History of Jordan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The History of Jordan starts with evidence of human activity in Transjordan in the Paleolithic

Paleolithic

The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...

period (c. 90,000 BC), continues with the Muslim empires

Caliphate

The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...

starting in the19th century, the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

in the 16th century, the Great Arab Revolt

Arab Revolt

The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...

and the British mandate of Transjordan

Transjordan memorandum

The Transjordan memorandum was a British memorandum passed by the Council of the League of Nations on September 16, 1922. The memorandum described how the British government planned to implement the article of the Mandate for Palestine which allowed exclusion of Transjordan from the provisions...

in the early 20th century, and goes on to the present day with the creation of the independent Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan in 1946.

Ancient kingdoms located in what is now Jordan, such as the Roman-era Nabatean kingdom, which had its capital in Petra

Petra

Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is famous for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited...

, left particularly dramatic ruins popular with tourists and film crews.

Ancient history

Evidence of human activity in Transjordan dates back to the Paleolithic

Paleolithic

period (500000 - 17000 AD). While there is no architectural evidence from this era, archaeologists have found tools, such as flint and basalt hand-axes, knives and scraping implements.
In the Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

period (8500-4500 BC), three major shifts occurred. First, people became sedentary living in small villages and concurrently, new food sources were discovered and domesticated, such as cereal grains, peas and lentils, as well as goats. The population increased reaching tens of thousands of people.

Second, the shift in settlement patterns was catalyzed by a marked change in the weather, particularly affecting the eastern desert, which grew warmer and drier, eventually becoming entirely uninhabitable for most of year. This watershed climate change is believed to have occurred between 6500 and 5500 BC.

In about 840 BC, Meshe, the King of the Moabites, revolted against the "House of David." Moab was a TransJordan tribe that lived east of the Dead Sea

Dead Sea

The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...

and about 70 kilometers south of Amman

Amman

Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...

. This battle is recorded in the Bible's 2 Kings

Books of Kings

The Book of Kings presents a narrative history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of his successor Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years...

chapter 3. The Bible's story is corroborated by the Mesha Stele

Mesha Stele

The Mesha Stele is a black basalt stone bearing an inscription by the 9th century BC ruler Mesha of Moab in Jordan....

, the Moabite Stone that was found in the Jordanian town of Dhiban

Dhiban

Dhiban is a Jordanian town located in Madaba Governorate, approximately 70 kilometers south of Amman and east of the Dead Sea. Previously nomadic, the modern community settled the town in the 1950s. Today, Dhiban is approximately 15000 members strong, with many working in the army, government...

in 1868. This fine indicated that the Moabites worked with inscriptions on bluish basalt stone.

Third, between 5500 - 4500 BC pottery

Pottery

Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

from clay, rather than plaster, began to be produced. Pottery-making technologies were likely introduced to the area by craftsmen from Mesopotamia.
The largest Neolithic site is at Ein Ghazal in Amman

Amman

. There are many buildings, divided into three distinct districts. Houses were rectangular with several rooms, and some of them had plastered floors. Archaeologists have unearthed skulls covered with plaster and with bitumen in the eye sockets at sites throughout Jordan, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

and Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

. A statue was also discovered at Ein Ghazal that is thought to be 8,000 years old. Just over one meter high, it depicts a woman with huge eyes, skinny arms, knobby knees and a detailed rendering of her toes.
It was during the Chalcolithic period (4500-3200 BC) that copper was first smelted and used to make axes, arrowheads and hooks. The cultivation of barley, dates, olives and lentils, and the domestication of sheep and goats predominated over hunting. In the desert, the lifestyle was probably very similar to that of modern Bedouins.

Tuleitat Ghassul is a large Chalcolithic era village located in the Jordan Valley. Houses were made of sun-dried mud bricks and roofs of wood, reeds and mud. Some were based on stone foundations, and many planned around large courtyards. The walls are often painted with bright images of masked men, stars and geometric motifs, that were perhaps connected to religious beliefs.

During the Early Bronze Age (3200-1950 BC), many villages were built that included defensive fortifications, most likely to protect against marauding nomadic tribes. Simple water infrastructures were also constructed.

At Bab al-Dhra in Wadi ‘Araba, archaeologists discovered over 20,000 shaft tombs with multiple chambers as well as houses of mud-brick containing human bones, pots, jewelry and weapons. Hundreds of dolmens scattered throughout the mountains have been dated to the late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages.

