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- Fly Seattle to JFK New York (6 hrs)
- layover (12 hrs)
- JFK to Cairo (10 hrs)
- layover (5 hrs)
- Cairo to Amman,
- Jordan (90 minutes!)
- Ten hour time difference
- Marriott Amman
- I think we’ll enjoy this!
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- The next morning, we were in the streets of
- Madaba, going to visit a Greek Orthodox
church built over
- an ancient mosaic laid down over
a thousand years ago
- by early
- Christians.
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- Alas, it was too
dark to get
a picture of the
- mosaic, but the art and
colors of the
church were beautiful.
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- The street scenes around the church were
- always interesting.
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- Then, quickly on to Mount Nebo, the reputed
- burial area of Moses, with a good view (on a not so smoggy day)
- over the River Jordan and the
Dead Sea. Even today, one
- sees a general winter view of the land away
from the cities.
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- A stop to shop is always included!
- At Madaba Handcraft Center, we watched young women create
- marvelous mosaic and faux mosaic artwork from saucers to huge
- décor vases and
- wall hangings.
- Our
- Tree of Life
- plate
- was made
- here.
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- Our guide, Samer Mdanah, took good care of
- us. Our driver , Ahmed, supplied
us with bottled water.
- On across the
desert to Petra … !
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- We arrived in Wadi Musa (Petra ) at sunset …
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- Marriott Petra was
just as nice
as Amman …
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- … and there was
this interesting sticker
- in the desk
drawer.
-
It took us a while to realize it points to Mecca.
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- The next morning the
rugged and arid
nature
- of our surrounding terrain became
strikingly apparent.
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- At the entrance to Petra is a ‘mall’ of several
- shops and a post office.
- I was surprised
- to find
- two shops
- selling
- bellydancing
- outfits!
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- Pinch me, I’m at Petra!
- A very dry path leads toward the wonders, as a horse cart
- returns from the Khasneb (the
Treasury) . You get your picture
- taken with Nabatean soldiers (that’s Wess in the middle).
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- Even before you enter the Siq,
- small, unadorned tombs appear.
Then, the Djin Blocks,
- more elaborate tombs cut from rock outcroppings. Almost
- everything in Petra is about two thousand years old or older.
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- Pass on by the Obelisk Tomb and
- the Bab al Siq Triclinium , two separate structures.
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- Entering the slot canyon known as the Siq,
- one begins to appreciate the military defensive advantage
- of this entrance to the city.
Notice the water channel on the
- left and the
- remnants of the
- gate arch that
- collapsed
- in 1898 after
- standing for
- over two
- thousand years.
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- Some of the original pavement appears …
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- … along with religious stations and water channels.
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- The open water channel collected rain water
- that ran down the cliff face.
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- Some years ago, while excavating the Siq
- with a mechanical digger, this carving
of a camel and its leader
- was discovered
- … after the digger
- had broken off
- the camel’s legs !
- Look closely
- to see
- the camel’s belly
- above the feet.
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- Side canyons were dammed into reservoirs
- to prevent flooding and
- collect water. These modern
- reconstructions still do
- the same thing.
- The aqueduct in front
- carries the cliff face
- channel along.
- In 1967, before
- restoration, a group of
- tourists drowned
- when a flash flood caught
- them in the Siq.
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- And, narrower and taller and darker …
- for almost a mile.
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- Then … oh, my … the Khasneb
appears.
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- … I’m (almost) speechless …
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- … a fifty year
- dream
- realized.
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- You may have noticed the souvenir stand
- at the side. A necessary evil, I
suppose, as many tour groups
- venture no further into Petra. At
least the postcard racks weren’t
- almost in the Khasneb,
- as they once were.
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- Look, Nana … camel rides!
- What do I do
- when this
- camel stands
- up, back legs
- first?
- …
- Lean back,
- way back and
- h-a-n-g on!
- There’s no stirrups or reins.
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- Nana’s Kodiak riding lessons may or may not
- have counted for much here!
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- Nana’s camel thought my saddle cloth might be
- a tasty treat, but settled for a bite at the rag on my daypack!
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- Two Yankee tourists riding their camels at Petra.
- (wondering how they’re ever going to get off!)
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- Fran did have a little trouble dismounting.
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- But, there are many more wonders and sights
- at Petra … just around the corner to the right …
- (this picture, not mine, downloaded from the web, was my desktop
- background for many months before our trip!)
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- Just around the corner, are tombs of nobles,
- (the Khasneb was the tomb of a Nabatean king). After the
- civilization declined and vanished, these tombs lost their contents
- and became homes and stables for the local nomads.
- This is
known as the Street of Facades.
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- The damage to these structures has been caused
- by earthquakes, sandstorms and floods.
Even now, the entrances
- to some tombs have not been excavated.
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- Petra is the site of the largest amphitheater hewn
- from solid rock, with Roman arches added.
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- Above our ancient ‘street’, the beautiful strata
- of the rock is everywhere apparent.
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Not all the structures are
-
tombs. Some seem to have
-
been carved as homes.
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- In the cliffs beyond, the Urn Tomb and others,
- the so-called Royal Tombs, beckon.
But, first, lunch.
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- Here is a very rare two-headed camel …
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- The youngest vendor … and a local cleanup crew.
- Aisha (5 years old) is a cutie, sells a lot of postcards and doesn’t
-
make change.
