To the origins
The most astonishing site in prehistory is undoubtedly that of Al-Beidha, a Neolithic village occupied without interruption from the 8th to the 7th millennia B.C. and revealing already very sophisticated forms of urbanism and habitat. A retaining wall of more than 50 m was erected to consolidate the terrace on which the village was built. The habitat followed great evolutions, going from round semi-buried houses with stone walls, to structures of rectangular plan with rounded corners and then to real stone houses with protruding corners. Some were organized around a corridor opening onto various spacious rooms, while others were built on two levels, with the workshops on the first floor and the dwellings on the upper floor. In all cases, the houses were organized around courtyards on the outside. Remains have shown that interior decoration was already a concern in the Neolithic period. The stones were often engraved or painted with motifs representing nature and animals. Pastoral and agricultural activities are also represented on the astonishing petroglyphs of the rock faces of Wadi Rum. So many fascinating graphic representations also illustrating the passage from a nomadic habitat to a semi-sedentary habitat among the great tribes of the region. The tells, artificial hills formed by the superimposed ruins of an ancient settlement, are also sources of rich information concerning this original habitat. Tell Abu Hamid is home to the remains of houses dating from the 6th and5th millennia B.C., rectangular in plan, built of brick, without foundations but with dirt floors with a fireplace or fire pits. The amazing site of Ghassul revealed the presence of a grouped habitat without ramparts, composed of houses with a rectangular plan, separated by courtyards where there were wells. The walls of these houses, dated to the fourth millennium BC, bear the trace of plastering where a decoration composed of geometric patterns was painted. A thousand-year-old history that has not yet revealed all its secrets!
Ancient power
The Qasr al-Abd is a fortress built in the Hellenistic period. Dated from the 2nd century BC, it housed various multi-storey buildings, as well as an imposing cistern, and had a very elaborate decoration made of engraved reliefs with animal forms. The ruins of the fortresses of Kipros and Macherontius are evidence of the defensive system set up by the legendary Herod the Great. A system which will be brought to its apogee by the Romans. The emperors Constantine and Diocletian imagined, indeed, a fortified line of defense called Limes Arabicus and composed of many castellums, like the Qasr Bshir. With a square plan, with towers at each corner and at the entrances, and organized around a large courtyard, this fort impresses by the thickness of its walls. The Romans also rivaled ingenuity in urban planning. This is particularly visible in all the large free cities that formed the Decapolis. Jerash is the most representative of these cities. Its Cardo Maximus, the main artery of the city, was then 800 m long and was lined with 200 Corinthian and Ionic columns, and cut in two points by tetrapyls, square monuments with 4 faces equipped with a triumphal arch with single bay marking the crossroads. The staggered cobblestones allowed a better circulation of the chariots and access openings were created in the roadway to allow the evacuation of water via a very elaborate system of pipes and sewers. Jerash is home to all types of architecture: defensive with its remains of gates and walls; commemorative with Hadrian's triumphal arch with its impressive 13 m high central arcade and beautiful columns with acanthus leaves carved on the capitals and bases (a very rare occurrence!); recreational with the gigantic arch of the city of Jerash); of leisure with the gigantic hippodrome and the various theaters whose structures were imagined to ensure a perfect acoustics; and spiritual with its many temples and sanctuaries of which the two most beautiful are the Temple of Zeus with its superb decorated vaults and the Artemision, impressive complex with its broad staircases, its triumphal arch with 3 doors, its way lined with porticoes and its Corinthian columns of 14 m height. To that is added also a perfect control of the water, as the Nymphaeum shows it, monumental fountain formerly decorated with stuccos and marbles and fed by a system including aqueducts and tanks. Pella and Gadara (Umm Qais) are among the other gems of this Decapolis. Amman also bears the mark of the Romans. Perched atop the Citadel, its 9-meter high base reveals the splendor of the Temple of Hercules, while in the lower city, the colonnaded forum, the theater and the imposing fountain bear witness to the city's splendor.