While in Egypt and Mesopotamia, writing developed before 3000 BC, writing was not really used in Transjordan, Canaan and Syria until some thousand years later, even though archeological evidence indicates that the Transjordanian population was in fact trading with Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Between 2300 - 1950 BC, many of the large, fortified hilltop towns were abandoned in favor of either small, unfortified villages or a pastoral lifestyle. There is no consensus on what caused this shift, though it is thought to be combination of climatic and political changes that brought an end to the city-state network.

During the Middle Bronze Age (1950-1550 BC), migration patterns in the Middle East increased. Trading continued to develop between Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Canaan and Transjordan, resulting in the spread of civilization and technology. Bronze forged out of copper and tin resulted in the production of more durable axes, knives and other tools and weapons. Large and distinct communities seem to have arisen in northern and central Jordan, while the south was populated by a nomadic, Bedouin-type of people known as the Shasu

Shasu

Shasu is an Egyptian word for pastoral nomads who appeared in the Levant and Arabia from the fifteenth century BCE all the way to the Third Intermediate Period. The name evolved from a transliteration of the Egyptian word š3sw, meaning "those who move on foot", into the term for Bedouin-type...

.

New fortifications appeared at sites like Amman's Citadel, Irbid, and Tabaqat Fahl (or Pella). Towns were surrounded by ramparts made of earth embankments and the slopes were covered in hard plaster, making it slippery and difficult to climb. Pella was enclosed by massive walls and watch towers.

Archaeologists usually date the end of the Middle Bronze Age to about 1550 BC, when the Hyksos

Hyksos

The Hyksos were an Asiatic people who took over the eastern Nile Delta during the twelfth dynasty, initiating the Second Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt....

were driven out of Egypt during the 17th and 18th Dynasties. A number of Middle Bronze Age towns in Canaan and Transjordan were destroyed during this time.

The most prominent Iron Age kingdoms in what is now Jordan were Ammon

Ammon

Ammon , also referred to as the Ammonites and children of Ammon, was an ancient nation located east of the Jordan River, Gilead, and the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan. The chief city of the country was Rabbah or Rabbath Ammon, site of the modern city of Amman, Jordan's capital...

, Moab

Moab

Moab is the historical name for a mountainous strip of land in Jordan. The land lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by numerous archeological findings, most notably the Mesha Stele, which describes the Moabite victory over...

, and Edom

Edom

Edom or Idumea was a historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region...

. The Ammon

Ammon

ites had their capital in Rabbath Ammon which is present day Amman

Amman

. The Moab

Moab

ites settled in present-day Kerak Governorate with their capital at Kir of Moab (Kerak

Kerak

Kerak Castle is a large crusader castle located in Kerak in Jordan. It is one of the largest crusader castles in the Levant.Construction of the castle began in the 1140s, under Pagan, the butler of Fulk of Jerusalem. The Crusaders called it Crac des Moabites or "Karak in Moab", as it is frequently...

), and the kingdom of Edom settled in southern Jordan and southern Palestine, and their capital was in Bozrah

Bozrah

Botsra, Botzrah, Bozrah is an ancient biblical city in southern modern-day Jordan, now Bouseira 20 Km to the south of Tafilah,between Tafilah and Shoubak.-History:...

in Tafilah Governorate

Tafilah Governorate

Tafilah is one of the governorates of Jordan, located about 180 km south-west of Amman, Jordan's capital.Tafilah Governorate is bordered by Karak Governorate to the north, Ma'an Governorate to the east and south, Aqaba Governorate to the south, and by Israel to the west. The area of this...

. The kingdom of Ammon

Ammon

maintained its independence from the Assyria

Assyria

Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...

n empire, unlike all other kingdoms in the region which were conquered.

Later antiquity saw the rise of the Nabatean kingdom with its capital at Petra

Petra

, which was a border, client state of the Roman Empire absorbed into the Empire in 103 CE, and the ancient city of Saltus

Salt, Jordan

Salt is an ancient agricultural town and administrative centre in west-central Jordan. It is on the old main highway leading from Amman to Jerusalem. Situated in the Balqa highland, about 790–1100 metres above sea level, the town is built in the crook of three hills, close to the Jordan River...

. During the Greco-Roman period of influence, a number of semi-independent city-states also developed in Jordan, grouped as a Decapolis

Decapolis

The Decapolis was a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in Judea and Syria. The ten cities were not an official league or political unit, but they were grouped together because of their language, culture, location, and political status...

including: Gerasa (Jerash

Jerash

Jerash, the Gerasa of Antiquity, is the capital and largest city of Jerash Governorate , which is situated in the north of Jordan, north of the capital Amman towards Syria...

