The Heart Of Amman

The Citadel of Amman is on one of the original seven hills that made up the city.  It is replete with Roman ruins.  But proof of life goes back further than the Romans, much further.  

The Citadel museum has man-made objects from the Stone Age.  I will be lazy and let Wikipedia fill you in:

Evidence of inhabitance since the Neolithic period has been found and the hill was fortified during the Bronze Age (1800 BC). The hill became the capital of the Kingdom of Ammon sometime after 1200 BC. It later came under the sway of empires such as the Neo-Assyrian Empire (8th century BC), Neo-Babylonian Empire (6th century BC), the Ptolemies, the Seleucids (3rd century BCE), Romans (1st century BC), Byzantines (3rd century AD) and the Umayyads (7th century AD).  After the Umayyads, came a period of decline and for much of the time until 1878 as the former city became an abandoned pile of ruins only sporadically used by Bedouins and seasonal farmers. Despite this gap, the Citadel of Amman is considered to be among the world's oldest continuously inhabited places.

Archaeologists from many nations have been working the site since the 1920s.  The major structures are the Temple of Hercules, a Byzantine Church, and the Umayyad Palace, built in the first half of the 8th Century.

The Citadel affords impressive views of multiple hills of Amman, as well as a bird's eye view of the Roman Theatre below.

Midway through the visit, the sun came out for the first time while we were outdoors in our three days in Jordan and lit up the ruins and surrounding hills/buildings.  

As we were leaving, several of us noticed some chucklehead climbing up on part of the Temple of Hercules to goof around for photos on it.  Some people are morons.

Citadel selfie.

Another Amman hill.

The city started with seven hills

and has expanded since.

The Roman Theatre from the Citadel.

Carol and a column.

The temple of Hercules.

Inside the museum, this used

to give ancient kids the

heebie-jeebies.  Heck, I

have the heebie-jeebies

just looking at this photo. 

Saddest six word story ever written:

Baby shoes for sale.  Never worn.

From the Chalcolithic Age, which, as we

all know, ran from 4500 to 3300 BC.

Things really changed in 3299 BC.

From the pre-pottery age, this Neolithic

Statue is claims to be the world's

oldest worshipped statue.

Model and finished product.

Anthropoid coffin, with

facemask on wall.

Estimated Bronze Age,

1200 BC.

Carving of a snake on a coffin.  Can never

 have too much Ray Wylie Hubbard

on the blog: "Snake Farm, it just sounds

nasty, Snake Farm, it pretty much is."

Mordecai Three-fingered Brown.

Actually, believed to be from

a giant statue of Hercules.

Umayaad Palace.

Minaret across on an

Eastern hill of Amman.

A northerly view

from the Palace.

The inside of the Palace dome.

Cool water drain in the Palace floor.

A last, sun-kissed view of Amman.