Amman Citadel

[2] After the Umayyads, came a period of decline and for much of the time until 1878, the former city became an abandoned pile of ruins only sporadically used by Bedouins and seasonal farmers.

Though the fortification walls enclose the heart of the site, the ancient periods of occupation covered large areas.

Historic structures, tombs, arches, walls, and stairs have no modern borders, and therefore there is considerable archaeological potential at this site, as well as in surrounding lands, and throughout Amman.

Archaeologists have been working at the site since the 1920s, including Italian, British, French, Spanish, and Jordanian led projects,[8] but a great part of the Citadel remains unexcavated.

Excavations have uncovered signs of human occupation from as far back as the Middle Bronze Age (1650–1550 BCE) in the form of a tomb that held pottery and scarab seals.

[13] Starting in 1995–96, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Jordan in partnership with USAID, AECID and CSIC began several projects to conserve and restore this site to benefit tourists and the local community.