), Philadelphia (Amman

Amman

), Raphana

Raphana

Raphana, in present-day north of Jordan, was a city of the Decapolis. It is thought to lie north of Umm Qais in the Abilene plain.The city was the base camp of the Roman legions Legio III Gallica and of Legio XII Fulminata.-References:*...

(Abila

Abila (Decapolis)

Abila Dekapoleos – Abila in the Decapolis or Abila was an ancient city, near the Hieromax river in the Decapolis; the site is occupied by two tells and the village of Hartha, circa north-northeast of Irbid, Jordan. The site is 25km east of the Sea of Galilee and 4km south of Wadi Yarmouk...

), Dion (Capitolias), Gadara (Umm Qays), and Pella

Pella

Pella , an ancient Greek city located in Pella Prefecture of Macedonia in Greece, was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia.-Etymology:...

(Irbid

Irbid

Irbid , known in ancient times as Arabella or Arbela , is the capital and largest city of the Irbid Governorate. It also has the second largest metropolitan population in Jordan after Amman, with a population of around 660,000, and is located about 70 km north of Amman on the northern ridge of...

Islamic History

Later, Jordan became integrated into the new Arab-Islamic Umayyad Empire (the first Muslim dynasty) which ruled much of the Middle East from 661 until 750 CE. At the time, Amman, the capital of modern-day Jordan, became a major town in "Jund Dimashq" (the military district of Damascus) and became the seat of the provincial governor. In fact, the name "Al-Urdun" (Jordan) was used on Umayyad post-reform copper coins beginning in the early 8th century and represent the earliest official usage of the name for the modern nation-state. Additionally, lead seals with the Arabic phrase "Halahil Ardth Al-Urdun" (Master of the Land of Jordan), dating from the late 7th to early 8th century CE, have been found in Jordan as well. Additionally, Arab-Byzantine "Standing Caliph" coins minted under the Umayyads also have been found bearing the mint-mark of "Amman." Thus, usage of the names Al-Urdun/Jordan and Amman date back, to at least, the early decades of the Arab-Muslim takeover of the region.
Under the Umayyad's successors, the Abbasids (750-1258), Jordan was neglected and began to languish due to the geo-political shift that occurred when the Abassids moved their capital from Damascus to Kufa and later to Baghdad. After the decline of the Abbasids, parts of Jordan were ruled by various powers and empires including the Mongols, the Crusaders, the Ayyubids, the Mamlukes as well as the Ottomans who captured major parts of the Arab World around 1517.

Pictured to the right is an Umayyad post-reform fals minted within the first quarter of the 8th century bearing the mint name "Al-Urdun" (Jordan). According to most numismatists, this particular coin bearing the name of the Umayyad "jund" (military district) of Jordan, was probably struck in Tabariyya (Tiberias), the former capital of the province.

1920s to 1930s

With the break-up of the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

at the end of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the League of Nations

League of Nations

The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...

and the occupying powers were required to redraw the borders of the Middle East. The ensuing decisions, most notably the Sykes–Picot Agreement gave birth to the French Mandate for Syria and British Mandate for Palestine. More than 70% of the British Mandate for Palestine territory was east of the Jordan river and was known as "Transjordan

Transjordan

The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...

". According to some experts, Part of the British purpose in separating the mandate territory was to create an Arab territory east of the river which would not be available for Jewish immigration. Another reason was that the British government had yet to find a role to Abdullah Ibn-Hussain after his brother Faisal Ibn-Hussain had lost his control in Syria and given the role of the king of Iraq. The British thus made him Emir of the newly created Transjordan. At first, Abdullah actually didn't appreciate the "wasteland" he was given, and hoped it to be only a temporary appointment, replaced by Syria or Palestine. The Permanent Court of International Justice and an International Court of Arbitration established by the Council of the League of Nations handed down rulings in 1925 which determined that Palestine and Transjordan were newly-created successor states of the Ottoman Empire as defined by international law.

The most serious threats to emir Abdullah

Abdullah I of Jordan

Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn] عبد الله الأول بن الحسين born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah...

's position in Transjordan were repeated Wahhabi incursions

Ikhwan raids on Transjordan

Ikhwan raids on Transjordan were a series of plunders by the Ikhwan, irregular Arab tribesmen of Najd, on Transjordan between 1922 and 1924. The repeated Wahhabi incursions fron Najd into southern parts of his territory were the most serious threat to emir Abdullah's position in Transjordan...

from Najd into southern parts of his territory. The emir was powerless to repel those raids by himself, thus the British maintained a military base, with a small air force, at Marka, close to Amman

Amman

. The British military force was the primary obstacle against the Ikhwan between 1922–1924, and was also utilized to help emir Abdullah

Abdullah I of Jordan

with the suppression of local rebellions at Kura

Kura Rebellion

Kura Rebellion was among the first uprisings against the authority of emir Abdullah in Transjordan. The rebellion, begun in 1921, resulted in minor casualties and was at first pacified via negotiations and amnesty by the Hashemite ruler, but erupted again in 1923...

and later by Sultan Adwan

Adwan Rebellion

Adwan Rebellion or the Balqa Revolt was the largest uprising against the newly installed Transjordanian government, headed by Mezhar Ruslan, during its first years. The rebellion was initiated in the early months of 1923, but was quickly crushed with the assistance of the British RAF...

