Amman
Amman (biblical Rabbah Ammon; ancient Philadelphia),
city in northern Jordan, capital of Jordan and Amman
Governorate. It is about 40 km (about 25 mi) northeast
of the Dead Sea. Amman is the commercial, industrial,
and administrative center of Jordan. Industries include
the manufacture of textiles, tobacco products, dry batteries,
leather products, tiles, and cement and the processing
of flour and other food products. The extraction of
phosphate and petroleum refining are other important
industries. Jordan's main highway passes through the
city and terminates at the port of Al ‘Aqabah.
A government-operated rail line, formerly part of Al
?ijaz (the Hejaz) Railway, links Amman with Damascus,
Syria, to the north. The city is also served by Amman
International Airport.
The city Rabbah Ammon had its origins in the period
about 1500 bc, and was important as the chief city of
the Ammonites. In the 3rd century bc the Egyptian king
Ptolemy Philadelphus captured it and renamed it Philadelphia,
under which name it was known throughout the eras of
the Roman and Byzantine empires. Many ruins of this
period can be seen in Amman today. In the 1st century
ad it was a leading city of the Roman province of Arabia.
Lost to the Byzantines at the rise of Islam and subsequently
conquered by Arabs in the 7th century, the city fell
into decline by about 1300, again taking its former
name, Rabbah Ammon. It was revived in the 20th century.
An important Ottoman base during World War I, it was
taken from the Ottomans by the British in September
1918. Amman became the capital of newly independent
Jordan in 1946. During the Arab-Israeli War of 1948
and 1949, the city received many Palestinian refugees
from the new Jewish state of Israel; their number increased
after the Six-Day War of 1967, when Jordan lost control
to Israel of Palestinian-occupied areas west of the
Jordan River. Today, Palestinians live as integral citizens
within Amman, and in several large refugee camps. In
1970, as a result of political differences between the
militant Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and
the Jordanian government, fighting occurred in Amman,
and the city suffered heavy damage. Population 1,187,000
(1995 estimate).
Petra
Petra (Greek, “city of rock”), ancient city
of Arabia, in what is now southwestern Jordan, immediately
east of the village of Wadi Musa. The stronghold and
treasure city of the Nabataeans, an Arab people, Petra
is referred to as Sela in the Bible (see 2 Kings 14:7).
It was situated in the land of Edom, between the Dead
Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, near the points of intersection
of great caravan routes from Gaza on the Mediterranean
Sea, from Damascus, from Elath (now Al ‘Aqabah,
Jordan) on the Red Sea, and from the Persian Gulf. From
the 4th century bc until the 2nd century ad, Petra was
the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom. The Romans conquered
it in 106 ad and made it part of the Roman province
of Arabia Petraea. The city continued to flourish in
the 2nd and 3rd centuries, but later, when the rival
city of Palmyra took away most of Petra's trade, the
importance of Petra declined. It was conquered by the
Muslims in the 7th century and captured by the Crusaders
in the 12th century; gradually it fell into ruins.
The site of the ancient city was rediscovered in 1812
by the Swiss explorer Johann Burckhardt. An impregnable
fortress, conspicuous both for its great natural beauty
and for the magnificence of its monuments, it is approached
by a chasm, or ravine, which in some places is only
3.7 m (12 ft) wide and has towering rocky walls. Along
this ravine are the ancient structures carved out of
the walls of solid rock, the most famous of which include
the Khaznet Firaoun, a temple also known as the Treasury
of the Pharaohs, and a semicircular theater capable
of seating about 3000 spectators. All along the face
of the pink rocks that overlook the valleys are rows
of tombs hewn out of the solid stone. The remains of
Petra bear eloquent testimony to its former power, wealth,
and culture.
Dead Sea
Dead Sea, salt lake in southwestern Asia. Bounded on
the west by Israel and the West Bank and on the east
by Jordan, the Dead Sea forms part of the Israeli-Jordanian
border. The surface of the Dead Sea, 408 m (1,340 ft)
below sea level as of 1996, is the lowest water surface
on earth. The lake is 80 km (50 mi) long and has a maximum
width of 18 km (11 mi); its area is 1,020 sq km (394
sq mi). The Dead Sea occupies a north portion of the
Great Rift Valley. On the east the high plateau of Moab
rises about 1,340 m (about 4,400 ft) above the sea;
on the west the plateau of Judea rises to half that
height. From the eastern shore a peninsula juts out
into the lake. To the south of this peninsula the lake
is shallow, less than 6 m (less than 20 ft) deep; in
the north it reaches its greatest depth of 399 m (about
1,309 ft) below surface level, and 799 m (about 2,621
ft) below sea level.
