Ar Ramtha

History

The stable climate in ar-Ramtha and its surrounding areas attracted many animals to live in neighborhood of ar-Ramtha, as well the simple conditions for managing a stable long life there attracted humans to make those regions their earliest choices to gather in groups of hunters and to live in rocky caves. Artifacts and graves in the area show that ar-Ramtha has been inhabited at least since the Bronze Age, but the lack of study of the region gives us no exact information about when humans had selected the land for living. Ar-Ramtha might be the location of the Israelite city of Ramoth-Gilead, a Levitical city and city of refuge east of the Jordan River, mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. According to the Books of Kings, Ramoth-Gilead was the location of a battle between Kingdom of Israel and Aram Damascus. During the battle, King Ahab of Israel joined King Jehoshaphat of Judah to fights the Aramaeans but was hit by an arrow and died from his wounds. Later on, it was also the location of a battle where Ahaziah of Israel and Jehoram of Judah fought against Hazael, king of Aram Damascus, and Jehoram was wounded. In this city, Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, was anointed by Elisha. The Roman Empire utilized ar-Ramtha as a remote hub to cross-link their colonies. The ruins of buildings and ancient Roman antiquities have been discovered at different parts of ar-Ramtha. During the spread of Islam, ar-Ramtha, which was in the Hauran territory, was a port for Muslim scholars crossing between Syria and the Hejaz. Historically and sociologically, the city is the twin to Daraa city in Syria, which is located on just the other side of the border. In 1596 it appeared in the Ottoman tax registers under the name of Ramta, being part of the nahiya of Butayna in the Qadaa…

Geography

North west of ar-Ramtha is the second largest source of shale oil in Jordan, which if it is used in producing oil, can enhance economics in Jordan significantly.

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20
• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  19
• Crested Lark

  Galerida cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  17
• European Greenfinch

  Chloris chloris (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16
• Eurasian Jay

  Garrulus glandarius (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  13
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  12
• Eurasian Linnet

  Linaria cannabina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2023-02-07
  Dead Sea region
• M 3.7 — 2022-01-23
  4 km ENE of Kafr Mi?r, Israel
• M 4.1 — 2022-01-22
  4 km E of Taiyiba, Israel
• M 2.9 — 2018-07-27
  1 km ESE of Migdal, Israel
• M 2.9 — 2018-07-22
  9 km E of Tiberias, Israel
• M 4.7 — 2018-07-04
  2 km NNE of Giv‘at Avni, Israel