Amman, the
capital of Jordan, is a fascinating city of contrasts –
a unique blend of old and new, ideally situated on a
hilly area between the desert and the fertile Jordan
Valley, Amman is a city of 2,125,400 inhabitants (2005
estimate), and the administrative capital and commercial
center of Jordan.
Amman is a regional hub
in the communications, transportation,
medical tourism, education, and
investment. All business dealings with
Iraq flow through Amman in some way. Its
airport, Queen Alia International
Airport, is the hub of the national
carrier, Royal Jordanian, which is a
major airline in the region. Amman is a
major tourist attraction in the country
because most of the countries foreign
tourists arrive in Jordan through Amman.
Its construction boom is helping the
real estate economy boom and its banking
and finance sectors are also feeling the
results of this massive economic growth
in Jordan. All major highways of Jordan
cross in Amman making the capital busy
with freight trucks, buses and cars
passing through the city.
Amman has both a modern
and historic touch. Old Amman is filled
with suqs, or bazaars, small shops, and
single family dwellings all crowded
together.
New Amman, however, is
less crowded and more scenic. Parks and
wide boulevards with towering apartment
and office buildings dominate the scene.
Most of the city's 5-star and 4-star
hotels are located here as well. Villas
and expensive apartment complexes are
very common. Most of Amman's foreign
business flows through here. Shmeisani,
the main economic center of Amman, and
Abdoun, the up-scale residential
district, are the two main areas of "New
Amman" much different from the overly
crowded Jabal al-Qalat in Old Amman.
History
Throughout
history, Amman has been inhabited by several
civilizations. The first civilization on record is
during the Neolithic period, around 8500 BC, when
archaeological discoveries in 'Ain Ghazal, located in
eastern Amman, showed evidence of not only a settled
life but also the growth of artistic work, which
suggests that a well-developed civilization inhabited
the city at that time.
In the 13th century BC Amman was called Rabbath Ammon or
Rabat Amon by the Ammonites (רַבַּת עַמּוֹן, Standard
Hebrew Rabbat Ammon, Tiberian Hebrew Rabba Ammôn). It
was later conquered by the Assyrians, followed by the
Persians, and then the Greeks. Ptolemy II Philadelphus,
the Hellenic ruler of Egypt, renamed it Philadelphia.
The city became part of the Nabataean kingdom until AD
106 when Philadelphia came under Roman control and
joined the Decapolis.
In 324 AD, Christianity became the religion of the
empire and Philadelphia became the seat of a bishopric
during the beginning of the Byzantine era. One of the
churches of this period can be seen on the city's
Citadel.
Philadelphia was renamed Amman during the Ghassanian
era, and flourished under the Caliphates (with nearby
capital) of the Umayyads (in Damascus) and the Abbasids
(in Baghdad). It was then destroyed by several
earthquakes and natural disasters and remained a small
village and a pile of ruins until the Circassians
settlement in 1887. The tide changed when the Ottoman
Sultan decided to build the Hejaz railway, linking
Damascus and Medina, facilitating both the annual haj
pilgrimage and permanent trade, putting Amman, a major
station, back on the commercial map.
In 1921, Abdullah I chose Amman as seat of government
for his newly-created state, the Emirate of Transjordan,
and later as the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of
Jordan. As there was no palatial building, he started
his reign from the station, with his office in a train
car. Amman remained a small city until 1948, when the
population expanded considerably due to an influx of
Palestinian refugees from the occupied territories.
Amman has experienced exceptionally rapid development
since 1952 under the leadership of two Hashemite Kings,
Hussein of Jordan and Abdullah II of Jordan.
In 1970, Amman was the site of major clashes between the
PLO and the Jordanian army. Everything around the Royal
Palace sustained heavy damage from shelling. Most of
Amman suffered great damage from PLO rockets and the
Jordanian army's shells.
The city's population continues to expand at a dizzying
pace (fueled by refugees escaping the wartime events in
the occupied territories and Iraq). The city received
refugees from these countries on a number of occasions.
The first wave of Palestinian refugees arrived from the
occupied territories in 1948. A second wave after the
Six Day War in 1967. A third wave of Palestinian and
Jordanian and South East Asians, working as domestic
servants, refugees arrived in Amman from Kuwait after
the Gulf War of 1991. The first wave of Iraqi refugees
settled in the city after the first Gulf War. A second
wave also began arriving after the invasion and
occupation of Iraq in 2003. During the last 10 years the
amount of new building within the city has increased
dramatically with new districts of the city being
founded at a very rapid pace (particularly so in West
Amman), straining the very scarce water supplies of
Jordan as a whole, and exposing Amman to the hazards of
rapid expansion in the absence of careful municipal
planning.
On November 9, 2005, coordinated explosions rocked three
hotels in Amman, shocking and angering the population of
the peaceful city. The Islamist organization, Al-Qaeda,
claimed responsibility. Despite the fact that the
birthplace of since-killed terrorist leader Abu Musab
Al-Zarqawi is the town of Zarqa, less than 30 km from
Amman. The sheer brutality of the attacks — they
targeted, among other things, a Muslim wedding
procession — caused widespread revulsion across the
widest range of Jordanians.
Culture
and Media
Amman is
home to many diverse religious sects making up the two
primary religions of Jordan, Islam and Christianity.
Numerous mosques and churches dot the capital. The most
famous mosque of Amman is the King Abduallah I Mosque
which can house almost 3,000 people.
The Jordan Media City, established in
2001, is the first of its kind in the region which plans
to make Jordan the regional hub of communications. It
now transmits over 120 channels and still grows.
Although not as popualar as Beirut or Cairo, many
Jordanian singers work out of Amman.
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