Fascinating Nabateans
Petra, the jewel of Jordan and architectural manifesto of the Nabateans, illustrates an astonishing mastery of the environment. The Nabataeans diverted the course of the Wadi Musa, building a dam that is still in use today! The old riverbed became a paved road and the water was redirected to a large basin serving as a supply tank. At the same time, the Nabataeans took advantage of the site's natural basin situation to devise an ingenious system for collecting rainwater, which was filtered and channeled into the city's various reservoirs via impressive pipes dug into the rock and sometimes comprising several levels. The Nabataeans also took advantage of the rock to imagine a unique style with sumptuous chromatic effects, the result of the presence of metal oxides in the red sandstone and whose meeting makes unexpected colors appear. A phenomenon that explains why Petra was called Raqmu for a long time, meaning "the variegated one"! It is in these rocks that the city was sculpted rather than built. The walls were skilfully carved, engraved and dug. In Petra, the main part is always in the facade, the interiors are often of a greater sobriety and especially of modest size. The flagship buildings of the city are sanctuaries and tombs which are accessed by an amazing tangle of stairs. These buildings reflect what the Nabataeans were: a civilization at the crossroads of the East and the West, practicing exchange and sharing rather than war. They thus imagined a style mixing various influences - Hellenistic at first, which one recognizes in the recourse to monumental porticoes, to the incredible perspectives creating playful and sumptuous effects and to the frequent use of the Corinthian style with its volutes and acanthus leaves; mesopotamian, which can be seen in the merlons or redans motifs; Roman, especially in the work of framing the entrances; or Egyptian with certain motifs with pyramidal structures - all the while adding elements of their own invention such as the smooth capitals or the capitals with horns. Among the most beautiful temples and sanctuaries, do not miss : al-Khazneh (the Treasury) with its facade flanked by 12 Corinthian columns and its sculptures, an ode to the pantheons of the greatest civilizations; the Deir(the Monastery) whose facade is surmounted by a tholos, a funerary urn nearly 9 m high ; the Temple of the Winged Lions with its large hall with a central podium surrounded by columns; the Moiré Tomb with its facade marbled with blue, white and grey; or the Qasr El Bint, the only temple built in sandstone blocks and not cut in the cliff, whose sumptuous decoration in marble and stucco can be admired. Worked temples, isolated and self-supporting temples, engraved steles, niches hosting idols: this funerary architecture is infinite. To this is added also an astonishing theater entirely engraved in the rock. In parallel to this upper city devoted to temples and tombs, the lower city saw the development of a more modest domestic architecture, with notably troglodyte dwellings carved in the rock. A sobriety far from the luxury of some villas of the great Nabatean families, whose sumptuous tombs illustrate their power. To preserve their heritage, the Nabataeans chose to merge with the Roman Empire. The latter notably rethought the city's urban planning with its colonnaded street lined with porticoes.
Byzantine and Umayyad splendors
The Byzantine period was accompanied by the construction of an unprecedented number of churches, often erected on ancient temples. The preferred plan is generally a basilica with 3 naves separated by 2 colonnades and flanked by apses and chapels. Domes or domes are also very present, as well as the polychromy of the materials. But it is especially in the art of the mosaic that the Byzantine civilization found the tool of its splendor. Geometric, floral, animal, the patterns are varied and sometimes draw real stone carpets with impressive dimensions. Madaba is the great capital. The church of St. George houses one of the greatest treasures of the mosaic: the oldest map of Palestine. Mount Nebo is also a landmark of Christianity. The ancient baptistery of the basilica is decorated with beautiful hunting and pastoral scenes. The site of Umm Er-Rasas also has many churches, such as the one dedicated to St. Stephen whose mosaics represent the major cities of the region and their landmark buildings. The site also houses an example of stylite tower of 14 m high which was accessed by a removable ladder. The stylites were oriental ascetics whose life was entirely devoted to meditation and who isolated themselves from the world on top of porticoes, colonnades or towers. The Byzantines were also great masters of water architecture, as witnessed by the city of Umm El Jimal with its vaulted cisterns and canals. The great Roman cities were also transformed under the influence of the Byzantines, as is beautifully illustrated by the basilica of Gadara with its basalt and limestone pavement and its black columns crowned with beautiful Corinthian capitals supporting the dome.
