History

Main article: History of Jordan

Ancient period

The 'Ain Ghazal Statues are some of the oldest human statues ever found, dating back to about 7250 BC. They are on display at The Jordan Museum.

Jordan is rich in Paleolithic remains, holding evidence of inhabitance by Homo erectus, Neanderthal and modern humans.^[22] The oldest evidence of human habitation dates back around 250,000 years.^[23] The Kharanah area in eastern Jordan has evidence of human huts from about 20,000 years ago.^[24] Other Paleolithic sites include Pella and Al-Azraq.^[25] In the Neolithic period, several settlements began to develop, most notably an agricultural community called 'Ain Ghazal in what is now Amman,^[26] one of the largest known prehistoric settlements in the Near East.^[27] Plaster statues estimated to date back to around 7250 BC were uncovered there, and are among the oldest large human statues ever found.^[28][29] Villages of Bab edh-Dhra in the Dead Sea area, Tal Hujayrat Al-Ghuzlan in Aqaba and Tulaylet Ghassul in the Jordan Valley all date to the Chalcolithic period.^[30]
The prehistoric period of Jordan ended at around 2000 BC when the Semitic nomads known as the Amorites entered the region. During the Bronze Age and Iron Age, present-day Jordan was home to several ancient kingdoms, whose populations spoke Semitic languages of the Canaanite group.^[31] Among them were Ammon, Edom and Moab, which are described as tribal kingdoms rather than states. They are mentioned in ancient texts such as the Old Testament. Archaeology finds have shown that Ammon was in the area of the modern city of Amman, Moab controlled the highlands east of the Dead Sea and Edom controlled the area around Wadi Araba.^[32]

The Mesha Stele recorded the glory of Mesha, the king of Moab, inscribed around 840 BC. It is on display at the Louvre museum.^[33]

These Transjordanian kingdoms were in continuous conflict with the neighboring Hebrew kingdoms of Israel and Judah, centered west of the Jordan River, though Israel was known to have at times controlled small parts east of the River.^[34] Frequent confrontations ensued and tensions between them increased. One record of this is the Mesha Stele erected by the Moabite king Mesha around 840 BC on which he lauds himself for the building projects that he initiated in Moab and commemorates his glory and victory against the Israelites.^[35] The stele constitutes one of the most important direct accounts of Biblical history.^[33] Subsequently, the Assyrian Empire reduced these kingdoms to vassals. When the region was later under the influence of the Babylonians, the Old Testament mentions that these kingdoms aided them in the 597 BC sack of Jerusalem.^[36]
These kingdoms are believed to have existed throughout fluctuations in regional rule and influence. They passed through the control of several distant empires, including the Akkadian Empire (2335–2193 BC), Ancient Egypt (1500–1300 BC), the Hittite Empire (1400–1300 BC), the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–1020 BC), the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC), the Neo-Babylonian Empire (604–539 BC), the Achaemenid Empire (539–332 BC) and the Hellenistic Empire of Macedonia.^[9] However, by the time of Roman rule in the Levant around 63 BC, the people of Ammon, Edom and Moab had lost their distinct identities, and were assimilated into Roman culture.^[32]

Classical period

Main article: Transjordan (region)

Alexander the Great's conquest of the Achaemenid Empire in 332 BC introduced Hellenistic culture to the Middle East. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, his empire split among his generals and in the end, much of the land of modern-day Jordan was disputed between the Ptolemies based in Egypt and the Seleucids based in Syria.^[37] In the south and east, the Nabataeans had an independent kingdom.^[37] Campaigns by different Greek generals aspiring to annex the Nabataean Kingdom were unsuccessful.^[38]

The Treasury in the ancient city of Petra, which was carved into the rock in 312 BC by the Arab Nabataeans, is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

The Nabataeans were nomadic Arabs who derived wealth from their capital Petra, whose proximity to major trade routes led to it becoming a regional hub.^[38] The Ptolemies were eventually displaced from the region by the Seleucid Empire. The conflict between these two groups enabled the Nabataeans to extend their kingdom northwards well beyond Petra in Edom.^[37] The Nabataeans are known for their great ability in constructing efficient water collecting methods in the barren deserts and their talent for carving structures such as the Al-Khazneh temple into solid rocks.^[38] These nomads spoke Arabic and wrote in Nabataean alphabets, which were developed from Aramaic script during the 2nd century BC, and are regarded by scholars to have evolved into the Arabic alphabet around the 4th century AD.^[39]
The Greeks founded new cities in Jordan including Philadelphia (Amman), Gerasa (Jerash), Gedara (Umm Qays), Pella (Tabaqat Fahl) and Arbila (Irbid). Later, under Roman rule, these joined other Hellenistic cities in Palestine and Syria to form the Decapolis League, a loose confederation linked by economic and cultural interests: Scythopolis, Hippos, Capitolias, Canatha and Damascus were among its members.^[40] The most notable Hellenistic site in Jordan is at Iraq Al-Amir, just west of modern-day Amman.^[9]
Roman legions under Pompey conquered much of the Levant in 63 BC, inaugurating a period of Roman rule that lasted for centuries.^[9] In 106 AD, Emperor Trajan annexed the nearby Nabataean Kingdom without any opposition, and rebuilt the King's Highway which became known as the Via Traiana Nova road.^[41] During Roman rule the Nabataeans continued to flourish and replaced their local gods with Christianity.^[42] Roman remains include, in Amman, the Temple of Hercules at the Amman Citadel and the Roman theater. Jerash contains a well-preserved Roman city that had 15,000 inhabitants at its height.^[43] Jerash was visited by Emperor Hadrian during his journey to Palestine.^[42] In 324 AD, the Roman Empire split, and the Eastern Roman Empire (later known as the Byzantine Empire) continued to control or influence the region until 636 AD. Christianity had become legal within the empire in 313 AD and the official state religion in 390 AD, after Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity.^[42]
Ayla city (modern day Aqaba) in southern Jordan also came under Byzantine Empire rule. The Aqaba Church was built around 300 AD, and is considered the world's first purpose built Christian church.^[44] The Byzantines built 16 churches just south of Amman in Umm ar-Rasas.^[45] Administratively the area of Jordan fell under the Diocese of the East, and was divided between the provinces of Palaestina Secunda in the north-west and Arabia Petraea in the south and east. Palaestina Salutaris in the south was split off from Arabia Petraea in the late 4th century.^[46] The Sassanian Empire in the east became the Byzantines' rivals, and frequent confrontations sometimes led to the Sassanids controlling some parts of the region, including Transjordan.^[47]