From the moment he put up his tent in Transjordan, in 1921, Abdallah manifested a strong drive for territorial expansion. Almost thirty years later, a British official called him ‘a born land grabber’.1 During the 1920s he had no preference for any particular territory that neighboured Transjordan, though already then Palestine seemed to offer considerable economic and political advantages. Only when it had become clear to him that the idea of taking over either Iraq, Syria or the Hijaz was impracticable did he turn the full focus of his attention on Palestine. The ideology intended to underpin his claim over the Holy Land was only worked out after the political decision had been taken.