My wife and I took a bucket-list trip of mine back in December to Egypt and to Jordan. While Egypt was always a fascination of mine, I was afraid the trip would not live up to my expectations. It ended up surpassing them and you can see some of the highlights from Egypt here.
The second half of our trip was to continue our adventure in the country of Jordan. It was an amazing contrast. Egypt was mired in poverty which afflicted the warm and welcoming people there. The socialistic governing of the nation contributed to their plight. Arriving in Jordan, it was apparent that things were definitely better here. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is more of a market economy and right away one could see that on average the Jordanian people lived at a higher standard of life. The ramshackle multi-story tenement buildings that were ubiquitous in Cairo were seldom seen in Amman and the cleanliness of Jordan was orders of magnitude better than Egypt.
Our driver and guide was a very knowledgeable and enterprising Jordanian man of middle age who started his own business as a private contractor tour guide for Jordan. The first place he took us was south of Amman to Mt. Nebo.
The picture above is looking down from Mt. Nebo to an area called Moses Springs. This is the location in scripture where the Jews following Moses after escaping the slavery of Pharaoh and wandering the desert finally cried out in thirst. The Old Testament says that this is where Moses, guided by God, struck a rock with his staff and a spring burst forth from it for the people - thus Moses Springs.
The above video is looking down from Mt. Nebo to the north towards the valley of Moses Springs. The sound you hear is the rather cold wind whipping past.
This is a picture looking west from the top of Mt. Nebo where a Christian Church that memorializes Moses now sits. This is what Moses saw before he died as he peered out to the promised land that God had told would be the home of the Jewish people. You can see the north end of the Dead Sea to the center left of the picture.
This is a video of the landscape that Moses would have surveyed as he looked out towards the Promised Land for the Jewish people. There was a large group of Nigerian pilgrims here when we visited and their excitement was contagious.
In the town of Madaba, east of Mt. Nebo, is the church of St. George that still shelters the remnants of an ancient Byzantine mosaic map of the Holy Land in the floor of the church. It was fascinating despite the labeling being all "Greek" to me.
The church was also adorned with many beautiful mosaic picture depicting
New Testament events. The artistry of placing these thousands of small
colored tiles to create such vibrant scenes was truly amazing. Indeed the city of Madaba, Jordan is rightfully known as "the city of mosaics".
This mosaic portrays the transfiguration of Christ.
After leaving Mt. Nebo, we proceeded down the mountain and headed south along the Dead Sea for several hours as we then turned east and up over a jagged and desolate red rock mountain range towards the "lost" city of Petra. Most people think of Petra only as the iconic Treasury carved into the sandstone walls of the valley. Petra, however, was an ancient city that was occupied and created by the Nabatean people in the 4th century B.C. It was a wealthy trading post ideally situated between Damascus, Syria and the Red Sea. It was taken over by the Romans in 106 A.D. It was finally abandoned in the 8th century A.D. after earthquakes and a decline in political and trade route importance. The "lost" city was then rediscovered in 1812 by Swiss explorer Johan Burckhardt.
One of the few ways to enter Petra was through a two kilometer long path through a slot canyon. You can see the opening of the entrance to the canyon center in the picture above.
The above is typical of what the slot canyon or siq looked like as one traveled gradually down a slope towards "The Rose City" of Petra itself.
Along the siq walls, the ancient Nabateans carved shrines to their gods into the sandstone cliffs. Above is one such carving.
Parts of the siq still have the ancient Roman stone paved road as seen above. The raised trench on the right was an aqueduct to bring water to the town of Petra. These aqueducts were on both sides of the siq as the ancient Nabateans were masters of constructing dams, cisterns, and aqueducts to provide for water in their desert city.
If you look carefully you can still discern the feet and lower half of a man leading his camel in a caravan down the siq to Petra. A faint outline of the camel and its feet are all that remain of the dromedary here.
Many of the Bedouin people of Jordan still dwell in the desert here in their well ordered tent camps. My guide explained that the dark tents, orderliness, and lack of garbage was how one could tell if it was a Bedouin camp or a gypsy camp. The gypsy camps usually were haphazard things with brightly colored tents and lots of clutter and garbage strewn about their encampment. Our guide pointed out several examples of each on our route, lending some credence to his assertion. Evidently our guide was not particularly fond of the gypsies. The picture above is of a couple of Bedouin men taking a break in an old carved out cave in the siq.
