Overview

Bibliography

The ancient ruins of Amman – Rabbath-Ammon in the biblical record and Roman Philadelphia – are in the heart of the modern city and largely limited to the "citadel" and a few Roman period buildings in the valley below. Evidence of habitation in Amman dates back to the Neolithic period, and continues through the Chalcolithic period, Bronze and Iron ages, Hellenistic and Roman periods, and into the Islamic period. The primary visible remains today, and those included in this site, are from the Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad periods.

During the nineteenth century, Amman was visited numerous times by explorers such as R. E. Brünnow and A. von Domaszewski who surveyed and recorded many of the ancient remains. In the twentieth century, the ancient city was excavated by numerous teams, representing Italian, French, Spanish, British, and American archaeological societies in addition to the Jordanian Department of Antiquities. Many of the excavations have been published and the ruins restored in a national park.

The archaeological strata uncovered at the site, as illustrated in the site plan, date to the following periods:

	Early Islamic Period
	Byzantine Period
	Roman Period