The Amman Citadel in Jordan

The Amman Citadel is an archeological site located in Amman, the capital of Jordan. It is considered to be among the world’s oldest continuously inhabited places, beginning from the Pottery Neolithic Period (5500 BCE – 4500 BCE), followed by the Chalcolithic Period (4500 BCE – 3300 BCE), the Bronze Age (3300 BCE – 1200 BCE), the Iron Age (1200 BCE – 539 BCE), the Persian Period (539 BCE – 332 BCE), the Hellenistic Period (332 BCE- 63 BCE), the Nabataean Period (312 BCE – 106 CE), the Roman Period (63 BCE – 324 CE), the Byzantine Period (324 CE – 635 CE), the Umayyad Period (661 CE – 750 CE), the Abbasid Period (750 CE – 969 CE), the Fatimid Period (969 CE – 1171 CE), the Ayyubid Period (1171 CE – 1263 CE), the Mamluk Period (1250 CE – 1516 CE), all the way up to the Ottoman Period (1516 CE – 1918 CE).

The Amman Citadel

Currently, majority of the structures still remaining within the Citadel belong to the Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad periods.  These incudes the Temple of Hercules, a Byzantine church, and the Umayyad Palace.

The Temple of Hercules which is considered to be the most significant Roman structure within the Amman Citadel. Dedicated to a supreme Roman deity, it was constructed when Publius Julius Geminius Marcianus was the governor of the Province of Arabia (161 CE – 166 BCE), in honour of the co-emperors of Rome, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. The structure is believed to have been constructed on top of an earlier temple associated with the Ammonite god Milkom. It is believed that a second Roman temple was constructed in the north of the Citadel site, at the highest point of the acropolis before the mid of 2^nd Century CE. However, its’ materials were subsequently used in the construction of the Byzantine Church within the Citadel, around the 6^th Century CE.

The ruins of the 2nd Century CE Temple of Hercules at the Amman Citadel

Behind the temple are fragments of a colossal partly stone statue, identified as Hercules. The statue is estimated to have been over 12 to 13 meters in height, making it one of the largest statues from Greco-Roman times. The sheer size of the statue resulted in the temple being attributed to Hercules (who was renowned for his physical strength). Probably destroyed by an earthquake, only three fingers and an elbow of the statue remains today.

The fragments of the colossal statue of Hercules behind the temple

The three fingers and the elbow of the statue of Hercules

The Roman Theater located at the foot of Jabal Al-Joufah, on a hill opposite the Amman Citadel, was also constructed during the same time the Temple of Hercules was built. The theater with a seating capacity of 6,000 viewers was built in honour of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (138–161 CE).

The Roman Theater in Amman

The Byzantine church which remains within the Citadel is believed to have been constructed around 550 CE. Today, only the pillars, the floor plan and some mosaics of the original structure remains.

The ruins of the 6th Century CE Byzantine church

Constructed during the 7th and 8th Century CE, the structures which form part of the Umayyad Palace are some of the best preserved within the Amman Citadel. Majority of the buildings within the original palace complex was destroyed by an earthquake, with the Monumental Gateway/Entrance Hall, which was constructed around 730 CE, still remaining it good condition. Within the Umayyad complex, ruins of residential buildings and the Open Water Cistern which was used to transport water to the palace is still visible.

The entrance to the Monumental Gateway/Entrance Hall of the Umayyad Palace

The interior of the Monumental Gateway/Entrance Hall of the Umayyad Palace

The Open Water Cistern of the Umayyad Palace

Also located within the citadel is the Jordan Archaeological Museum which was constructed in 1951 CE. It houses artifacts from archaeological sites in Jordan, dating from prehistoric times to the 15^th  Century. CE. The most notable artifacts within the museum collection include some of the Ain Ghazal statues, which are a number of large-scale lime plaster and reed statues which dates back to the early Neolithic period (8000 BCE – 6000 BCE). These statues are considered to be among the earliest large-scale representations of the human form.

The Ain Ghazal statues in the Jordan Archeological Museum in Amman