Amman - Jordan - page 118

the world's earliest known free-standing statues. Other items in the collection include
6000-year-old skulls from Jericho and Umayyad-period jewellery. It also boasts a copy of
the Mesha Stele (see the boxed text, Click here ) - the famous tablet found near Wadi
Mujib. Finds from the Citadel itself include the head from a statue of the Greek goddess
Tyche and some Egyptian-style carvings. Most exhibits are well labelled in English. Note
that there are rumours that this collection might one day be shifted to the new National
Museum (see the boxed text, Click here ) , though at the time of writing, only the Dead Sea
Scrolls had been relocated.
Umayyad Palace
The Citadel's most impressive series of historic buildings is focused around the Umayyad
Palace, behind the National Archaeological Museum. Believed to be the work of Umayy-
ad Arabs and dating from about AD 720, the palace was an extensive complex of royal
and residential buildings and was once home to the governor of Amman. Its lifespan was
short - it was destroyed by an earthquake in AD 749 and was never fully rebuilt.
Coming from the south, the first major building belonging to the palace complex is the
domed audience hall , designed to impress visitors to the royal palace. The most intact of
the buildings on the site, the hall is shaped like a cross, mirroring the Byzantine church
over which it was built. After much debate as to whether the central space had originally
been covered or left open to the elements, consensus came down on the side of the ceiling
dome, which was reconstructed by Spanish archaeologists.
A courtyard immediately north of the hall leads to a 10m-wide colonnaded street ,
lined with numerous arches and columns, and flanked by residential and administrative
buildings. Further to the north is the former governor's residence , which includes the
throne room .
East of the audience hall is the Umayyad Cistern , an enormous circular hole with steps
leading down to the bottom, which once supplied water to the palace and surrounding
areas. The small disc on the floor in the centre once supported a pillar that was used for
measuring water levels.
Near the museum to the south is the small Byzantine Basilica Offline map
Google map , most of which has been destroyed by earthquakes. It dates from the 6th or
7th century AD, and contains a few dusty mosaics.