Amman, the capital of Jordan, is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world but essentially it is a product of the 20th century. It was little more than a village when the Emirate of Transjordan was created, after the Great Arab Revolt of the WWI. Emir Abdullah bin Al-Hussein made it his capital and modern Amman developed from there
 
A few isolated remains of previous settlements can be found amongst the modern buildings. Traces have been found of Stone Age homes dating to 7000BC. In the books of the Old Testament, Amman is mentioned as the capital of the Ammonites, Rabbath-Ammon, where the Israeli King David had Uriah the Hittite, whose wife he coveted, killed. At various times Amman was occupied by the Seleucids, Nabateans, Byzantines and Romans, when it was known as Philadelphia.

Like Rome, Amman is built on seven hills, known as jabals, which define the city. Each of these neighbourhoods once had a traffic circle and directions are given in relation to them. First Circle is near downtown and from there the city spreads westward to Eighth Circle.

The city is one of the safest and friendliest in the Middle East and although the few ‘must see' sights can easily be covered in a day, it has much more to offer than antiquities. It's worth visiting for the atmosphere of its souks, bazaars and traditional coffee houses and for the superb modern shopping malls and traditional stores.