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Information About

Salt, Jordan





HISTORY

The town was known as ''Saltus'' in Byzantine times and was the seat of a Bishopric . At this time the town was considered to be the principal settlement on the East Bank , of the Jordan River . The settlement was destroyed by the Mongols and then rebuilt during the reign of the Mamluk sultan Baybars I ( 1260 - 1277 ) and became a regional capital once more during the time of the Ottoman Empire . In the early 1830s , Salt was again attacked, this time being blown up during a raid by the Egyptian viceroy Ibrahim Pasha in his campaigns against Palestine .

Salt's heyday was in the late 19th Century when traders arrived from Nablus to expand their trading network eastwards beyond the River Jordan . As a result of the influx of newcomers this period saw the rapid expansion of Salt from a simple peasant village into a town with many architecturally elegant buildings, many built in the ''Nablusi'' style from the attractive honey-coloured local stone. A large number of buildings from this era survive to the present day making the modern town a popular tourist location for those seeking a few hours away from the hustle and bustle of nearby Amman .

After World War I , the town was the site which Herbert Samuel , British high commissioner for Palestine and Transjordan , chose to make his announcement that the British favoured self-government for Jordan (which was finally granted in 1921 ).


AGRICULTURE

Salt is famed in Jordan for its fertile soils and the quality of its fruit harvest, particularly Peache s and Grapes . Indeed, it is speculated that the town's name provided the root for Sultana , a certain type of Raisin .