Jordan General Information

Jordan General Information

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (English: Jordan is a country in Western Asia. It is located at a crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, it's situated on the eastern bank of the Jordan River. Saudi Arabia is to the south and east, Iraq is to the north, Syria is to the north, the Palestinian West Bank, Israel, and the Dead Sea are to the west. The Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea is to the southwest of Jordan, separated by Egypt. Amman, Jordan's capital and largest city, as well as its economic, political, and cultural center, is located in Amman. Humans have inhabited Jordan since the Paleolithic era. Three strong kingdoms emerged there at the end of the Bronze Age: Ammon, Moab, and Edom. Babylonia, the Assyrian Empire, Nabataean Kingdom, the Persian Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Byzantine Empire, which was the successor to the Roman Empire, were among the many rulers.

History

Ancient period:

Up to 200,000 years ago, the first evidence of hominid habitation in Jordan was found.[23] Because Jordan sits on the border of the Levant, where early humans migrated out of Africa, Paleolithic remains are abundant (up to 20,000 years old).[24] Scientists discovered the world's oldest bread-making evidence at a 14,500-year-old Natufian site in the country's northeastern desert.[25] During the Neolithic period (10,000-4,500 BC), hunter-gatherers turned into populous village farmers.[26] The transition from a hunter-gatherer culture to establishing populous agricultural villages occurred.[26] A massive prehistoric settlement has been discovered at 'Ain Ghazal, one of the largest known prehistoric settlements in the Near East in present-day Amman. Human figures in plaster dating back to 7250 BC have been found there, and they are considered to be among the earliest large-scale representations of the human form ever discovered.[28] Certain Chalcolithic (4500–3600 BC) villages, such as Tulaylet Ghassul in the Jordan Valley,[29] are perplexing archaeologists because of the unusual circular stone enclosures found in the eastern basalt desert, which remain unidentified.
Bronze Age (3600–1200 BC) fortifications and urban centers appeared in the southern Levant. Wadi Feynan was a regional center for copper mining, where copper was extracted to make bronze. People in the Middle East widely traded and moved, spreading and refining civilization. Villages in Transjordan expanded rapidly in areas with abundant water and arable land, because of water resources and expansion. The ancient Egyptians gained control of both banks of the Jordan River as they expanded toward the Levant.
During the Iron Age (1200–332 BC), Ammon, Edom, and Moab were all located in Transjordan after the withdrawal of the Egyptians. These kingdoms were composed of Canaanite-language-speaking peoples, and their policies are thought to be tribal kingdoms rather than states. These kingdoms included Ammon in the Amman plateau; Moab in the highlands east of the Dead Sea; and Edom in the Wadi Araba region to the south. The Israelites lived in the Gilead region in northwestern Transjordan in ancient times.[35] The Transjordanian kingdoms of Ammon, Edom, and Moab constantly battled with the Israeli and Judahite kingdoms west of the Jordan River. The Moabite king Mesha erected the Mesha Stele in 840 BC to commemorate his achievements and commemorate his victory over the Israelis. The inscription includes a description of his activities in Moab. The stele is one of the most important archaeological parallels to biblical accounts, as well as a competition between Israel and Aram-Damascus for control of Gilead (38-40).
From 740 to 720 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire invaded Israel and Aram Damascus. Ammon, Edom, and Moab were subjugated but were permitted to maintain some degree of autonomy as a result of this invasion.[42] After the disintegration of the Assyrian Empire in 627 BC, the Babylonians took over its empire.[42] Although the kingdoms supported the Babylonians in their sack of Jerusalem in 597 BC, a decade later they rebelled against Babylon.[42] During the Persian and Hellenic Empires, vassals remained in the kingdoms of Ammon, Edom, and Moab.[42] Roman rule began in 63 BC, and by that time the kingdoms had lost their distinct identities and been assimilated into Roman culture.[35] Because of the Nabataeans, Edomites migrated to southern Judea and became known as Idumaeans; the Hasmoneans converted them to Judaism later.[43]

Classical period:

In 332 BC, Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire introduced Hellenistic culture to the Middle East. After his death in 323 BC, Transjordan was divided between the Ptolemies, who controlled Egypt, and the Seleucids, who controlled Syria. The Nabataeans, nomadic Arabs based south of Edom, established an independent kingdom in 169 BC by taking advantage of the struggle between the two Greek powers. The Nabataean Kingdom controlled a lot of the region's trade routes, as well as a portion of the Red Sea coast and the Hejaz desert. Damascus was under Nabataean control for a short time (85–71 BC). The Nabataeans were often envied by their neighbors for their control of trade routes, and Petra, the barren capital of Nabataea, flourished in the 1st century AD, thanks to its extensive water irrigation systems and agriculture. Nabataean stone carving reached its peak in the 1st century AD when they created Al-Khazneh. It is thought to be the mausoleum of Nabataean king Aretas IV.
In 63 BC, Roman troops led by Pompey conquered much of the Levant, establishing four centuries of Roman rule. Emperor Trajan seized Nabataea without resistance in 106 AD, and he reconstructed the King's Highway as the Via Traiana Nova road.[49] Transjordan's Greek cities of Amman, Jerash, Umm Quays, Pella, Tabaqat Fahl, and Arbella, as well as other Hellenistic cities in southern Syria and Palestine, were given a comparable degree of autonomy by creating the Decapolis, a consortium of ten cities.[50] Emperor Hadrian visited Jerash, one of the best-preserved Roman cities in the East, during his journey to Palestine.[51]
The Eastern Roman Empire, which was later referred to as the Byzantine Empire, continued to control or influence the region from 324 to 636 AD after the Roman Empire disintegrated in 313. Christianity became a lawful religion in the empire in 313 AD, when Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, making it the state religion in 380 AD. Throughout the Byzantine period, Christian churches were constructed all over Transjordan. Ayla's Aqaba Church, the world's first purpose-built Christian church, was constructed during this era. Ancient Umm ar-Rasas in southern Amman contains sixteen Byzantine churches, the world's first purpose-built Christian church.[54] Petra's importance waned as sea trade routes became more prominent, and after a 363 earthquake destroyed many structures, its importance waned further, finally resulting in its abandonment. The Sassanid Empire in the east became the Byzantines' rivals, and frequent conflicts led to them controlling some parts of the region including Transjordan.