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urpose remains uncertain–have baffled archaeologists.[28]
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Fortified towns and urban centers first emerged in the southern Levant early on in the Bronze Age (3600–1200 BC).[29]Wadi Feynan became a regional center for copper extraction, which was exploited on a large-scale to produce bronze.[30]Trade and movement of people in the Middle East peaked, spreading and refining civilizations.[31] Villages in Transjordan expanded rapidly in areas with reliable water resources and agricultural land.[31] Ancient Egyptians expanded towards the Levant and controlled both banks of the Jordan River.[32] During the Iron Age (1200–332 BC) after the withdrawal of the Egyptians, Transjordan was home to Ammon, Edom and Moab.[33] They spoke Semitic languages of the Canaanite group, and are considered to be tribal kingdoms rather than states.[33] Ammon was located in the Amman plateau; Moab in the highlands east of the Dead Sea; and Edom in the area around Wadi Araba down south.[33]
These Transjordanian kingdoms were in continuous conflict with the neighbouring Hebrew kingdoms of Israel and Judah, centered west of the Jordan River–though the former was known to have at times controlled small parts east of the river.[34] One record of this is the Mesha Stele erected by the Moabite king Mesha in 840 BC on which he lauds himself for the building projects that he initiated in Moab and commemorates his glory and victory against the Israelites.[35] The stele constitutes one of the most important direct accounts of Biblical history.[36] Around 700 BC, the kingdoms benefited from trade between Syria and Arabia when the Assyrian Empire controlled the Levant.[37] Babylonians took over the empire after its disintegration in 627 BC.[37] Although the kingdoms supported the Babylonians against Judah in the 597 BC sack of Jerusalem, they rebelled against them a decade later.[37] The kingdoms were reduced to vassals, and they remained to be so under the Persian and Hellenic Empires.[37] However, by the time of Roman rule around 63 BC, Ammon, Edom and Moab had lost their distinct identities, and were assimilated into Roman culture.[33]
Classical period[edit]
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Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire in 332 BC introduced Hellenistic culture to the Middle East.[38] After Alexander's death in 323 BC, the empire split among his generals, and in the end much of Transjordan was disputed between the Ptolemies based in Egypt and the Seleucids based in Syria.[38] The Nabataeans, nomadic Arabs based south of Edom, managed to establish an independent kingdom in 169 BC by exploiting the struggle between the two Greek powers.[38] The Nabataean Kingdomcontrolled much of the trade routes of the region, and it stretched south along the Red Sea coast into the Hejaz desert, up to as far north as Damascus, which it controlled for a short period (85–71) BC.[39] The Nabataeans massed a fortune from their control of the trade routes, often drawing the envy of their neighbors.[40] Petra, Nabataea's barren capital, flourished in the 1st century AD, driven by its extensive water irrigation systems and agriculture.[41] The Nabataeans were also talented stone carvers, building their most elaborate structure, Al-Khazneh, in the first century AD.[42] It is believed to be the mausoleum of the Arab Nabataean King Aretas IV.[42]
Roman legions under Pompey conquered much of the Levant in 63 BC, inaugurating a period of Roman rule that lasted four centuries.[43] In 106 AD, Emperor Trajan annexed Nabataea unopposed, and rebuilt the King's Highway which became known as the Via Traiana Nova road.[43] The Romans gave the Greek cities of Transjordan–Philadelphia (Amman), Gerasa (Jerash), Gedara (Umm Qays), Pella (Tabaqat Fahl) and Arbila (Irbid)–and other Hellenistic cities in Palestine and southern Syria, a level of autonomy by forming the Decapolis, a ten-city league.[44] Jerash is one of the best preserved Roman cities in the East; it was even visited by Emperor Hadrian during his journey to Palestine.[45]
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In 324 AD, the Roman Empire split, and the Eastern Roman Empire–later known as the Byzantine Empire–continued to control or influence the region until 636 AD.[46] Christianity had become legal within the empire in 313 AD and the official state religion in 390 AD, after Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity.[46] Transjordan prospered during the Byzantine era, and Christian churches were built everywhere.[47] The Aqaba Church in Ayla was built during this era, it is considered to be the world's first purpose built Christian church.[48] Umm ar-Rasas in southern Amman contains at least 16 Byzantine churches.[49] Meanwhile, Petra's importance declined as sea trade routes emerged, and after a 363 earthquake destroyed many structures, until it became an abandoned place.[42] The Sassanian Empire in the east became the Byzantines' rivals, and frequent confrontations sometimes led to the Sassanids controlling some parts of the region, including Transjordan.[50]
