human statues found in 1983, when local archaeologists stumbled upon the edge of a large pit 2. These statues are human figures made with white plaster, with painted clothes, hair, and in some cases ornamental tattoos.
Thirty-two figures were found in two caches, fifteen of them full figures, fifteen busts, and two fragmentary heads. Rujm Al-Malfouf Ammonite watch tower built around 1000 BC. In the 13th century BC Amman was the capital of the Ammonites, and became known as “Rabbath Ammon”. Today, several Ammonite ruins across Amman exist, such as Qasr Al-Abd, Rujm Al-Malfouf and some parts of the Amman Citadel. The ruins of Rujm Al-Malfouf consist of a stone watchtower used to ensure protection of their capital and several store rooms to the east.
Conquest of the Middle East and Central Asia by Alexander the Great firmly consolidated the influence of Hellenistic culture. The Roman Theatre built around 100 AD. The Romans conquered much of the Levant in 63 BC, inaugurating a period of Roman rule that lasted for four centuries. In the 630s, the Rashidun army conquered the region from the Byzantines, beginning the Islamic era in the Levant. Philadelphia was renamed “Amman” by the Muslims and became part of the district of Jund al-Urdunn.
The Umayyad Palace on top of the Amman Citadel built around 800 AD. Amman’s importance declined by the mid-8th century after damage caused by several earthquakes rendered it uninhabitable. The occupation of the Citadel Hill by the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem is so far based only on interpretations of Crusader sources. The Ottoman Empire annexed the region of Amman in 1516, but for much of the Ottoman period, al-Salt functioned as the virtual political centre of Transjordan.
