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This article provides an overview of the internal and external political and economic problems facing the Middle-Eastern Kingdom of Jordan in the light of the so-called 'attempted coup' of Prince Hamzeh which took place at the beginning of April 2021. It then discusses a number of key factors which may affect Jordan's future prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jordan is a country of contrasts. Few people can boast of being a hundred percent rooted within the boundaries of the actual Kingdom. Almost everyone has relatives across several borders. The aim of this article is to explore the extent to which tribalism in Jordan acts as an identity source or the extent to which it is politicized and instrumentalized to protect economic and social benefits. My literature framework is the instrumentalist theory of ethnicity and the border studies literature. The extent to which ethnicity guarantees a return to the people determines people’s adherence to it. Some scholars regard ethnicity as a tool of political mobilization because ethnic groups could be considered also as interest groups. This theory provides an explanation of tribal behavior regarding the role of identity. As an example, I describe how East Bankers have reacted to challenges from the Palestinian population since 1948. In particular, the present-day delicate equilibrium among East Bankers and Palestinians is deeply decisive in regard to the Jordanian response to the regional crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a historical perspective of the British-controlled territory TransJordan during the Second World War. It discusses the British TransJordanian Convention and the Basic Law; why emir Abdalláh ibn al-Huszein partnered with the British as opposed to its initial subordinate position and its ambitious policy; and how emir became one of the most influential statesmen in the region.

The ecological impacts of human activities have infiltrated the whole of the ‘natural world’ and precipitated calls for a newly defined geological epoch – the Anthropocene. While scholars discuss tipping-points and scale, viewed over the longue durée, it is becoming clear that we have inherited the compounding consequences of a constructed environment with a long history of human landscape modification. By linking phytolith and micro-charcoal evidence from sediments in the Azraq Basin, Jordan, we discuss potential Early Epipaleolithic (23,000–17,400 cal. BP) human–environment interactions in this wetland. Our analyses reveal that during the Last Glacial Maximum, Levantine hunter-gatherers could have had a noticeable and increasing impact on their environment. However, further work needs to be undertaken to assess the range, frequency, intensity, and intentionality of marsh disturbance events. We suggest that the origin of ‘persistent places’ and larger aggregation settlements in the Azraq Basin may have been, in part, facilitated by human–environment interactions in the Early Epipaleolithic that consequently enhanced the economic and, subsequently, social meaning of that landscape. Through their exploitation of the sensitive wetland environment, hunter-gatherers were modifying the marshes and initiating long-term changes to the already dynamic and changing landscape at the close of the Pleistocene. These findings challenge us to further reconsider the way we see early hunter-gatherers in the prehistory of the Levant and in the development of the ‘Anthropocene’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is about socio-cultural aspects associated with pottery-making ancient material cultures. The study is based on research carried out in Northern Jordan. The article analyses the forming techniques of cooking pots and emphasis evaluates the set of physical variables that potters keep in mind to shape cookware so that it can withstand its intended use.

This study reports the geographical distribution of personal names in the Land of Israel and Transjordan during the Iron II Period (ca. tenth century B.c.E. to 586 B.C.E., according to the traditional chronology). In contrast with previous onomas-tic studies, the emphasis here is geographic and therefore only names from archaeological excavations are used. 799 names from 66 sites are collected and grouped as theophoric names, hypocoristic (abbreviated) theophoric names, or other. The theophoric names are further sorted into seven subgroups comprising the five theophoric elements yhw, yh, yw, b'l, 'l divine appellatives, and god names other than Yahweh. Finally, the data are presented in a series of maps showing the geographic distribution of name types and its evolution over time. This work shows how names can be used to track historical ethnic trends, yhw and yh are unique Judean elements. Furthermore, names from major Judean sites show a characteristic mixture of theophoric elements that is substantially unchanged across all the Judean sites studied but different from that found in Samaria. Additionally, yw is an element unique to Israel and the b'l element is also found there. 'l is a dominant but not unique Ammonite element. Qws is a unique Edomite element. The use of god names other than Yahweh in ancient Israel was very limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis on the foreign relations between Syria and Jordan and the impact of the Syrian insurgency on the stability of the political regime of the Hashemite. It discusses how the stability of the Jordanian regime has caused major concerns to the regime of the Hashemite family and to the neighboring countries of Jordan. It explains several conflicts in the foreign relations of both countries, including domestic issues, regional political tensions, and arrival of refugees.

