Bobbing in the Dead Sea

Thursday November 18 -  We drove from Wadi Rum to our resort on the Dead Sea via Aqaba, a 4 hour drive.  But we got to see Aqaba, the Red Sea and, if the weather had cleared, we might have seen Israel.  We drove past some farms, the dry river from the dry dam Al Mujib and two ‘salt pillars’ supposedly Lot’s wife who was turned into salt when she looked back.

Our luxury hotel has access to the Dead Sea where we waded in and floated on top of the water.  An interesting experience!

We fly home tomorrow.  It’s a 15 hour flight and we’ll go from hot to cold weather, day time departure to a middle of the night arrival.  It’s been a trip of amazing sights and history brought to life, new friends and adventure!  But we’ll be glad to be home in time for Thanksgiving where we will give thanks for the many blessings we hold dear.

Little Petra and Wadi Rum

Wednesday November 17 -  Little Petra is outside the large Canyon and was where caravans and travelers would have spent some time visiting with each other, sharing news of the world, refreshing supplies and filling up with water.

The Nabataeans were masters at collecting water in cisterns.  In Little Petra alone we saw 6 very large and deep cisterns with water channels and ceramic pipes that channeled rain water down the canyon walls and into these deep pits.  Many rooms were carved out to hold the visitors, a large kitchen served them and entertainment areas were created.

As we drove to Wadi Rum, we passed through Bedouin villages where the Bedouins will stay when not traveling in the desert.  A traffic jam at one intersection held 3 cars, 3 donkeys, 1 camel and 2 horse riders. 

Wadi Rum means Valley Between the Mountains. We transferred from our van to sit in the back of a pickup truck which took us around the desert and up to some mountain walls where Nabataeans had left messages etched  in the walls.  They also stopped to let me ride a camel for about 20 minutes.  So glad I did that!!

Our camp for the night was more like a luxury hotel.  In fact, it was named Rum Night Luxury Camp.  The only resemblance to a tent was the cloth sides.  Our “tent” had wood floors, full bath, lights and king bed.  Don’t get excited about the shower though.  It fell totally apart when John tried to use it!

The Tombs of Petra

Tuesday November 16 -  The Nabataeans moved into this region from Yemen and Saudi Arabia around 200 BC and lived heer for only 400 years.  This place was near the caravan routes so the Nabataeans exchanged water and protection for goods from the travelers.  They lived in the canyons where they were secure but were able to deal with the travelers just outside their home.

The magnificent carvings on the canyon walls are actually decorated as memorials to the deceased.  The actual tombs are in caves under or next to the carvings.  The carvings hold a small room called a triclinium where folks would sit together to remember their loved ones. Most were carved from the top down and were no deeper than 3 meters.

The Treasurery is named that because it was thought that the urn at the top held gold.  It actually held incense.  Images of Greek and Roman gods are on some of the tombs showing the influences of other cultures on the Nabataeans but their own signature was the rose decoration and the square shape of their gods.

The arena was built by the Nabataeans and altered by Romans.  A temple was built by the Nabataeans that is a separate structure, not carved into a wall.  The temple had painted stucco walls.  Near this is Trajan’s Gate.  The Romans paved the streets.

After lunch John and I climbed 1000 steps up another canyon crack to view the scenery and also to see the carved Monastery, named by early Christians.  It is an incomplete triclinium.  No tomb was found.

We walked a little over 27,000 steps today!

Travel Through Moab

Monday November 15 - In ancient times Jordan was inhabited by the Amorites, Edomites and the Moabites.  As Moses left the wilderness of the Sinai looking for the promised land, he passed through these areas.  He climbed Mt. Nero where he could see the Jordan River Valley and knew they had arrived.  It is believed this is where Moses struck a rock with his staff and water poured out.  Moses may also be buried in this area.

On our way to Mt. Nebo we stop in Madaba to visit St. George’s church where a map of Jordan, Syria and Israel is laid out in mosaics on the floor of the church. It is believed that the pilgrims used this map to find their way in the world. It was created in 7th century AD and found in 1864 on top of Mt Nebo in a Greek Orthodox Church.  The site was excavated in 1896 when they discovered several layers of mosaic covered floors.  Today they are protected by a modern building.

On our way to Karak we crossed a dam, Al Mujib, that held no water.  Dry as a bone. Karak is the largest city in southern Jordan with 225,000 people.  In 1121 AD the crusader’s built a castle here that is 7 floors tall and would hold 6000 people plus their cattle, homes, church, mosque, food and water.  It survived under siege for 3-1/2 years, and was added to and used by Muslims, Romans, Byzantians and British.    When Jerusalem fell, all castles eventually closed.