-
There are no mice at Petra.
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- Then, on to the main drag of downtown Petra,
- … and, a right, up into an area of religious structures.
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- From the hillside, another view of the main road
- and another excavated temple (or was it the city hall?).
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- The market platform was once unexcavated
- hillside. What other structures
lie beneath these meadows?
- Some say less than 5% of Petra has been uncovered.
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- In 106 AD, the Romans absorbed the Nabatean
- kingdom, adding greatly to the city’s monuments. By 500 AD,
- Petra was a Byzantine bishopric with its own cathedral.
- In 551, all was destroyed in a massive earthquake. Recently, an
- exquisite mosaic floor has been excavated and columns of the
- bishop’s house reerected.
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- Off the path, behind us, the Royal Tombs
- beckon Wess. These are his goal
on the return to the Siq.
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- We see the remains of al-Bint, a free-standing
- temple at the end of the main street.
See the camels!
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- Another great Nabatean tomb lies beyond this
- hillside, but time is short and we scamper to the official tour end
- with museums, shops, refreshment and
an in-tomb hotel.
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- Up close, Al-Bint temple is a massive block.
- See the frieze along the top and the figure at the right
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- Near al-Bint lie some of the pieces of a giant
- puzzle. Cut stones litter the
ground and are stacked everywhere.
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- This triple arch gate with its camel and rider
- divides the commercial area from the temple area.
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- On our own, we strike across the hills towards
- the royal tombs, passing a forlorn Bedouin camp.
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- The Palace Tomb is the most impressive of the
- royal tombs. Earthquakes and
sandstorms have ruined these.
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- More ‘smaller’ tombs lead to the Urn Tomb.
- These tombs are the most exposed to the elements.
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- The Urn Tomb, the deep platform at center left,
- named for a carved ornament over its door, can be entered.
- Beyond lie even more tombs, beyond today’s adventures …
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- At the Urn Tomb, Fran shows off a side column.
- After it was a tomb, this structure also served as a
- Christian church and municipal office/prison.
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- The entrance to the Urn Tomb is smaller
- than most along this row of tombs.
But inside is …
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- … and square corners of a great room …
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- … just the place for a spacious tomb or church.
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- My goodness, we have to get back to the bus!
- One last look at downtown Petra …
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- Outside Petra (already!!), Wess tries on his
- Jordanian keffiyeh or shemagh mhadab, proving again that
- he can blink faster than a camera’s flash. At Midway Castle,
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on the road back to Amman,
-
we find our best Jordanian
-
handicraft.
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- The next day, entering Jerash, an ruined Roman
- city north of Amman, we see the tree used to make rosary beads.
-
Jerash was a Greco-Roman
- e Decapolis city of the
Decapolis until
-
earthquakes leveled the city
-
in 749 A.D. Then
-
sandstorms and time buried
-
the ruins until efforts began
-
about 1920 to restore the
-
ancient site.
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- The Arch of Hadrian is the modern entrance
- to ancient Jerash. It was built
for an imperial visit in 129 A.D.
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- Just inside Hadrian’s Arch is the
Hippodrome,
- an arena for chariot races. It
has been restored
- just enough that races are still held for the
- tourists, but we’re too early.
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- The Romans greatly expanded an existing
- Greek forum.
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- Nearby, a ‘modern’ temple to Zeus is sited on
- a mound containing a number of earlier pagan and
- Greek temples.
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- The South Theater seats three thousand, with
- perfect acoustics and is sited so that the sun
- shines in
- no one’s
- eyes.
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- We go a bit of a roundabout way towards the
- main drag, passing a side street …
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- … and looking back towards the forum.
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- After the Roman religion faded, several early
- Christian churches and cathedrals were built
- with
- ornate
- mosaic
- floors.
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- The ‘back country’ of Jerash offers a glimpse
- of the buried state of the original ruins.
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- Fields of fallen stone await restoration.
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- The Temple of Artemis is the main feature ...
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- … that gets
- more imprressive
- the closer
- one gets!
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- The columns
- are mounted
- with convex
- bottoms and
- set into concave
- dishes to allow
- the structure
- to ‘give’ during
- earthquakes.
- Note the spoon.
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- Even I could
- push the column
- and move
- the spoon!
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- Everywhere are stacks, often willy-nilly, of
- unreassebled stone blocks.
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- We walk out down
- the Cardo Maximus,
- the main street ...
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- … to the Nymphaeum, a huge public fountain.
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- This ‘small’ granite basin was added much later.
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- The half-mile long Cardo Maximus
- seems
- much
- longer
- …
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- … but, eventually, we emerge back at the Forum,
- and take
- our bus
- back
- to
- Amman
- and
- its
- Citadel.
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- Modern Amman surrounds its original Roman
- amphitheater.
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- Amman’s Citadel hill is covered in layers of
- successive
- civilizations
- and regimes,
- with ancient
- walls atop
- more ancient
- walls.
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- Massive ancient ruined carvings abound.
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- A very old temple, the Temple of Hercules,
- is partly
- restored
- ...
- but, the temple
- predates the
- Greek gods and
- it’s god is
- unknown.
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- All that remains of that god’s celebratory statue
- are these huge fingers and an elbow.
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- Please join Fran and I as we continue our
- adventures on the Nile River of Egypt,
- On the eve of the Egyptian revolution of 2011.
- Thank you.
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