This research is an analytical study of eleven thamudic inscriptions found in Samarmada valley at the al-Jafr region in south Jordan. These inscriptions have been presented here in transcription, and facsimile together with a discussion of a number of points which have been arisen from their study. The study aims at analyzing the inscriptions, meanings and structure of the words and the proper nouns contained therein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central urban landscape of Amman, including the archaeological sites of the Roman Theatre, Odeon and Forum, has played an essential cultural, political, social, and economic role in local identity and memory since the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan in 1921. This research is an ethnographic study of this urban landscape. It combines local people's responses to recent governmental interventions to develop the downtown area around the Roman Complex. We document how the Roman Complex "grew" as a feature of a modern Jordanian landscape, not just a reminder of the Roman imperial past. The study investigates conflicting perspectives that have arisen between local community members and recent development projects. In these projects local people's memories, feelings, knowledge, and activities related to the Roman Complex are sacrificed in order to present an image of Amman that can be perceived globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a general account of the history and the current status of Jordanian Christians. It also discusses the main problems which Christian minority faces in Jordan including the sense of marginality and the lack of understanding among non-Christian and above all fundamentalist groups. The author identifies in this context a number of crucial issues for Jordanian society such as national identity, toleration and religious education as well as some other concerns such as cooperation between Muslims and Christians in Jordan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the development of marital patterns and attitudes between spouses and family members within the Palestinian refugee camps of Jordan during the latter half of the 20th century. Based upon interviews with women refugees, the article describes the emotional and psychological states of refugees and their influence on the family, the role of Islam and other religious influences on marriage and the family, and the emotional and political aspects of refugee sexuality. Other subjects under discussion include the social analysis offered by scholar Rosemary Sayigh, the gender relations in the Lebanese camp at Shatila, and the Jabal Hussein camp.

The 2002 excavations at the Iron Age copper metal production center of Khirbat en-Nahas have sparked lively scholarly debate concerning the dating of the Iron Age in southern Jordan as well as the processes that led to the rise of the biblical/historical kingdom of Edom. Until now, the important ceramic data from these excavations have been lacking in this debate. Here, the first detailed preliminary analysis of the Iron Age ceramic assemblage from this industrial site is presented. This new ceramic study provides an important data set, along with previously published high-precision radiocarbon dates and other artifacts for considering the emergence of Iron Age local social complexity during the 10th through 9th century B.C.E.--and perhaps as early as the 11th century B.C.E. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents several reports from Jordanian archaeology projects and excavations in 2006. Sahm and Hubras are locations near Irbid, Jordan for a multidisciplinary project regarding agrarian societies in northern Jordan during the Mamluk and Ottoman periods. An excavation report regarding the research on urban development and the history of culture at Umm Qeis, the ancient city of Gadara, Jordan is presented. A report on the attempts to date the Aramaic inscriptions from the Christian cemetery in Khirbet es-Samra', Jordan is presented.

The examination of quarries at the Mutheilya range above ancient Sabra led to finds of pottery from the beginning of the town to the end of the Nabataean phase of the township in 106 CE. The quarries are described and different methods of quarrying demonstrated. How the finds of pottery reflected the otherwise ascertained history of the town could not be explained. But to effect the formidable task of bringing the right ashlars down to Sabra at the required moment, planning , execution and supervision were necessary. The same planning, execution and supervision might be assumed for the construction of Sabra itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on an uprising, Al-Aqsa intifada, 2000, and its impact on Jordan and the Palestinians living in Jordan. In the quest for the historical dimension of Jordan's attitude to the Al-Aqsa intifada, one can perceive it as a part of the Jordanian-Israeli-Palestinian triangle. The government's attitude to the intifada was practical and pragmatic. In a way the government's main interest in the uprising was a minor image of the public's, namely an attempt not to alienate its own Palestinian population and to ease inter-communal tension. To achieve this, the government had also to appease Jordanian nationalists, who believed that the Palestinians had already gained greater influence and enjoyed more rights than they deserved.

Discusses the tribal nature of the Transjordanian Iron Age kingdoms, their involvement in the Arabian trade, regional variation and the mixture of pottery traditions. Determination of how the system functioned in southern Jordan and the Negev; Use of ethnographic data to derive a model of how different tribal groups interacted; Certain towns that were gathering places for centers controlling Assyrian interests in Arabian trade.

Dissects the actual 1968 Battle of Karameh in Jordan and explores its later treatment in Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian accounts. Revival of the rhetoric and imagery of armed struggle among Palestinians; Palestinian guerrilla forces and Jordanian troops' struggle against an Israeli raiding party; Distortions created by the Jordanian myth and the Israeli countermyth.

The article discusses the results of a study of the occupational history of Transjordan during Late Bronze (LB) II and Iron I. The study shows that the eastern Jordan valley has its own cultural, political, and geographical entity that is different from Transjordan plateau during the LB II and Iron I period. The findings also show that there is a concentration of Iron I collared-rim jars in Transjordan plateau while sparse in eastern Jordan Valley.

The article discusses the discovery of a wall painting in a suburb of Petra, Jordan, of a Nabataean period flute player playing a flute. According to the article, the painting was located in a chambered complex in Siq al-Barid, Beidha. The article describes the painting, discusses the existence of transverse flutes, and briefly profiles the Nabataeans that inhabited land in Jordan and what would become Israel. The author also discusses various flute-like instruments in ancient Egyptian, Roman, and Greek cultures.

Information about several papers discussed at the "Crossing Jordan" Tenth International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan is presented. Topics included travel and trade, cultural heritage preservation, and death and burial. The conference also featured several speakers including Fawwaz al-Khraysheh, Director General of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, Patricia M. Bikai, Director of the Beidha Documentation Project, and J. Daniel Rogers of the Smithsonian Institution.