The
Amman Citadel is a historical site at the center of downtown
Amman,
Jordan. Known in
Arabic as
Jabal al-Qal'a, (
جبل القلعة), the L-shaped hill is one of the seven
jabals that originally made up Amman. Evidence of occupation since the pottery
Neolithic period has been found. It was inhabited by different peoples and cultures until the time of the
Umayyads, after which came a period of decline and for much of the time until 1878 the former city became an abandoned pile of ruins only sporadically used by Bedouin and seasonal farmers. Despite this gap, the Citadel of Amman is considered to be among the world's
oldest continuously inhabited places.