A Jordanian’s tribute to his beloved city of Amman

Last month Jordan lost a pioneering businessman, a social activist, a humanitarian, and most of all, a true lover of Amman. A co-founder of the powerhouse engineering and architectural design firm Arabtech Jardaneh and past chairman of Al Nisr Al Arabi Insurance Company, Mohammad Abdel Rahim Jardaneh’s passion for Amman, was a driving force behind his dedication and zeal to its betterment. He served as the president of the Jordan Engineers Association, two terms as a member of the Amman City Council and was for many years (up to 2014) the chair of the Arab Cultural Society (Al Raed Al Arabi School). 

Born and raised in Amman, Jardaneh saw the city as a haven for people and cultures from the region and beyond. 

The following words were written by Jardaneh as a preface for the book “Impressions of Amman” by painter Peter Lawrence, and are as relevant today as they were decades ago.

I became aware of Amman’s first features in our old house that my father built on Mango Street (nowadays Omar Bin Alkhattab Street) in Jabal Amman, to which my family moved in 1935. 

The Jordanian Royal Film Commission now occupies the second and third floors. The first floor, with its large garden, houses memories of my family’s joyful past and now brings together children and grandchildren for special occasions. 

Not only was my world small at the time, moving between school, house and neighbourhood, but Amman was a small town physically, though large when measured by the deep relationships it citizens had. 

The Amman of the past straddled one of the tributaries of Zarqa River, known as Amman’s stream which connects the Raghadan cement bridge downtown with the prince’s divan and the Roman theatre. 

The Hammam steel bridge connects Al Muhajirin (immigrants) area, named after the second wave of Circassian immigrants, with the ItalIian Hospital area, with Jabal Surur and Jabal Al Jofa. 

The relational bridges, by contrast, were unlimited and made of much more solid, lasting material. 

Amman was a simple town in its neighbourhood, but rich in its diversity.

In our simple neighbourhood on Mango Street, or Glubb Street, named after Glubb Pasha who lived in that neighbourhood, there was a broad spectrum of people including Muslim, Christian Arab, Circassian and Armenian families.

Among them: Mango, Anabtawi, Rifai, Mufti, Hikmat, Al Khos, Al Qussous, Swiess, Kashjian, Madanat, Haddad and Hamid. 

Life was not complicated. People were good hearted. Amman was so simple that while going from our house on Mango Street to my father’s pharmacy downtown, which was the second pharmacy to open in Amman. I used to know and greet every person I met, from the garbage collector to the highest-ranking official in the government at that time. 

I still remember how Tawfiq Abu Al Huda, who later became prime minister, gave me a ride in his car to my father’s pharmacy.

There was nothing ostentatious about Amman for its visitors, but it was vivacious city thriving in the hearts of its friendly people. 

Its centre was Al Husseini Mosque and its square, from which three paved streets branched out to Zarqa, Salt and Jabal Amman. 

There were secondary schools in Amman: The Bishop’s School for Boys, Al Ahliyyah School for Girls, the government school next to Petra Cinema, which was the only cinema at that time, and the Scientific Islamic College, which opened in 1947, as well as a number of elementary schools. 

The year 1948 was a turning point in the history of Amman. Life started to have a different flavour. Amman changed from a small town to a big city. 

I left Amman to study in Cairo and then at the American University of Beirut. I used to return to Amman during my school holidays. When I lived in it and worked in the Public Works Ministry, I saw that Amman had become a different city bigger, larger and more complicated. 

I was honoured to be elected as the head of the Engineers Association as well as a member of the Municipal Board of Amman for two separate terms.

We worked hard to organise the city and offer the best services. However, Amman was growing faster than we could organise it. Continual immigration from the neighbouring countries as a result of the prevailing political situation in the region obstructed serious planning efforts. 

What draws me to Amman is not only my attachment to the memories of the past or friendships made that have continued for decades, but my love for everything in it, especially its summer evenings with their mild breezes. Its location at the edge of the desert makes it a meeting place for the warmth of the east and the mild breeze of the west. 

I love Amman; it became a home for me and for my family. As it will be for my children and grandchildren.

During their study abroad, my children (and now my grandchildren) with the encouragement of the family, used to spend the Christmas and summer holidays in Amman among family members and friends. 

During the holidays, we used to have group trips in the summer; it has become a tradition that the three generations plan and look forward to.

A cohesive family has been the best guarantee of a better society. 

As my father Abdul Rahim Jardaneh, I and my brothers Nizar and Basel have contributed to building and serving this homeland, I am sure that the generations to come will follow the same path. 

I extend my love to Amman and its people. May Amman stay radiant in its colours, rich in its people, scented with the smell of the jasmine of its old neighbourhoods.