As we finally exited the end of the siq it opened up into a small valley where the iconic Treasury is carved into the sandstone cliff. I started videoing my approach from about this point when my tour guide decided to provide a soundtrack for my adventure courtesy of his iPhone - the theme song from Raiders of the Lost Ark. I chuckled in spite of my mild annoyance at this.
Finally we exited the siq to behold this amazing structure that had survived for thousands of years. The rose city was amazing to behold!
Despite the beautiful detail still readily apparent in the gables and column capstones, you can tell that the figures carved into the upper part were damaged. Bullet holes pockmarked some of these carvings as bandits thought that the "Treasury" must hold gold or other treasure in the treasury. In actuality the Treasury was not a treasury at all.
One of the highlights of Petra was seeing Petra at night. We purchased a special permit and followed a candle-lit path through the siq to the small valley in front of the treasury. A spot light illuminated the treasury and hundreds of candles lit the ground in front of it. People sat and listened to local Bedouin artists playing traditional music. It was enchanting to say the least.
Most people think of the Treasury when they think of Petra, but the city of Petra is huge and contains many dwellings and such carved into the sandstone cliffs for miles.
Here are a few of the Bedouin shops and eatery's that exist inside Petra beneath the ancient buildings in the cliffs beyond them.
The previous two photos show the large amphitheater that was built within the city of Petra.
The less ornate homes were usually the domiciles of the working class or less rich members of the city.
Petra's version of Wall Street.
This cobblestone road was created by the Romans when they came to Petra in 106 A.D.
Towards the other end of Petra, there are a series of over 800 steps carved into the side of the mountain to ascend to a high plateau where the Monastery is located. Although I am more than fit enough to have tackled such an easy trek (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!), my wife was not feeling very well that day so we opted to ride donkeys up this arduous trail. They were pretty sure footed but at points I had doubts and was seriously considering dismounting and doing it on my own. (Heights and kryptonite are my only known weaknesses.)
Some of the hardier women Bedouins had little kiosks or shops along wider sections of the trail where they plied their beautiful rugs, scarfs, and statuary. One Bedouin artist had a $50 American bill and asked us if we could exchange it for her with Jordanian dinar (their currency). Unfortunately we did not have more than $15 worth of dinar and I was not going to take advantage of her. She said that living up in the cliffs with no easy access to the town outside of Petra to exchange the American bills made it very difficult for her. She typically wouldn't accept foreign currency, but needed to do so when sales were slow. I wished that I had been able to help her.
The lady said she lived far off at the bottom of the canyon in the picture above. It is hard to see from this picture but the two semi-circles in the center of the picture at the valley bottom with a hint of green were citrus trees that her village was cultivating.
Finally we made it to the top of the long path which opened up to the Monastery. It is not quite as ornate as the Treasury at the other end of Petra, but was majestic in its own right. We were glad that we made the trek up the mountain and even more glad that we did it in December instead of the during the scorching heat of the summer! The Nabateans of the past and the Bedouins of today are tough hardy people!
After leaving Petra we traveled north towards Amman again on a route that bordered the east side of the Dead Sea. Israel was visible on its opposite shore. No boats are allowed on the Dead Sea except police and security vessels. One of the remarkable things to me was the fact that on the highway along the Dead Sea were numerous fields and farms with beautiful roadside produce stands. Above you can see a date palm orchard. Evidently there are many natural springs here today to irrigate the land next to the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea is so salty that nothing can live in it. It is about ten times saltier than the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Indeed we got to float in it. Due to its amazing buoyancy caused by this saltiness it kept one high up in the water; however, they strictly warned us to NOT get the water in our mouths, noses, or eyes, as it could be seriously painful and even dangerous. You can see the salt encrusting the rocks along the shore line from the waves' action in the pictures above.
At one point along the Dead Sea, our guide pulled off in a viewing area and told us that the Dead Sea occupies the space that used to be where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were located. If you recall from scripture, Lot and his wife fled God's destruction of these cities due to the wickedness of their inhabitants. Lot and his spouse were warned not to look back as they escaped, but when Lot's wife did look back over her shoulder, she was turned into a pillar of salt for her disobedience. The pillar in the picture above is supposedly Lot's wife. My thought was that Lot's wife was really tall.
The banks of the Dead Sea are the lowest land masses on our earth. They reside below sea level by as much as 436 meters or more than 1430 feet. The Dead Sea continues to evaporate and lowering in its depth as each year passes.
Overall, our Jordanian trip was fascinating, the people were warm and friendly, and the sites were amazing in their beauty and history. This was an unexpected bonus to the tag end of our Middle Eastern trip. My only wish is that I had more time to explore Petra. Perhaps something for a return visit some day!
