Editing History of Jordan (section)

==Iron Age==
{{See also|Ammon|Moab|Edom}}
[[File:P1120870_Louvre_stèle_de_Mésha_AO5066_rwk.JPG|thumb|The [[Mesha Stele]] (c. 840 BCE), a royal [[Moabite language|Moabite]] inscription commemorating the victory of [[Moab]] over the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]].]]
During the [[Iron Age]] (1200–332 BC), Transjordan was home to the Kingdoms of [[Ammon]], [[Edom]] and [[Moab]].<ref name="AEM">{{cite conference|last1=LaBianca|first1=Oystein S.|last2=Younker|first2=Randall W.|date=1995|title=The Kingdoms of Ammon, Moab, and Edom: The Archaeology of Society in Late Bronze/Iron Age Transjordan (ca. 1400–500 BCE)|url=https://www.academia.edu/744029|publisher=Leicester University Press|page=114|access-date=16 June 2018|book-title=The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land|editor=Thomas Levy|archive-date=9 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809031715/https://www.academia.edu/744029|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5Sm7BOubDYcC&pg=PA1| title = B. Mcdonald, Younker Ancient Ammon| isbn = 9004107622| last1 = MacDonald| first1 = Burton| last2 = Younker| first2 = Randall W.| year = 1999| publisher = BRILL}}</ref> The peoples of these kingdoms spoke Semitic languages of the [[Canaanite languages|Canaanite group]]; their polities are considered{{by whom|date=November 2021}} to be tribal kingdoms rather than states.<ref name="AEM" /> Ammon was located in the Amman plateau, and its capital was [[Amman|Rabbath Ammon]]; Moab was located in the highlands east of the Dead Sea with the capital at Kir of Moab ([[Kerak]]);<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.studylight.org/dic/sbd/view.cgi?number=T2596| title = Smith's Bible Dictionary| access-date = 2010-01-28| archive-date = 2013-10-19| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131019095522/http://www.studylight.org/dic/sbd/view.cgi?number=T2596| url-status = live}}</ref> and Edom in the area around [[Wadi Araba]] in the south, with the capital at [[Bozrah]].<ref name="AEM" /> The northwestern region of the Transjordan, known then as [[Gilead]], was inhabited by the [[Israelites]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Finkelstein|first1=Israel|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1101929531|title=Ugarit-Forschungen; Band 43 (2011)|last2=Lipschits|first2=Oded|last3=Koch|first3=Ido|publisher=|year=2012|isbn=978-3-86835-086-9|location=[Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar]|pages=151|chapter=The Biblical Gilead: Observations on Identifications, Geographic Divisions and Territorial History.|oclc=1101929531|access-date=2021-12-08|archive-date=2023-04-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410044250/https://www.worldcat.org/title/1101929531|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the Bible, the Transjordan was home to the Israelite tribes of [[Tribe of Reuben|Reuben]], [[Tribe of Gad|Gad]], and the half-tribe of [[Tribe of Manasseh|Manasseh]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0613.htm|title=Book of Joshua|chapter=13:15-32|access-date=2021-12-08|archive-date=2021-09-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928013550/https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0613.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Transjordanian kingdoms of Ammon, Edom and Moab continually clashed with the neighboring Hebrew kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], centered west of the Jordan River.<ref name="harrison">{{Citation|last1=Harrison|first1=Timothy P.|title=Studies on Iron Age Moab and Neighbouring Areas: In Honour of Michèle Daviau|url=http://sites.utoronto.ca/tmap/Harrison.2009.pdf|pages=27–45|year=2009|editor-last=Bienkowski|editor-first=Piotr|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516215108/http://sites.utoronto.ca/tmap/Harrison.2009.pdf|contribution='The land of Medeba' and Early Iron Age Mādabā|place=Leuven|publisher=Peeters|access-date=16 June 2018|archive-date=16 May 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> One record of this is the [[Mesha Stele]], erected by the Moabite king [[Mesha]] in 840 BC; on it he lauds himself for the building projects that he initiated in Moab and commemorates his glory and victory against the Israelites.<ref name="rollston">{{cite book|last=Rollston|first=Chris A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kx9Uke_IfloC&pg=PA54|title=Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel: Epigraphic Evidence from the Iron Age|publisher=Society of Biblical Lit|year=2010|isbn=9781589831070|page=54|access-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018095638/https://books.google.com/books?id=kx9Uke_IfloC&pg=PA54|archive-date=18 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The stele, found in [[Dhiban]] in 1868, constitutes one of the most important archeological parallels of [[Biblical history|accounts recorded in the Bible]]; the biblical narrative of the war is recorded in [[Books of Kings|2 Kings]] {{Bibleverse||2 Kings|3|1000|Chapter 3}}.