Friday, July 23, 2010

Jewels of Jordan: The Castle Mountain

The Temple of Hercules


The Open Cistern 'Birka', a water storage.

Thistles swaying in the gentle breeze


The Umayyad Complex


Amman is both the modern and ancient capital of Jordan, known under the Ammonites as Rabbat–Ammon and in Graeco–Roman times as Philadelphia.

A view on Jabal al–Qala'a



The Umayyad Palace (circa 730 AD)






The Umayyad Complex


Downtown Amman from Jabal al–Qala'a with Raghadan Flagpole of Jordan, the world's highest flagpole at 160 m (525 ft), in the background.




Views of Amman from Jabal al–Qala'a


The Temple of Hercules

Amman



The 6,000–seat Roman amphitheatre at the foot of Jabal al–Qala

Photos by SkyJuice and Qusai Alazzam.
© All rights reserved.


My next destination was Amman, the capital city of Jordan. My friends and I went to Amman Citadel National Historic Site & Archaeological Museum, Jabal al–Qala'a (The Castle Mountain).

Jabal al–Qala'a is one of Amman’s oldest known sites. Perched on top of the city’s highest hill, it is recognised for its historical importance. Archaeological excavations reveal remains from the Bronze Age through the Arab Islamic ages, and this summit has been used as a settlement and a fortress for millennia, dating back 7000 years according to some estimates. That is around the time of the rise of civilisation in the Nile Valley.

On Jabal al–Qala'a, you will discover the ruins of the Temple of Hercules, an Umayyad Palace dating back to 720 AD and a Byzantine church from the 6th century. There is a well–preserved 6,000
seat Roman Theatre at the foot of the Citadel.

2 comments:

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hello Skyjuice:)

This is another wonderful tour of ancient lands steeped in history and associated with early civilisation of human beings.

The Romans really had a grip over these ancient lands. It interesting to see the Roman amphitheatre,temple of Hercules,world's highest flag pole, the open cistern etc.

Amman city as such looks completely crowded with hardly any trees worth the name. I an sure the climate will be terrible there. While I wonder how people live in these places, yet it is a tribute to human beings who can adjust themselves to most difficult surroundings. An Ammonite will no doubt say that his country is the best in the world.

I learnt so much from this post of yours with interesting write ups and lovely photographs.

Best wishes:)
Joseph

SkyJuice said...

Hello Joseph,

Thank you for your comments.

Amman is a crowded city, but not as crowded as some cities in other parts of the globe. Yes, the climate can be terrible at times. There's also snow in winter. I was told that almost everything is taxable in Jordan, so life is hard for many people. Despite all those, Jordan has much to offer especially their Middle Eastern hospitality.

I enjoyed going around Jordan and Syria because they weren't as crowded or packed with tourists like some European and other Asian countries.

Have a good week! :-)