The great Umayyad caliphs brilliantly mixed defensive architecture, leisure architecture, decorative power and urban planning. Al Qastal is one of the best preserved examples of an Umayyad provincial community. It is organized around typical elements: a residential palace, a mosque, a cemetery, baths, domestic dwellings, a dam intended to control the supply of water to agricultural lands, a main reservoir and dozens of small cisterns. The 4 corners of the palace are equipped with circular towers, and its sides are equipped with 12 semi-circular towers arranged at regular intervals. Stucco, glass and stone mosaics and sculptures decorate the rooms of the palace, including the courtroom with 3 apses. A splendor that we can guess in the remains of the great Umayyad palace of Amman, El Qasr. Courtyards and patios linked the different spaces together in the purest Arab tradition. Another key space in this architecture is the diwan or reception room, present in the great palaces as well as in the most modest houses and the only public space in a house that otherwise remains closed to the outside world. At the same time, the caliphs erected astonishing buildings known today as the Castles of the Desert. Caravanserai, garrison, meeting place between the caliphal and tribal authorities, hunting lodge and isolated retreat for the caliphs, building belonging to a larger farm... : their exact function has never been clearly established. The Qasr Amra is famous for its hammam with its unique decoration in the Muslim world. The vault of the caldarium is covered with one of the oldest representations of the zodiac, while walls and vaults are covered with scenes of hunting, relaxation ... and naked women. Among the other splendors of the desert, do not miss the Qasr El-Mushatta, a perfect square flanked by 25 semicircular towers, with walls, pilasters and columns of stone cut like lace according to various patterns (rosette, triangle, loop...), the Qasr Al-Haqdah, the Qasr Al-Haqdah, the Qasr Al-Haqdah, the Qasr Al-Haqdah and the Qasr Al-Haqdah), the Qasr Al-Hallabat with its beautiful polychromy of limestone and basalt and elegant mosaics and frescoes painted or stuccoed, or the Qasr Al-Kharranah with its rooms with high ceilings decorated with stucco and moldings.From the Middle Ages to the Ottoman Empire
The Crusaders built powerful fortresses, the kraks, such as the Fortress of Kerak, protected by ditches 30 m deep with a keep to the south and, to the north, a stack, 20 m high, of huge stone blocks with no openings other than archways. Outside, a glacis of flat and smooth stones protected the building, itself flanked by 4 rectangular towers connected by curtain walls with tops carved in crenels and merlons. Inside, there was an impressive vaulted room 100 m long and 16 m wide. The fortress of Shobak
is another example of this architecture made of massive towers and loopholes. The one set up by the Arabs is just as impressive. The Qasr Azraq is the great witness of it. A perfect square of 80 m on each side, the fortress is organized around a large central courtyard with a small mosque. Each corner is occupied by an oblong tower, while the main entrance is composed of a single granite slab operated by a massive hinge. With doors weighing several tons, superb vaults and broken arches, the Qasr Azraq illustrates all the potentialities of stone. The fortress of Qalaat er Rabadh dominating the city of Ajlun is another example of the architectural power of these buildings with crenellated silhouettes and towers pierced with loopholes and machicolations. The presence of the Mamluks was also resolutely military. They reinforced the existing fortifications and created new ones, such as the Fort of Aqaba with its massive entrance porch. Once under Ottoman rule, Jordan entered a dormant phase, at least in architectural terms. It was not until the end of the 19th century and the Tanzimat period that a desire to better control urbanism was born, while opening up more to the West. The best example of this reforming period is the city of As-Salt whose development knew its golden age between 1860 and 1920. Adapted to a rugged and steep topography, the city center is characterized by a network of staircases linking streets and public spaces in an amazing vertical movement. The streets are lined with large public buildings and beautiful family homes that can be recognized by their triple arches and large central halls, all built of the local yellow limestone. Exchanges between Ottoman officials, Christian missionaries, foreign merchants and Bedouin populations gave birth to a style mixing all influences, seeing a dialogue between Art Nouveau, neoclassicism and local traditions. Mosques, churches and madafas (Bedouin hospitality institutions) cohabit in perfect harmony.Contemporary Jordan