, in 1921 and 1923 respectively.

1940s

The mandate for Transjordan ended on May 22, 1946; on May 25, the country became the independent Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Transjordan was one of the Arab states opposed to the second partition of Palestine and creation of Israel in May 1948. It participated in the war between the Arab states and the newly founded State of Israel. The Armistice Agreements of April 3, 1949 left Jordan in control of the West Bank and provided that the armistice demarcation lines were without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines.

In March 1949, Transjordan announced its annexation of what is now commonly known as the West Bank

West Bank

The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...

, renaming it the West Bank, a reference to its location west of the Jordan River. Only Britain recognized this annexation.

1950s

In 1950, the country was renamed "the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" to include officially those portions of Palestine annexed by King Abdullah

Abdullah I of Jordan

. While recognizing Jordanian administration over the West Bank, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, other Western powers and the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

maintained the position that ultimate sovereignty was subject to future agreement.

On July 20, 1951, King Abdullah I was shot dead in Jerusalem while visiting the Al Aqsa Mosque. His assassin, a Palestinian from the Husseini clan, was apparently concerned that Jordan and Lebanon were discussing a separate peace with Israel. Abdullah's grandson, Prince Hussein Ibn Talal was with him at the time and was hit too. King Abdullah's eldest son, Talal Ibn Abdullah, was proclaimed king but he was deposed in 1952 because of a mental illness. His son Hussein Ibn Talal became king on his eighteenth birthday, in 1953.

Jordan ended its special defense treaty relationship with the United Kingdom in 1957. In February 1958, following announcement of the merger of Syria and Egypt into the United Arab Republic

United Arab Republic

The United Arab Republic , often abbreviated as the U.A.R., was a sovereign union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union. Egypt continued to be known officially as the "United Arab Republic" until 1971. The President was Gamal...

, Iraq and Jordan announced the Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan

Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan

The Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan was a short-lived country that was formed in 1958 from the union of Iraq and Jordan. Although the name implies a federal structure, it was de facto a confederation....

, also known as the Arab Union. The Union was dissolved in August 1958.

The 1950s is often referred to "Jordan's Experiment with Liberalism". Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association were guaranteed in the newly written constitution as with the already firmly established freedom of religion doctrine. Jordan had one of the freest and most liberal societies in the Middle East and in the Greater Arab World during the 1950s and early 1960s.

Jordan in the Cold War

Jordan signed a mutual defense pact in May 1967 with Egypt, and it participated in the June 1967 war between Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

and the Arab states of Syria

Syria

, Egypt, and Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. During the war, Israel gained control of the West Bank

West Bank

and East Jerusalem

East Jerusalem

East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...

. The 1967 war led to a dramatic increase in the number of Palestinians living in Jordan. Its Palestinian refugee

Palestinian refugee

Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...

population—700,000 in 1966—grew by another 300,000 from the West Bank. The period following the 1967 war saw an upsurge in the power and importance of Palestinian militants (fedayeen) in Jordan. The heavily armed fedayeen constituted a growing threat to the sovereignty and security of the Hashemite state, and open fighting erupted in June 1970.

Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

was ruled under martial law throughout most of the Cold War period, particularly starting in 1967 when tensions between the Hashemites and the Palestinian majority eventually led to a bloody civil war in 1970. The 1980s in particular were ruled in a repressive manner with many of the freedoms established in the 1950s suspended or severely curtailed.

Other Arab governments attempted to work out a peaceful solution, but by September, continuing fedayeen actions in Jordan—including the destruction of three international airliners hijacked and held in the desert east of Amman

Amman

—prompted the government to take action to regain control over its territory and population. In the ensuing heavy fighting, a Syrian tank force took up positions in northern Jordan to support the fedayeen but was forced to retreat. By September 22, Arab foreign ministers meeting at Cairo had arranged a cease-fire beginning the following day. Sporadic violence continued, however, until Jordanian forces won a decisive victory over the fedayeen in July 1971, expelling them from the country. No fighting occurred along the 1967 Jordan River cease-fire line during the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war, but Jordan sent a brigade to Syria to fight Israeli units on Syrian territory.

