Temple of Hercules (161-166 AD)
This great temple was dedicated to the supreme Roman deity. The temple has been attributed to the popular hero-god Hercules due to the discovery of gigantic arms of marble statue near the temple area. Hercules was the son of Zeus and a mortal woman (Alcemene) and was known for his supernatural physical strength. Also, Hercules is depicted on Roman coins minted in the city, which was called Philadelphia at the time.
The temple stands within an immense temenos (sacred precinct) that is surrounded by porticos. It was positioned on a large purpose-built stone podium and was meant to be seen from the lower city. It is thought that it was built on top of an earlier temple associated with the Ammonite god Milkom.
According to an inscription that was at the top of its facade, the temple of Hercules was built when Geminius Marcianos was governor of Provincia Arabia (161-166 AD) in dedication to the co-emperors of Rome, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. A second Roman temple was construted in the north of th eCitadel site at the highest point of the acropolis. It was built before the mind 2nd century AD, however its materials were later integrated into the structure of the Umayyad Complex in 730 AD.
Below is an early Bronze Age Cave tomb dating to the 23rd century BC. Below Right is the cave at the base of the Temple of Hercules, and Below Left is the entrance to the cave itself. Tombs like this exist in different places in Amman, and they often have multiple burials inside. This cave houses a series of rock-cut tombs. Inside, during the Middle Bronze Age (about 4,000 years ago) additional cavities were added to accomodate communal burials. It was common for such features and structures to be re-used for differnt purposes in differnt periods of history or by different civilizations. This tomb was cleared and re-used during the Umayyed period by stonecutters who were preparing the building stones for the massive building program at the Citadel.
Pottery storage jar found at Tell al-Fara'ah dating from the Middle Bronze Age
The marble head of the goddes Tyche, daughter of Zeus. She is the goddes of fortune and protecotress of the citty of Amman. She is depicted with the arched gate of the cittadel as a crown. Found in the cittadel garden in in 1957 and dates from the Roman period.
Dead Sea Scrolls
Below are some of the Dead Sea Scrolls held in Jordan. The potery containers are the ones that the scrolls were found in. Our tour guide made sure to tell us that all of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Jordan have be transcribed and translated, but the ones in Isreal are not.
Thought to be the earliest statue ever done by humans, this two headed plaster statue was found at Ain Ghazal, Amman in 1983. It dates from the early Neolithic era (8000 - 6000 BC)