After the war, many Jordanian architects trained abroad wanted to bring a modernist wind of pure geometric lines, concrete and functional volumes to Amman. This was a very complex undertaking in a capital city subject to strict rules. Decrees imposed the compulsory use of stone in order to respect the uniformity of color... hence these waves of cubic buildings clad in white limestone following the undulating topography of the city's hills. From the 1970s, Amman attracted investors and capital and entered a period of construction fever. Jafar Tukan endowed the capital with its first glass and steel building: the Ryad Centre. In collaboration with the famous Japanese architect Kenzo Tange, he designed the campus of the Jordan University of Science and Technology in Irbid and the King's Pavilion in the Queen Alia airport. The mosques are also the great representatives of this effervescence, like the Al Malik Abdallah mosque and its superb blue-green dome or the Abu Dervish mosque with its elegant chromatic effects and its arabesque decoration. With its harp-like silhouette, the Wadi Abdoun Bridge is another great Amman landmark. More recently, Queen Alia Airport has been the eye-catcher with its Norman Foster-designed terminal. With its roof made of concrete tesserae, the interior of which is reminiscent of the black tents of the Bedouins, its skylights, its columns that grow like a forest of palm trees, its undulations and its courtyards and patios, this terminal is an ode to local traditions. At 188 meters, the Amman Rotana
Hotel has become the tallest building in the city. It is impossible to miss its arched silhouette and its aluminum sunshades. The Abdoun district is home to large villas combining classical pomp, Arabian kitsch and elegant sobriety, such as the Abu Samra House with its cubic volumes in natural colors. Aqaba is the other city that is experiencing unprecedented urban development, with not far from the center, the marinas and luxury complexes of Tala Bay, an artificial city that should soon be joined by the Ayla Oasis project, a luxurious 17 km long waterfront. Fortunately, some architects are choosing a more sober architecture and especially more in line with the history and environment of the country. The greatest representative of this movement is Ammar Khammash. Architect, geologist, botanist and ethno-archaeologist, he puts all these skills at the service of creations that merge with nature, like the Wali Al-Mujib and Wali Al-Heedan visitor centers, all in minerality and sobriety, with elegant cantilevered structures, or the Azraq Lodge, whose metal sheet domes create elegant plays of light and shade. In collaboration with local communities, Ammar Khammash also participated in the rehabilitation of the village of Dana. There he restored traditional stone houses with simple cubic geometric shapes and interior arches made to create large open spaces. A minimalism and respect for tradition are also evident in the Ayla Golf Academy and Clubhouse in Aqaba, designed by Oppenheim, with its sand-colored concrete ripples reminiscent of the surrounding dunes and its facades covered with a Corten steel mesh that filters light like moucharabiehs. Two other superb upcoming projects testify to this desire to combine innovation and sustainability: the Wadi Rum sanctuary designed by Rasem Kamal, a hotel complex dug entirely into the ground and whose structure is inspired by ant colonies; and the rehabilitation of the mythical railway linking Istanbul to Mecca, which architect Hanna Salameh wants to transform into a large tree-lined promenade crossing Amman. Jordan has definitely not finished making us dream!