In 1965 Jordan and Saudi Arabia concluded a bilateral agreement that realigned and delimited the boundary. The realignment resulted in some exchange of territory, and Jordan's coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba was lengthened by about eighteen kilometers. The new boundary enabled Jordan to expand its port facilities and established a zone in which the two parties agreed to share petroleum revenues equally if oil were discovered. The agreement also protected the pasturage and watering rights of nomadic tribes inside the exchanged territories.

Jordan

Jordan

witnessed some of the most severe protests and social upheavals in its history during the 1980s, protests in Jordanian universities especially Yarmouk University

Yarmouk University

Yarmouk University is a university in Jordan. It was established in 1976. Located in the northern town of Irbid, it has a student body of roughly 31,000.The university has several international partnerships with overseas universities...

and urban areas protested inflation and lack of political freedom. A massive upheaval occurred in the southern city of Ma'an.

In 1988, Jordan renounced all claims to the West Bank but retained an administrative role pending a final settlement.

In 1989, martial law was lifted and a period of rapid political liberalization occurred creating once again the region's most liberal and dynamic society. Parliament was restored and thirty political parties including the Islamic Action Front were created.

1990s to present

Jordan did not participate directly in the Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

of 1990–1991, but it broke with the Arab majority and supported the Iraqi position of Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

. This position led to the temporary repeal of U.S. aid to Jordan. After the Iraqi defeat in 1991, Jordan, along with Syria

Syria

, Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

, and Palestinian

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

representatives, agreed to participate in direct peace negotiations with Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

2011 Jordanian protests

On 14 January, protests took place in Jordan's capital Amman

Amman

, and at Ma'an

Ma'an

Ma'an is a town in southern Jordan 218 km away from the capital Amman. It is the capital of Ma'an Governorate. Ma'an has a population of around 50,000. The city had a population of 22,989 in the 1992 census and is estimated as being about 50,000 as of 2007 according to the Ma'an Municipality...

, Al Karak

Al Karak

Karak is a city in Jordan that is known for the famous crusader castle Kerak. The castle is one of the three largest castles in the region, the other two being in Syria...

, Salt

Salt, Jordan

and Irbid

Irbid

, and other cities. The protests, led by trade unionists and leftist parties, came after Friday prayers, and called for the government led by Prime Minister Samir Rifai

Samir Rifai

Samir Zaid al-Rifai is a Jordanian politician of Palestinian descent, who was Prime Minister of Jordan from 14 December 2009 to 1 February 2011. He was replaced by Marouf al-Bakhit by the king Abdullah II, following weeks of protests in the country...

to step down. They chanted anti-government slogans and called Rifai a "coward". One banner in the protest read "Jordan is not only for the rich. Bread is a red line. Beware of our starvation and fury," while protesters chanted "Down with Rifai's government. Unify yourselves because the government wants to eat your flesh. Raise fuel prices to fill your pocket with millions." Tawfiq al-Batoush, a former head of the Karak municipality, said: "We are protesting the policies of the government, high prices and repeated taxation that made the Jordanian people revolt." The Muslim Brotherhood and 14 trade unions said they would hold a sit-down protest outside parliament the next day to "denounce government economic policies". Parallels were drawn with the Tunisian protests.

The Jordanian government reversed a fuel price rise following the protest. Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...

stated that protests are expected to continue for several weeks because of increasing food prices.

On 21 January, 5,000 people in Amman took part in the largest protest so far.

On 1 February, the Royal Palace announced that King Abdullah dismissed the government as a consequence of the street protests and asked Marouf al-Bakhit

Marouf al-Bakhit

Dr. Marouf Suleiman al-Bakhit is a Jordanian politician and two-time Prime Minister. He first served as Prime Minister from 27 November 2005 until 25 November 2007 and then again from 9 February 2011 to 17 October 2011. Bakhit also held the position of Jordanian ambassador to Israel and the...

, a former army general, to form a new Cabinet. King Abdullah told Bakhit his authority will be to "take quick, concrete and practical steps to launch a genuine political reform process". The reforms should put Jordan on the path "to strengthen democracy", and provide Jordanians with the "dignified life they deserve", the monarch said.

On 25 February, 10,000 protestors took to the streets of Amman to demand the right of voting the prime minister and the dissolving of the parliament.

External links

Jordan History Discussion Forum

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Ancient history

Islamic History

1920s to 1930s

1940s

1950s

Jordan in the Cold War

1990s to present

2011 Jordanian protests

See also

External links