Neolithic period , which are considered to be the oldest large-scale human statues ever found, on display at the
Jordan Archaeological Museum The
Neolithic site of
ʿAin Ghazal today lies in the outskirts of Amman. At its height, around 7000 BC (9000 years ago), it had an area of and was inhabited by 3000 people (four to five times the population of contemporary
Jericho). At that time, the site was a typical
aceramic Neolithic village. Its houses were rectangular mud-bricked buildings that included a main square living room, whose walls were made up of lime plaster. The site was discovered in 1974 as construction workers were working on a road crossing the area. By 1982, when the excavations started, around of road ran through the site. Despite the damage brought by urban expansion, the remains of ʿAin Ghazal provided a wealth of information. These statues are human figures made with white plaster, with painted eyes. Thirty-two figures were found in two caches, fifteen of them full figures, fifteen busts, and two fragmentary heads. Three of the busts depicted two-headed characters, the significance of which is not clear.
Iron Age: the Ammonites , Ammonite watch tower built around 1000 BC, currently located in a
residential area In the 13th century BC, Amman was the capital of the
Ammonite Kingdom, and became known as "Rabat Amman". Rabat Amman provided several natural resources to the region, including sandstone and limestone, along with a productive agricultural sector that made it a vital location along the
King's Highway, the ancient trade route connecting
Egypt with
Mesopotamia,
Syria and
Anatolia. As with the
Edomites and
Moabites, trade along this route gave the Ammonites considerable revenue.
Milcom is named in the
Hebrew Bible as the
national god of Rabat Amman. Another ancient
deity,
Moloch, usually associated with the use of children as offerings, is also mentioned in the Bible as a god of the Ammonites, but this is probably a mistake for Milcom. However, excavations by archeologists near
Amman Civil Airport uncovered a temple, which included an altar containing many human bone fragments. The bones showed evidence of burning, which led to the assumption that the altar functioned as a
pyre and used for
human sacrifice. Amman is mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, the Ammonite king
Hanun allied with
Hadadezer, king of
Aram-Zobah, against the
United Kingdom of Israel. During the war,
Joab, the captain of King
David's army, laid siege to Rabbah, Hanun's royal capital, and destroyed it. Hanun's brother,
Shobi, was made king in his place, and became a loyal vassal of David. Hundreds of years later, the prophet
Jeremiah foresaw the coming destruction and final desolation of the city. Several Ammonite ruins across Amman exist, such as
Rujm Al-Malfouf and some parts of the
Amman Citadel. The ruins of Rujm Al-Malfouf consist of a stone watchtower used to ensure the protection of their capital and several store rooms to the east. The city was later conquered by the
Assyrians, followed by the
Babylonians and the
Achaemenid Persians. marking the start of the
Hellenistic period. Little is known about Greek/Macedonian control over the Levantine coast and Transjordan until 301 BCE, 22 years after Alexander's death, when the Ptolemies took control over this area. The Greeks founded new cities in the area of modern-day Jordan, including Gadara (
Umm Qays), Gerasa (
Jerash),
Pella (Tabaqat Fahl) and Philadelphia (Amman). at the site of Amman what was initially probably a
military colony, which then developed into a full-blown Greek-type
polis, possibly by settling there Hellenised
Tyrean colonists. (see also
Scythopolis,
Hippos,
Capitolias,
Canatha and
Damascus). Philadelphia became a point along a road stretching from
Ailah to Damascus that was built by Emperor
Trajan in AD 106. This provided an economic boost for the city in a short period of time. There are traces of Roman construction all across Jordan. In Amman the most conspicuous structures include the Great Temple (inaccurately known as the "Temple of Hercules") at the
Amman Citadel, the
Roman Theatre, the
Odeon, and the
Nymphaeum. The two theaters and the
nymphaeum fountain were built during the reign of Emperor
Antoninus Pius around AD 161. The theatre was the larger venue of the two and had a capacity for 6,000 attendees. It was oriented north and built into the hillside, to protect the audience from the sun. To the northeast of the theatre was a small
odeon. Built at roughly the same time as the theatre, the Odeon had 500 seats and is still in use today for music concerts. Archaeologists speculate that the structure was originally covered with a wooden roof to shield the audience from the weather. The Nymphaeum is situated southwest of the Odeon and served as Philadelphia's chief fountain. The Nymphaeum is believed to have contained a pool which was deep and was continuously refilled with water. Excavations among the collapsed layer of the Umayyad Palace have revealed remains of
kilns from the time of the
Abbasids (750–969) and the
Fatimids (969–1099). In the late 9th century, Amman was noted as the "capital" of the
Balqa by geographer
al-Yaqubi. Likewise, in 985, the
Jerusalemite historian
al-Muqaddasi described Amman as the capital of Balqa, Its inhabitants he reports, at the time, were
Shia Muslims.
Crusaders and Ayyubids (12th–13th century) The occupation of the Citadel Hill by the
Kingdom of Jerusalem is so far based only on interpretations of
Crusader sources.
