The Nymphaeum is a partially preserved

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

public fountain in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. It used to be located along the

Seil Amman Seil Amman () was a water stream that flowed in the Downtown Amman, valley of Amman, Jordan. Starting from Ras Al-Ein area, Ras Al-Ein with water from springs and rainfall, it flowed northeast for about six kilometers towards Ayn Ghazal (archaeolo ...

, a water stream that had dried up in the 20th century. The Nymphaeum is located a short distance from other Roman ruins, including a forum (in the location of today's

Hashemite Plaza The Hashemite Plaza is a plaza in Amman, Jordan that spans over an area of 20,000 square metres. It was renewed in 2014 and is named after the Jordanian royal family, the Hashemites. The Hashemite Plaza includes open spaces, fountains, gardens, p ...

), the Roman Theater and the Odeon. Such fountains were very popular in Roman cities, and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, as Amman was known by ancient

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

and Romans, was no exception. This

nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' (Latin : ''nymphaea'') or ''nymphaion'' (), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

is believed to have contained a pool which was deep and was continuously refilled with water. It is at the crossing of Ibn al-Atheer and Quraysh streets in downtown area.

History

The nymphaeum was built in the 2nd century CE, during the same period as the nearby theatre and odeon.

Restoration

In September 2015, archaeology students from the

University of Jordan The University of Jordan (), often abbreviated UJ or JU, is a public university located in Amman, Jordan. Founded in 1962, and it is the largest and oldest institution of higher education in Jordan. It is located in the capital Amman in the J ...

Petra University The University of Petra is a private university located in Amman, Jordan. It grants bachelor's and master's degrees. The university includes students from over 33 nationalities from Arab and foreign countries. The university is located on the ai ...

and the Hashemite University as well as professional technicians, funded by the U.S. embassy, started restoring the site. Their work consists in cleaning the structure stone by stone, and in replacing portions of stone lost due to erosion, cracking and flaking.

References

{{Reflist Buildings and structures in Amman Roman sites in Jordan Buildings and structures completed in the 2nd century Tourist attractions in Amman Archaeological sites in Jordan

History

Restoration

See also

References