Amman tourist information

Throughout history, Amman has been inhabited by several civilizations. The first civilization on record is during the Neolithic period, around 6500 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. 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—a league of ten cities.

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 to Amman during the Ghassanian era, and flourished under the Caliphates (with nearby capital) of the Ummayads (in Damascus) and the Abbasids (in Bagdad). 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 pilgramage 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. Amman has experienced exceptionally rapid development since 1952 under the leadership of two Hashemite Kings, Hussein of Jordan and Abdullah II of Jordan.

The city's population continues to expand at a dizzying pace (fueled by refugees escaping the wartime events in Palestine and Iraq). 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.

In 2005, a series of coordinated explosions rocked three hotels in Amman, shocking and angering the population of the peaceful city. The Islamist organization, Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility.