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Amman: plan of ancient site (1907)
Amman: Plan of the ancient site (after Butler 1907)
Amman,
capital of Jordan, was ancient Philadelphia. Settlements go
back to the Bronze Age, from which fortress walls are preserved. The
town received the name of Philadelphia from Ptolemy II Philadelphus
(285-246 BC), and from 218 BC was ruled by the Seleucid Antiochus III
the Great. In ca. 63 BC Pompey the Great added it to the group of
cities known as the Decapolis. In AD 106-12 it was detached to form
part of the new Roman province of Arabia.
The acropolis sits upon a long steep hill with remains of a three-terraced citadel and a temple of Heracles (Hercules), dating from the reign of Marcus Aurelius (AD 161-80). South of the acropolis, a long colonnaded avenue ran along the north bank of a wadi which was vaulted as it flowed inside the walls. Near the crossroads of the avenue and another street stood the public baths, adjoined by a large five-apsed nymphaeum or fountain building.
On the south side of the wadi is a 2nd century AD theater with a seating capacity of 6,000 spectators (now restored). There is also a smaller theater (Odeum) nearby. Local coins showed symbols of the cult of Tyrian Heracles, and portrayed Thea Asteria, who was identified with Heracles' mother
This plan, adapted from that of Butler (1907), shows the acropolis and the southern part of the site as it was before site excavation, restoration, and the overlay of modern buildings such as exist today.
[source: Grant, Michael 1986, A Guide to the Ancient World, pp.495-496].
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