Idea #566 – Visiting the antique acropole of Philadelphia in Amman in Jordan
The city of Amman was founded in the XIIIth century B.C., and appeared in the Bible in this period under the name of Rhabbat Ammon. The city is considered as one most old town of the world still lived. Afterward, the antique city was invaded by the Assyrians, then by the Persians and the Greeks. Ptolémée II Philadelphe, the Hellenic leader of Egypt, renamed the city Philadelphia. The city was then joined into the nabatean kingdom and stayed until its absorption in Roman Empire there, in 106 AD. In 324, Philadelphia became the bishop’s seat. It wasrenammed Amman under the ghassanide era, and knows a real development under Umayyades and Abbassides. In 1161, the fortress was occupied by the crusaders who give it the name of Ahamant. It became the domain of the Templar Knights for a few years after 1166. Several earthquakes fell down the city, which became a modest village, until the arrival of the Circassians in 1887.
The still visible constructions on the hill of the citadel of Amman, known under the name Jabal al-Qal ‘, date mainly from Roman and Byzantine periods, with later additions of the beggining of the Islamic era. Excavations in the north zones, on the the citadel, brought to light rests dating the Bronze Age. Among the remarkable monuments, let us quote Hercule’s temple which would have been built under the reign of the Roman emperor Marc-Aurele, the forum, the biggest Roman theater of Jordan, and the rests of a big Muslim palace, with souk and mosque.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Amman, Jordan