Amman and Jarash

Sunday November 14 -  In Greek and Roman times the city of Amman was call Philadelphia but during the Byzantian rule it’s name was changed to Ammon after the Amonites.  In the Bible Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt but his daughters survived and gave him nine sons.  Lot was an Amonite so the city’s name was changed.

Our first stop was the Citadel where a temple to Zeus was located, probably built around 168 AD.  The views of Ammon from the hill top are spectacular! A museum in the ruins holds the oldest statue in the world, created around 6500 BC.

Nearby is a Roman theatre built in 151 AD and still used today. Because I was interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls we stopped by the Jordan Museum to see a few samples of what was found.  The majority of the scrolls are on leather and some on papyrus but one is on copper.  All but a few are in a museum in Jerusalem. No photographs were allowed (but John snapped a quick one).

Forty five minutes north of Ammon is the town of Jarash.  At the top of the hill is a castle built by the Muslims but copied from the English and Spanish Crusaders in 11th Century AD. It is a huge structure with a moat and three separate gates that must be breached to gain access.  There are hidden tunnels, special places to attack intruders, and a fresh water system that will hold the fort for many weeks.  It also holds a mosque and a Byzantine chapel with a mosaic floor.

Following lunch we toured the ruins of the city built by the Greeks then the Romans in 130 AD.  It took 400 years to complete parts of the city.  We passed through Hadrians Gate, walked around the Hippodrome and viewed Zeus’ temple from below.  Outside of the temple was the oval plaza surrounded by columns.  A special festival is held here every year.

From the Plaza we walked on the Roman road along stones still showing the ruts made by wagons and chariots. This road leads to the north gate and is crossed by two minor roads. We could see the city walls from one crossroad. Shops and stores would have lined the road.  One shop was obviously a butcher shop and others were two story structures with stairs up to the second level.

Zeus’ daughter, Artemis has a gate and a temple in her honor.  A Nymphaeum was created to supply the city with water.  An aqueduct carried the water to the fountain where statues of maidens poured water into a pool, then carved  lions’ heads spit it out into a trough that spilled over into the sewer system.  And, yes, they had an underground sewer system!

We visited two more theaters/arenas and two more churches.  One had a beautiful mosaic floor.  

And they are still finding more ruins.  So, so impressive!

Jordan Tour Begins

Saturday November 13 -  We had a leisurely morning before flying to Amman to begin our second leg of this amazing trip!  Mickey and David will fly home tomorrow but until then we decided to have one more amazing dinner together in an Italian restaurant. 

Abu Simbel Temple

Friday November 12 -  A lot of flying today!  We’re up early and off to the Aswan Airport.  While our bags were routed to Cairo, we flew to Abu Simbel (a short 30 minute flight).

This village is at the southern end of Lake Nasir and is also the site of a temple that was moved when the lake was formed.  King Ramesses image is that of a god and so the Nubians built this temple as a memorial to Ramesses II who ruled 1260-1250 BC.  It depicts four great gods of Egypt - Ptah - the god of darkness, Amun the Sun god, Ramesses as a god and Horus the falcon headed god.  A smaller temple next to this also honors the gods and tells the story of the Nubian wars.

There are three miracles about this large temple.  One is the enormity of the statues. Two is the overall scale of the building and three is the perfectly carved statues inside the temple.  Those statues of the four gods are in the third room.  On Oct. 21 and Feb 21 when the Sun rises, the light first lands on Amun, then moves to encompass Rameses, and finally Horus is lit.  Since Ptah is the god of darkness, the light never lands on him.  When the temple was moved to higher ground to avoid flooding the dates changed by one day in Oct. and Feb but the Sun still lights up the third room.

In modern times the fourth miracle could be made for the move of the temple complex.  If not moved it would have been under 265 feet of water!  They cut the large temple into 600 plus huge blocks and the small temple into 300 plus blocks. They built a mountain side and inserted the temples exactly the way they were so that the Sun still lights up the god statues.

We flew back to Aswan after only 2 hours in Abu Simbel, had a 2 hour layover then flew to Cairo.  Our last night in Egypt.  We had a Lebanese feast, said goodbye to our guide Ahmed and to our fellow tourist, took a short stroll around the largest shopping mall in Cairo to get a feel for how the rich live here and called it an early night.