The first people settled in Jordan at the beginning of the 4th millennium BC. In the 3rd millennium BC. the Canaanite tribes lived here, who were engaged in settled agriculture. In the 11th century BC. they formed their own state. After that, for many centuries, the territory of present-day Jordan was conquered by various states – Babylon, Assyria, Rome, Byzantium, the Arab Caliphate and Egypt.
In 1516, Jordan became part of the Ottoman Empire. The end of Ottoman rule in Jordan came at the beginning of the First World War, when the British intervened in the affairs of the region. After the Ottoman Empire declared war on Great Britain and France, British representatives in Egypt entered into negotiations with members of the families of the highest religious leaders of Mecca, headed by Sheriff Hussein ibn Ali. Later, the League of Nations transferred the mandate to govern these territories to Great Britain. The British put Sheriff Hussein’s sons in charge of their mandate territories. However, the Arabs demanded political freedoms, constitutions and independence, created their own parties. After several uprisings, Jordan practically gained independence, only defense, finance and foreign affairs remained in the hands of the UK. It achieved full independence after the Second World War – on March 22, 1946. Emir Abdullah, who was then head of state, proclaimed himself king. Check a2zdirectory for old history of Jordan.
In 1948, after the declaration of the state of Israel, Jordan joined Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and entered the war with Israel. She sent her Arab Legion to the West Bank near East Jerusalem in order to conquer the lands that were allotted by the UN for the creation of a Palestinian state. In April 1949, the King of Jordan renamed the country the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, thereby raising his status in front of Israel. After that, a peace treaty was signed with Israel, according to which the West Bank of the Jordan River and East Jerusalem fell under the control of Jordan. A year later, Jordan formally annexed these lands. Jordan received approval of the new redistribution of the world only from Great Britain and Pakistan. The Arab world was outraged by this fact, and on July 20, 1951, King Abdullah was assassinated by a Palestinian nationalist in a mosque in Jerusalem. King Hussein took his place.
On May 30, 1967, Hussein concluded a mutual assistance agreement with Egypt, but in June of that year, during another Arab-Israeli war, Egypt supported Israel and, as a result, Jordan lost the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The loss of the West Bank and East Jerusalem had a detrimental effect on Jordan, its economy was undermined. In addition, in July 1970, an attempt was made to assassinate King Hussein by the Palestinians, and several terrorist attacks were also committed. On September 17, 1970, the Jordanian army was ordered to attack the Palestinians, and over the next 10 months, the Jordanian army drove all Palestinian forces out of Jordanian territory.
In 1972, to end the Arab-Israeli impasse, Hussein proposed the creation of a federal United Arab Kingdom, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the East Bank of the Jordan River, but he was not supported. In October 1974, at a meeting of the League of Arab States in Rabat, the right of the Palestinians to establish their own state was recognized. In response, King Hussein formally cut off all ties with the West Bank. In the early 1990s, the unrecognized state of Palestine was proclaimed, and the Palestinian autonomy recognized by Israel and internationally was created. In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, where Hussein was recognized as the guardian of the Muslim shrines of East Jerusalem.
EAST JORDAN
East of Amman the desert stretches. This area is interesting because here in the 7th-8th centuries AD. many palaces were built. There are about 30 of them in total. Once they were Caliph residences, which were buried in greenery due to irrigation with special irrigation facilities. Now the majestic red-yellow buildings of the palaces rise among the sands, some of them are destroyed, and some are perfectly preserved to this day. All the palaces of the desert can be seen during a day trip from Amman. Qasr Amr Palace It was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List because it is one of the best preserved examples of early Islamic painting. Its walls and ceilings are decorated with multi-colored frescoes depicting famous caliphs, and the ceiling of the baths is decorated with frescoes of the starry sky of the Northern Hemisphere and the signs of the zodiac. The Azraq oasis is very interesting – the only place in the desert where there is water. The oasis covers an area of 12 sq. km, on which luxurious gardens, parks and swimming pools are spread. In addition, a reserve of the same name was created here, because every year birds stop here during their flights between Africa and Asia.