<ref name="mesha-louvre">{{cite web|title=The Mesha Stele|url=http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/mesha-stele|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616103247/https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/mesha-stele|archive-date=16 June 2018|access-date=16 June 2018|work=Department of Near Eastern Antiquities: Levant|publisher=Louvre Museum|quote=The stele of King Mesha constitutes one of the most important direct accounts of the history of the world that is related in the Bible. The inscription pays tribute to the sovereign, celebrating his great building works and victories over the kingdom of Israel during the reign of Ahab, son of Omri. The mention of 'Israel' is its earliest known written occurrence.}}</ref>

At the same time, Israel and the Kingdom of [[Kingdom of Aram-Damascus|Aram-Damascus]] competed for control of the Gilead.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Na'aman|first=Nadav|date=1995|title=Rezin of Damascus and the Land of Gilead|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27931518|journal=Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins|volume=111|issue=2|pages=105–117|jstor=27931518|issn=0012-1169|access-date=2021-12-08|archive-date=2021-12-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208201429/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27931518|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/967957191|title=In search for Aram and Israel : politics, culture, and identity|date=2016|others=Omer Sergi, Manfred Oeming, Izaak J. de Hulster|isbn=978-3-16-153803-2|location=Tübingen|oclc=967957191}}</ref> Around 720 BC Israel and Aram Damascus were conquered by the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]. Meanwhile, the kingdoms of Ammon, Edom and Moab benefited from trade between Syria and Arabia.<ref name="chap-iron">{{cite book|last=al-Nahar|first=Maysoun|title=Atlas of Jordan|date=11 June 2014|publisher=Presses de l'Ifpo|isbn=9782351594384|editor-last=Ababsa|editor-first=Myriam|series=Contemporain publications|pages=126–130|chapter=The Iron Age and the Persian Period (1200–332 BC)|access-date=16 June 2018|chapter-url=http://books.openedition.org/ifpo/5075|archive-date=17 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617051103/http://books.openedition.org/ifpo/5075|url-status=live}}</ref> In 701 BC, they submitted to the Assyrians to avoid retribution.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Luckenbill |first=Daniel David |page=11 |url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/oip/oip-2-annals-sennacherib |title=The Annals of Sennacherib |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1924 |location=Chicago |oclc=506728}}</ref> [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Babylonians]] took over the Assyrians' empire after its disintegration in 627 BC.<ref name="chap-iron" /> Although the kingdoms supported the Babylonians against Judah in the 597 BC [[Siege of Jerusalem (597 BC)|sack of Jerusalem]], they rebelled against Babylon a decade later.<ref name="chap-iron" /> The kingdoms were reduced to [[vassal]]s, a status they retained under the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] and [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Hellenic]] Empires.<ref name="chap-iron" /> <gallery widths="170" heights="170">
File:Rujm Al-Malfouf Watch Tower.jpg|Rujm Al-Malfouf, a watchtower dating to 1000 BCE found in [[Amman]]. The city was known then as Rabbah of the Ammonites, and served as the capital city of the [[Ammon]]ites.
File:Kingdoms of the Levant Map 830.png|Southern [[Levant]] during [[Iron Age]] II (c. 830 BCE)
File:Statue of an Ammonite deified King on display at the Jordan Museum.jpg|Statue of an Ammonite deified king on display at the [[Jordan Museum]]. The statue was found near the [[Amman Citadel]] and is thought to date to 8th century BC.
File:Tulul adh-Dhahab ramparts.jpg|Iron Age ramparts in [[Tulul adh-Dhahab]], sometimes identified with the [[Israelites|Israelite]] city of [[Mahanaim]] mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Coughenour|first=Robert A.|date=1989-02-01|title=A Search for Maḥanaim|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.2307/1356773|journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|volume=273|issue=273|pages=57–66|doi=10.2307/1356773|jstor=1356773|s2cid=163361121|issn=0003-097X|access-date=2021-12-12|archive-date=2021-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212171111/https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.2307/1356773|url-status=live}}</ref>
</gallery>