The Dead Sea is fed mainly by the Jordan River, which
enters the lake from the north. Several smaller streams
also enter the sea, chiefly from the east. The lake
has no outlet, and the heavy inflow of fresh water is
carried off solely by evaporation, which is rapid in
the hot desert climate. Due to large-scale projects
by Israel and Jordan to divert water from the Jordan
River for irrigation and other water needs, the surface
of the Dead Sea has been dropping for at least the past
50 years.
Nearly seven times as salty as the ocean, the Dead
Sea contains at a depth of 305 m (1,000 ft) some 27
percent solid substances: sodium chloride (common salt),
magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium chloride,
magnesium bromide, and many other substances. Because
of the density of solids in the water, the human body
easily floats on the surface. The lake contains no life
of any sort except for a few kinds of microbes; sea
fish put into its waters soon die.
The Dead Sea is economically important as a source
of potash, bromine, gypsum, salt, and other chemical
products, which are extracted inexpensively. The shores
of the Dead Sea are of growing importance as a winter
health resort. The lake is closely associated with biblical
history; the sites of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
are believed to lie beneath the lake.
Irbid
Irbid, city, northwestern Jordan. The center of the
country's most fertile agricultural region, it is also
a developing industrial center. Yarmouk University (1976)
is here. Irbid is identified with the ancient Beth-Arbel
of the Bible. The city's rapid growth between 1950 and
1970 is, in part, due to the influx of refugees from
the West Bank. Population (1994 estimate) 281,000.
Al Karak
Karak, Al or El Kerak, city in west central Jordan,
88 km (55 mi) southwest of the city of Amman. It lies
in a rugged upland area and has a semiarid Mediterranean
climate. Winter temperatures average 10° C (50°
F), summers 28° C (82° F), and the average annual
rainfall is 250 to 300 mm (10 to 12 in).
Al Karak corresponds to ancient Kir-Haereseth, a city
of the Moabites. In about 858 bc King Mesha of Al Karak
successfully defended the city against the Hebrews and
the Edomites, but it was conquered by the Arabs in ad
636. The Christian Crusaders occupied the city in the
12th century, but the Muslim leader Saladin drove them
out in 1187. The Frankish castle of the Crusaders, built
in 1131, is one of the most imposing of medieval monuments
and remains in an excellent state of preservation. Ibrahim
Pasha, the Egyptian general, destroyed a great part
of the fortifications of Al Karak in 1834 when the inhabitants
of the city resisted his troops. Population (1990 estimate)
49,770.
Al ‘Aqabah
Al ‘Aqabah, also Al Aqaba, (ancient Elath; later
Aelana), city and port in southwestern Jordan, at the
head of the Gulf of Aqaba, an arm of the Red Sea. Al
‘Aqabah is Jordan's only seaport; its exports
include phosphates and shells. Both Al ‘Aqabah
and nearby Elat, Israel, are popular tourist resorts.
In ancient times, the town, then called Elath, was the
principal city of the Edomite peoples and a major commercial
center. Later named Aelana, the city became important
as a Roman garrison. Later held by Byzantines, Crusaders,
Muslims, and the Ottoman Turks, the city became a way
station for Muslims making the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Al ‘Aqabah was captured by Arabs led by British
soldier T. E. Lawrence during World War I (1914-1918).
Following the war, the city became part of the independent
kingdom of Al ?ijaz (also the Hejaz, now in Saudi Arabia);
in 1925 it was ceded to the British protectorate of
Transjordan (present-day Jordan). Because of its strategic
location, the port of Al ‘Aqabah has figured in
several Arab-Israeli confrontations, and was occupied
by Israel from November 1956 until January 1957. Al
‘Aqabah experienced significant growth during
the 1980s when it became a major port for Iraqi imports;
however, sanctions imposed by the United Nations following
the Persian Gulf War (1991) made trade with Iraq illegal.
Population 41,900 (1989 estimate).
Az Zarqa’
Az Zarqa’, town, northern Jordan, capital of Az
Zarqa’ District, on the Wadi Zarqa (ancient Jabbok),
near Amman. The town is a road hub, with a powerhouse
and phosphate mines located nearby. Its name is also
spelled al-Zarqa, el Zerqa, ez Zarqa, or Zarqa’.
Population (1994 estimate) 421,000.
Madaba and Mount Nebo
The trip south of Amman along the 5000-year-old King's
Highway is one of the most memorable journeys in the
Holy Land, passing through a string of ancient sites.
The first city along the way from the north is Madaba,
the 'City of Mosaics', which has been intermittently
inhabited for nearly 3500 years and is just 19 miles
from Grand Hyatt Amman.
The chief attraction in this city is a wonderfully
vivid, 6th-century Byzantine mosaic map showing Jerusalem
and other holy sites. There are also literally hundreds
of other mosaics scattered throughout Madaba's churches
and homes. Ten minutes to the west is Mount Nebo, the
memorial of Moses, and the presumed site of the prophet's
death and burial place. From a platform in front of
the church one can enjoy a breathtaking view across
the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea.
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