Amman - The capital of Jordan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amman the capital of Jordan is a safe, friendly, and modern city which geographically straddles seven hills and historically sits astride many centuries. The city's modern buildings blend with the remnants of ancient civilizations. The profusion of gleaming white houses, kebab stalls with roasting meat, and tiny cafes where rich Arabian coffee is sipped in the afternoon sunshine, conjure a mood straight from a thousand and one nights. It is a city with a timeless ambiance, where a slight detour off the beaten track reveals the wonders of a Bronze Age settlement or a Byzantine monastery. In its souks (bazaars), you can bargain for fruit, perfume, gold or other exquisite luxuries of the Middle East.
For Businessmen, Amman offers the most up-to-date convention & communication facilities. Its strategic position & convivial atmosphere, make it one of the foremost centers of finance & trade in Middle East today.
Amman is known in the Old Testament as Rabbath Ammon, and in Graeco-Roman times as Philadelphia. This strategic area was settled or crossed by a restless cast of characters; Ammonites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantine, Omayyads, and Crusaders are among the more familiar.
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Philadelphia
Under Ptolemy II Philadelphos (285-247 B.C.), Amman was rebuilt and renamed Philadelphia. In 63 B.C., Philadelphia became part of the Decapolis set up by Pompey. In 106 A.D., Philadelphia was included in the Roman province of Arabia by the Emperor Trajan. He built a new road from Elath to Damascus which ran through Philadelphia. This created an economic boom for the city and it flourished. Most of the town’s Roman structures were built in the 2nd century A.D., including the theater, forum and Hercules temple.
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