Islamic era[edit]
In 629 AD, during the Battle of Mu'tah in what is today Al-Karak, the Byzantines and their Arab Christian clients, the Ghassanids, staved off an attack by a Muslim Rashidun force that marched northwards towards the Levant from the Hejaz (in modern-day Saudi Arabia).[51] The Byzantines however were defeated by the Muslims in 636 AD at the decisive Battle of Yarmouk just north of Transjordan.[51] Transjordan was an essential territory for the conquest of Damascus.[52] The first, or Rashidun, caliphate was followed by that of the Ummayads (661–750).[52] Under the Umayyad Caliphate, several desert castles were constructed in Transjordan, including: Qasr Al-Mshatta and Qasr Al-Hallabat.[52] The Abbasid Caliphate's campaign to take over the Umayyad's began in Transjordan.[53] A powerful 747 AD earthquake is thought to have contributed to the Umayyads defeat to the Abbasids, who moved the caliphate's capital from Damascus to Baghdad.[53] During Abbasid rule (750–969), several Arab tribes moved northwards and settled in the Levant.[52] Concurrently, growth of maritime trade diminished Transjordan's central position, and the area became increasingly impoverished.[54] After the decline of the Abbasids, Transjordan was ruled by the Fatimid Caliphate (969–1070), then by the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1115–1187).[55]
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The Crusaders constructed several Crusader castles as part of the Lordship of Oultrejordain, including those of Montreal and Al-Karak.[56] The Ayyubids built the Ajloun Castle and rebuilt older castles, to be used as military outposts against the Crusaders.[57] During the Battle of Hattin (1187) near Lake Tiberias just north of Transjordan, the Crusaders lost to Saladin, the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty (1187–1260).[57] Villages in Transjordan under the Ayyubids became important stops for Muslim pilgrims going to Mecca who travelled along the route that connected Syria to the Hejaz.[58] Several of the Ayyubid castles were used and expanded by the Mamluks(1260–1516), who divided Transjordan between the provinces of Karak and Damascus.[59] During the next century Transjordan experienced Mongol attacks, but the Mongols were ultimately repelled by the Mamluks after the Battle of Ain Jalut (1260).[60]
In 1516, the Ottoman Caliphate's forces conquered Mamluk territory.[61] Agricultural villages in Transjordan witnessed a period of relative prosperity in the 16th century, but were later abandoned.[62] Transjordan was of marginal importance to the Ottoman authorities.[63] As a result, Ottoman presence was virtually absent and reduced to annual tax collection visits.[62] More Arab bedouin tribes moved into Transjordan from Syria and the Hejaz during the first three centuries of Ottoman rule, including the Adwan, the Bani Sakhr and the Howeitat.[64] These tribes laid claims to different parts of the region, and with the absence of a meaningful Ottoman authority, Transjordan slid into a state of anarchy that continued till the 19th century.[65] This led to a short-lived occupation by the Wahhabi forces (1803–1812), an ultra-orthodox Islamic movement that emerged in Najd (in modern-day Saudi Arabia).[66] Ibrahim Pasha, son of the governor of the Egypt Eyalet under the request of the Ottoman sultan, rooted out the Wahhabis by 1818.[67] In 1833 Ibrahim Pasha turned on the Ottomans and established his rule over the Levant.[68] His oppressive policies led to the unsuccessful peasants' revolt in Palestine in 1834.[68] Transjordanian cities of Al-Salt and Al-Karak were destroyed by Ibrahim Pasha's forces for harbouring a peasants' revolt leader.[68] Egyptian rule was forcibly ended in 1841, with Ottoman rule restored.[68]
Only after Ibrahim Pasha's campaign did the Ottoman Empire try to solidify its presence in the Syria Vilayet, which Transjordan was part of.[69] A series of tax and land reforms (Tanzimat) in 1864 brought some prosperity back to agriculture and to abandoned villages, while it provoked a backlash in other areas of Transjordan.[69] Muslim Circassians and Chechens, fleeing Russian persecution, sought refuge in the Levant.[70] In Transjordan and with Ottoman support, Circassians first settled in the long-abandoned vicinity of Amman in 1867, and later in the surrounding villages.[70] After having established its administration, conscription and heavy taxation policies by the Ottoman authorities, led to revolts in the areas it controlled.[71] Transjordan's tribes in particular revolted during the Shoubak (1905) and the Karak Revolts (1910), which were brutally suppressed.[70] The construction of the Hejaz Railway in 1908–stretching across the length of Transjordan and linking Mecca with Istanbul–helped the population economically as Transjordan became a stopover for pilgrims.[70] However, increasing policies of Turkification and centralization adopted by the Ottoman Empire disenchanted the Arabs of the Levant.[72]
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