kingdom · Anatolia and the Levant

Ammon

1000 BCE – 582 BCE (approx.) · capital Rabbah

Ammon, an Iron Age kingdom of the Jordanian plateau around Rabbah, modern Amman, whose name lives on in Jordan's capital.

Origins

The Ammonites formed a kingdom in the 10th century BCE or earlier, on the plateau around the upper Jabbok river, with its capital at Rabbah, the citadel of modern Amman. The Bible portrays King Nahash as an enemy of Saul.

Rule and society

Ammonite kings ruled a farming and herding land guarded by watchtowers, under the national god Milkom. Inscriptions such as the Amman Citadel inscription and the Tell Siran bottle, which names King Amminadab, show a language close to Hebrew. Ammon prospered as a loyal vassal of the Assyrian Empire.

Decline and legacy

Under the Chaldean Empire, King Baalis plotted against Babylonian rule in Judah. A Babylonian campaign in 582 BCE ended Ammon's independence, and the land became a province. Rabbah was refounded as Philadelphia by the Ptolemaic Empire.

Connections (2)

More states of Anatolia and the Levant →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Ammon. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ammon
MLA
“Ammon.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ammon. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Ammon.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ammon.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Ammon’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ammon (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