31°57′17″N35°56′03″E / 31.9547°N 35.9343°E / 31.9547; 35.9343
The Amman Citadel (Arabic: جبل القلعة, romanized: Jabal Al-Qal'a) is an archeological site at the center of downtown Amman, the capital of Jordan. The L-shaped hill is one of the seven hills (jebal) that originally made up Amman.
The Citadel has a long history of occupation by many great civilizations.[1] Evidence of inhabitance since the Neolithic period has been found and the hill was fortified during the Bronze Age (1800 BCE). The hill became the capital of the Kingdom of Ammon sometime after 1200 BCE. It later came under the sway of empires such as the Neo-Assyrian Empire (8th century BCE), Neo-Babylonian Empire (6th century BC), the Ptolemies, the Seleucids (3rd century BCE), Romans (1st century BCE), Byzantines (3rd century CE) and the Umayyads (7th century CE).[2] After the Umayyads, came a period of decline and for much of the time until 1878, the former city became an abandoned pile of ruins only sporadically used by Bedouins and seasonal farmers.[3][4][5] Despite this gap, the Citadel of Amman is considered to be among the world's oldest continuously inhabited places.[6]
Most of the structures still visible at the site are from the Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad periods.[7] The major remains at the site are the Temple of Hercules, a Byzantine church, and the Umayyad Palace. The Jordan Archaeological Museum was built on the hill in 1951. Though the fortification walls enclose the heart of the site, the ancient periods of occupation covered large areas. Historic structures, tombs, arches, walls and stairs have no modern borders, and therefore there is considerable archaeological potential at this site, as well as in surrounding lands, and throughout Amman. Archaeologists have been working at the site since the 1920s, including Italian, British, French, Spanish, and Jordanian projects,[8] but a great part of the Citadel remains unexcavated.
^Najjar, M. "Amman Citadel Temple of Hercules Excavations Preliminary Report." Syria 70 (1993). pp. 220-225.
^"Citadel, Amman, Jordan". Retrieved 2008-05-31.
^Chatty, Dawn (2010). Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East. The Contemporary Middle East (Book 5). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 116–117. ISBN 9780521817929. Retrieved 25 December 2015. The first permanent settlement in the southern Syrian provinces, Transjordan, appeared in Amman in 1878. Up until that point, there was no permanent settlement in Amman, the site of the ancient Roman city of Philadelphia. Some of the ancient buildings, such as the amphitheatre, provided occasional temporary shelter for the few farmers from the Ottoman capital of Salt who regularly cultivated patches of land in the area around Amman. This largely abandoned site was important, however, to Bedouin tribes for both its pasture and its good access to water.
^Kassay, Ali (2011). Myriam Ababsa; Rami Farouk Daher (eds.). The Exclusion of Amman from Jordanian National Identity. Cahiers de l'Ifpo Nr. 6. Beirut: Presses de l'Ifpo. pp. 256–271. ISBN 9782351591826. Retrieved 25 December 2015. The historic development of Amman from a ruin, abandoned for centuries, to the capital city of the Emirate of Transjordan, later the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. [...] a combination of natural disasters (believed to be earthquakes) and environmental degradation reduced it to a pile of ruins. The abandonment of Amman was compounded because the basin of its river became infested with malaria, causing the local population to keep at a safe distance. Amman was brought back to life in the late 19th century....{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^Franciscan fathers (1978). Guide to Jordan. Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press. p. 64. For a thousand years it has no history. In the 15th cent. it is referred to as a pile of ruins. In 1878 it was resettled with Circassians by Sultan Abdul Hamid and took on a new life.
^French, Carole (19 December 2011). Jordan. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 9781841623986.
^Bennett, C-M. (1978). "Excavations at the Citadel (El Qal'ah), Amman, Jordan". Levant. 10: 1–9. doi:10.1179/lev.1978.10.1.1.
^Atiat, Taysir M. (2003). "An Egyptianizing Cult at the Citadel Hill (Jabal al-Qal'a) of Amman, Jordan". Council for British Research in the Levant#Levant. 35: 117–122. doi:10.1179/lev.2003.35.1.117. S2CID 162028926.
9547; 35.9343 The AmmanCitadel (Arabic: جبل القلعة, romanized: Jabal Al-Qal'a) is an archeological site at the center of downtown Amman, the capital of...
and served as the capital of the Ammonite Kingdom, centered at the AmmanCitadel. In the 3rd century BC, the city was renamed Philadelphia and made a...
The AmmanCitadel Inscription is the oldest known inscription in the so-called Ammonite language. It was discovered in 1961 in the AmmanCitadel, and first...
and after whom its capital Amman is named. Only fragments of their language survive—chiefly the 9th century BC AmmanCitadel Inscription, the 7th–6th century...
same time and formed the perimeter of the young city. The AmmanCitadel sits atop Citadel Hill. Markets in the Balad were trafficked by Ammanis of all...
Israel AmmanCitadel, Amman, Jordan Cittadella (Gozo), Malta Citadel of 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands Intramuros, Philippines Warsaw Citadel, Poland...
include an inscription on a bronze bottle dating to c. 600 BC and the AmmanCitadel Inscription. Sources for what little is known of Ammonite religion are...
Vilas Palace, the Egyptian pyramids and Great Sphinx of Giza, and the AmmanCitadel. At least sixteen of Yanni's albums have peaked at No. 1 in Billboard's...
clubs in Jordan: AmmanCitadel Rugby Club,Nomads Rugby Club, Aqaba Sharks and Amman Saracens Jordan Rugby Official Website AmmanCitadel Rugby Club Website...
The Jordan Archaeological Museum is located in the Citadel of Amman, Jordan. Built in 1951, it presents artifacts from archaeological sites in Jordan,...
benevolent, exalted, strong, and has associations with the stars. The AmmanCitadel Inscription (c. 9th or 8th century BCE), as it has been reconstructed...
outdoor markets in Jabal Amman. The most famous is Souk Jara (سوق جارا) that was established in 2005. Downtown AmmanCitadel Hill, Amman Ashrafiya Mango Street...
technologies. The Jordan Archaeological Museum was established in 1951, atop Amman'sCitadel Hill, to host Jordan's most important archaeological findings. However...
king on display at the Jordan Museum. The statue was found near the AmmanCitadel and is thought to date to 8th century BC. Iron Age ramparts in Tulul...
48 (1/2): 101–105. JSTOR 27926502. Fulco, William J. (1978). "The Ammn Citadel Inscription: A New Collation". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental...
'Ain Ghazal neolithic village. Other ruins include AmmanCitadel which is a hilltop in east Amman that combines many ruins left by several ancient civilizations...
associate member of Asia Rugby in 2008 and then a full member in 2016. AmmanCitadel Rugby Club In 2016, through developing five teams to compete in the...
The Hashemite Plaza is a plaza in Amman, Jordan that spans over an area of 20,000 square metres. It was renewed in 2014 and is named after the Jordanian...
their location. Jordan possesses at least one urban Umayyad qaṣr: the AmmanCitadel. While the majority of quṣur are located in Jordan, examples can also...
band playing small shows for charity and a special livestream at the AmmanCitadel in Jordan. When reviewing these shows, Dan Stubbs from NME stated "on...
palatial complex from the Umayyad period, located on the Citadel Hill (Jabal al-Qal'a) of Amman, Jordan. Built during the first half of the 8th century...
advertised with charity events and a special performance broadcast from the AmmanCitadel to the world via YouTube. In 2021, the band played at the Brit Awards...