Jordan – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Posted By on May 12, 2015

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

al-Mamlakah al-Urdunyah al-Hshimyah

Jordan (//; Arabic: al-Urdun), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Arabic: al-Mamlakah al-Urdunyah al-Hshimyah), is an Arab kingdom in the Middle East, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north, and Israel and Palestine to the west.

After the post-World War I division of West Asia by Britain and France, the Emirate of Transjordan was officially recognized by the Council of the League of Nations in 1922. In 1946, Jordan became an independent sovereign state officially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. After capturing the West Bank during the 1948 ArabIsraeli War, Abdullah I took the title King of Jordan. The name of the state was changed to The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on 1 December 1948.[10]

Although Jordan is a constitutional monarchy, the king holds wide executive and legislative powers. Jordan is classified as a country of "high human development"[8] by the 2014 Human Development Report. Jordan has an "upper middle income" economy.[11] Jordan enjoys "advanced status" with the European Union since December 2010,[12] and it is a member of the Euro-Mediterranean free trade area. It is also a founding member of the Arab League[13] and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

In antiquity, the present day Jordan became a home for several Semitic Canaanite-speaking ancient kingdoms, including the kingdom of Edom, the kingdom of Moab, the kingdom of Ammon, the kingdom of Israel, and also the Amalekites. Throughout different eras of history, the region and its nations were subject to the control of powerful foreign empires; including the Akkadian Empire (2335-2193 BC), Ancient Egypt (15th to 13th centuries BC), Hittite Empire (14th and 13th centuries BC), the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365-1020 BC), Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-605 BC), the Neo-Babylonian Empire (604-539 BC), the Achaemenid Empire (539-332 BC), and, for discrete periods of times, by Israelites. The Mesha Stele recorded the glory of King Mesha of Moab and his victory over the Israelites. The kingdoms of Ammon and Moab are mentioned in ancient maps, Near Eastern documents, ancient Greco-Roman artifacts, and Christian and Jewish religious scriptures.[14]

Due to its strategic location in the middle of the ancient world, Transjordan came to be controlled by the ancient empires of Persians and later the Macedonian Greeks, who became the dominant force in the region, following the conquests of Alexander the Great. It later fell under the changing influence of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire from the North and the Parthians from the East.

The Aramaic speaking Nabatean kingdom was one of the most prominent states in the region through the middle classic period, since the decline of the Seleucid control of the region in 168 BC. The Nabateans were most probably people of mixed Aramean, Canaanite and Arabian ancestry, who fell under the early influence of the Hellenistic and Parthian cultures, creating a unique civilized society, which roamed the roads of the deserts. They controlled the regional and international trade routes of the ancient world by dominating a large area southwest of the Fertile Crescent, which included the whole of modern Jordan in addition to the southern part of Syria in the north and the northern part of Arabian Peninsula in the south. The Nabataeans developed the Nabatean Alphabet, a descendant of the Aramaic alphabet, which was eventually to lead to the formation of the Arabic Script in the 4th century AD.[16] Their language was originally Aramaic (a West Semitic language), but became infused with South Semitic Arabic with the migration of Arab tribes into Nabatea in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.[17] It acted as an intermediary between Aramaean and Classical Arabic, the latter of which evolved into Modern Arabic.

The Nabateans were largely conquered by the Hasmonean rulers of Judea and many of them forced to convert to Judaism in the late 2nd century BC. However, the Nabataeans managed to maintain a sort of semi-independent kingdom, which covered most parts of modern Jordan and beyond, before it was taken by the Herodians and finally annexed by the still expanding Roman Empire in 106 AD. However, apart from Petra, the Romans maintained the prosperity of most of the ancient cities in Transjordan which enjoyed a sort of city-state autonomy under the umbrella of the alliance of the Decapolis. Nabataean civilization left many magnificent archaeological sites at Petra, which is considered one of the New 7 Wonders of the World as well as recognized by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Following the establishment of Roman Empire at Syria, the country was incorporated into the client Judaean Kingdom of Herod, and later the Judaea Province. With the suppression of Jewish Revolts, the eastern bank of Transjordan was incorporated into the Syria Palaestina province, while the eastern deserts fell under Parthian and later Persian Sassanid control. During the Greco-Roman period, a number of semi-independent city-states also developed in the region of Transjordan under the umbrella of the Decapolis including: Gerasa (Jerash), Philadelphia (Amman), Raphana (Abila), Dion (Capitolias), Gadara (Umm Qais), and Pella (Irbid).

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Jordan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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