William of Tyre writes in his
Historia that in 1161
Philip of Milly received the castle of Ahamant, which is seen to refer to Amman, as part of the lordship of
Oultrejordain. In 1166 Philip joined the
military order of the
Knights Templar, passing on to them a significant part of his
fief including the castle of Ahamant or "Haman", as it is named in the deed of confirmation issued by King
Amalric. By 1170, Amman was in
Ayyubid hands. The
remains of a watch tower on Citadel Hill, first attributed to the Crusaders, now are preferentially dated to the
Ayyubid period, leaving it to further research to find the location of the Crusader castle.
Mamluk period (13th–early 16th century) During the
Mamluk era (late 13th–early 16th century), the region of Amman was a part of Wilayat Balqa, the southernmost district of Mamlakat Dimashq (Damascus Province). The capital of the district in the first half of the 14th century was the minor administrative post of
Hisban, which had a considerably smaller garrison than the other administrative centers in Transjordan, namely
Ajlun and al-Karak. In 1321, the geographer
Abu'l Fida, recorded that Amman was "a very ancient town" with fertile soil and surrounded by agricultural fields. The
Ottoman Empire annexed the region of Amman in 1516, but for much of the Ottoman period,
al-Salt functioned as the virtual political center of Transjordan. Between 1878 and 1910, tens of thousands of Circassians became refugees in the Ottoman Empire, which had moved large numbers of them into its province of
Syria. The Ottoman authorities directed the
Circassians, who were mainly of peasant stock, to settle in Amman, and distributed arable land among them. Their settlement was a partial manifestation of the Ottoman statesman
Kamil Pasha's project, which did not materialize, to establish the Amman Province (
vilayet) which, along with other sites in its vicinity, would become Circassian-populated townships guaranteeing the security of the Damascus–
Medina highway. The first Circassian settlers, who belonged to the
Shapsug tribe, lived near Amman's Roman theater and incorporated its stones into the houses they built. Until 1900 settlement was concentrated in the valley and slopes of the Amman stream and settlers built mud-brick houses with wooden roofs. , built in 1910 near Amman as part of the
Hejaz railway The city's demographics changed dramatically after the Ottoman government's decision to construct the
Hejaz Railway, which linked Damascus and Medina, and facilitated the annual
Hajj pilgrimage and trade. Operational in central Transjordan since 1903, the
Hejaz Railway helped to transform Amman from a small village into a major commercial hub in the region. Circassian entrepreneurship, facilitated by the railway, helped to attract investment from merchants from Damascus, Nablus, and Jerusalem, many of whom moved to Amman in the 1900s and 1910s. Some of the Arab families who arrived from surrounding regions during this period include Hudhud, Malas, Idlibi, Bdeir, Haddad, and Kawar. Although they settled after the local Circassian population and Bedouins of Jordan, they earned the nickname 'Founding Families of Amman' for establishing key institutions such as pharmacies and construction firms, and for bringing goods and expertise from their more developed cities of origin. ;First World War The
First and
Second Battle of Amman were part of the
Middle Eastern theatre of
World War I and the
Arab Revolt, taking place in 1918. Amman had a strategic location along the Hejaz Railway; its capture by British forces and the
Hashemite Arab army facilitated the British advance towards
Damascus. The second battle was won by the British, resulting in the establishment of the
British Mandate.
British Mandate; Emirate of Transjordan (1921–1946) In 1921, the Hashemite emir and later king
Abdullah I designated Amman instead of al-Salt to be the capital of the newly created state, the
Emirate of Transjordan, which became the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1950. Its function as the capital of the country attracted immigrants from different Levantine areas, particularly from al-Salt, a nearby city that had been the largest urban settlement east of the
Jordan River at the time. The early settlers who came from
Palestine were overwhelmingly from
Nablus, from which many of al-Salt's inhabitants had originated. They were joined by other immigrants from Damascus. Amman later attracted people from the southern part of the country, particularly al-Karak and
Madaba. The city's population was around 10,000 in the 1930s. The British report from 1933 shows around 1,700 Circassians living in Amman. Yet the community was far from insulated. Local urban and nomadic communities formed alliances with the Circassians, some of which are still present today. This cemented the status of Circassians in the re-established city. The first wave of Iraqi refugees settled in the city after the 1991
Gulf War, with a second wave occurring in the aftermath of the
2003 invasion of Iraq. On 9 November 2005,
Al-Qaeda under
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's leadership launched
coordinated explosions in three hotel lobbies in Amman, resulting in 60 deaths and 115 injured. The bombings, which targeted civilians, caused widespread outrage among Jordanians. Jordan's security as a whole was dramatically improved after the attack, and no major terrorist attacks have been reported since then. Most recently a wave of
Syrian refugees have arrived in the city during the ongoing
Syrian Civil War which began in 2011. Amman was a principal destination for refugees for the security and prosperity it offered. During the 2010s, the city has experienced an economic, cultural and urban boom. The large growth in population has significantly increased the need for new accommodation, and new districts of the city were established at a quick pace. This strained Jordan's scarce water supply and exposed Amman to the dangers of quick expansion without careful municipal planning. ==Geography==