Amman, Also Known as Philadelphia
By Makeandtoss - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=162626929
Rabbath Amman is an ancient Levant settlement in modern-day Jordan that was founded at some point in the 9th millennium BCE in a valley where a stream flowed. By the first millennium BCE, it was the capital of a small state. Amman became the capital of the Ammonite kingdom and the Ammonite kingdom were able to maintain their independence against the Assyrians for a while before they were conquered by Tiglath-Pileser III in the 8th century BCE, then by the Babylonians and then the Achaemenid Persians in the 5th century BCE. Archaeologist Henry Innes MacAdam suggested that it survived and was desirable because it was a 'defensible acropolis, [with] several springs creating a perennial stream and adequate arable land nearby, were partially responsible for its rise to prominence in both Biblical and classical times. Equally important was the city's fortunate position at the juncture of north-south and east-west trade routes'.
By Marie-Lan Nguyen (2011), CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=162420146
In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Greeks conquered the region and after his death in 323 BCE, the Ptolemies took over Egypt and the Seleucids took over Syria. Then during the Syrian Wars, between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies over control of the area known as Coele-Syria, the 'hollow' Beqaa Valley between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountain ranges, which ran to the north of Amman. The first of six of these wars was from 274-271 BCE. In the 270s BCE, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, named so because he married his sister, managed to occupy much of the southern Levant. While the Seleucids tended to create more cities than the Ptolemies, Ptolemy II did establish several cities, such as Acre, Philoteria, and Pella. In 255 BCE, Ammon was reestablished and named Philadelphia, to take the sting out of Ptolemy II Philadelphus' nickname. As this was during the Second Syrian War (260-253 BCE) and was viewed as propaganda and to lay claim to the city. At the time, the name change was of little import.
By JoTB - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28781475
The city was made a client of the Ptolemies, with the settlement ruled by the same local family who had ruled it for the Achaeminid Persians, the Jewish Tobiad dynasty. the Tobiad dynasty set themselves up several kilometers west at Iraq Al-Amir in modern day Jordan, now known as Qasr Al-Abd, one of the 'best preserved Hellenistic palaces'.
By IGEO map - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77876449
During the Third Syrian War (246-241 BCE), the city was taken by the Seleucids and in 218 BCE, Antiochus III, during the Fourth Syrian War (219-217 BCE) besieged the city, allying with the local Arabs to do so. The combination of a prisoner-turned-traitor, who informed the Seleucids of a tunnel the Philadelphians used to get water, and a dry summer brought about the downfall of Philadelphia. In 217 BCE, after the defeat of the Seleucids near Rafah, with the Seleucids gaining control again in 200 BCE.
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The on-going conflict between the Ptolemies and Seleucids allowed the Nabatean Kingdom, centered in Raqmu, now known as Petra, to gain control of a portion of the Arabian Peninsula through to the Sinai, with Philadelphia being on the border with the Seleucid, which allowed the Nabateans to gain full control, either through conquest or through a grant by the Seleucids for their aid against the Ptolemies is unclear. The Nabateans left behind many artifacts that date through the first century CE though they likely only controlled it from 175-164 BCE. Around 187 BCE, the Tobiads reestablished their control over Iraq Al-Amir, though this ended in 175 BCE after the suicide of Hyrcanus in 175 BCE, as documented in the records of Jason, a Jewish High Priest who fled to Philadelphia from Jerusalem twice.
By Ldud at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10318530
In 165 BCE, the Jews, lead by Judas Maccabeus, attacked Philadelphia when he 'moved against the Ammanites, finding there strong forces and a sizable population, under the command of Timotheus [likely a Greek mercenary hired by the Nabataean King]. [Judas] fought against them many times … [eventually] he captured Jazer [now known as Khirbet es-Sar] and its villages, and turned back to Judea,' as recorded in 1 Maccabees 5:6-8. Josephus, the Roman-Jewish historian, mentioned that around 135 BCE, Philadelpha was ruled by 'a tyrant named Zenon Kotylas and his son Theodorus', possibly Nabatean commanders with Hellenized names. Sometime between 103-76 BCE, the city remained under Nabatean rule despite attacks of the Hasmonean ruler Alexander Jannaeus' attacks. It likely remained under Nabatean rule 'until the end of Seleucid rule in Syria'.
By Nichalp - Less crowded version of File:The-Decapolis-map.svg, from which this is derived, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44156341
When the Romans conquered the Levant in 63 BCE, some of the cities that belonged to the Nabataeans and Hasmoneans were added to a ten-city Roman league known as Decapolis, which included Philadelphia. This led to a new founding year of 63 BCE, which became known as the 'Pompeian era' as it was the conquest of Pompey that brought the Levant under Roman control. By the second century CE, there were 18 cities in the Decapolis league. Under Roman rule, the city flourished, minting its own coinage from 80 and into the 220s CE. The city was rebuilt, including the city walls, with a forum and theatre. The Pompeian era was used until the 8th century CE, though it was renamed Amman by the Rashidun Caliphate in the 630s CE.
