Jordan! Hoorah Hooray!

I've spent 4 glorious days in Jordan which I very much enjoyed. The trip was awesome and our guide excellent. On the Bus the trip through the border happened without event or delay. Our first stop was to Mount Nebo. Our guide instructed well that this is only a possible site of the mount. There were many "pillars" there commemorating the event of Moses' looking onto the promised land but not entering it (a statue of a rod with a snake around it, a monastery, a large Italian piece of art, and a stone memorial of Moses). Many Christians believe Moses died and was buried there or nearby, I learned Muslims believe Moses did die but that his body was taken up into heaven so that was interesting. From the viewpoint there Muhammed showed through the mild hase how a green streak in the distance is the River Jordan and so beyond that was the promised land. On the same day we saw the Madaba Mosaic Map it is in a chapel however the frequent earthquakes have destroyed much of it. That's actually a common theme that an earthquake has damaged all or part of a ruin site. The Map here has a view of Jordan, Jerusalem, and Egypt. The pictures of the prominent cities are quite exact giving the best idea of Jerusalem's streets and buildings of the Byzantine period (Also it has helped find the locations of ancient ruins - imagine how much more of a help it would be if we had the whole and not just this fragment). The Next stop we went to is the fortress, named Machaerus, where John the Baptist was held prior to his being beheaded (likely all the events in this scripture passage happened there Mat 14:3-12). It was situated in a grand vantage point - you could see the Dead Sea and mountainous areas all around you. Brother Huntsman, will be my Professor next week, drew a comparison Elijah = John ; Antipus = Ahab ; Herodias = Jezebel. Which is why Antipus was so upset - that is he could see the comparison plain as day. 

That Night we stayed in a hotel that is an abandoned village whose ruins have been renovated to become a rather suave hotel experience. There was a pool there and I had a grand old time swimming and taking in the atmosphere of the place.

The Next day we began our trip through Petra. Which is a huge site and is amazing to behold. As you approach there is a horse coral to you left. This is a highly secured city. I think it was the Romans who tried to take the city and could not (though they eventually poisoned their water source leading to victory). There is literally no way there except a pass through dual cliffs. Along the way there are pillars to their main god and his three daughters, as well as etched out camels and soldiers in the cliffs themselves. And once you enter you see a famous site from Indiana Jones, this tomb is magnificent and it is not clear whom it held (they are currently digging below it to ascertain that), as an aside it is mistakenly named the Treasury for no apparent reason. As you take a right and left you begin to get a feel for this site. Still with cliffs on both sides there are etched tombs on both sides with Nabotean triangles and/or steps to heaven patterns on the top (the number of these tell how many were buried there). Also while most are sandstone tan, some of these tombs are different colors due to the minerals and oxidation of these minerals. There is a theater here (there are Egyptian and Greek influences in architecture) with no stage due to it's ritual purposes. On your left just here is a stone stairway to the Sacrificial High Place. Nearly here the dual cliffs widen so they actually form a large enclosing circle. In the middle used to be the Nabotean city and residence. However earthquakes throughout time made this more or less unrecognizable it looks now like just a mound of stones. But there are beautiful things to see  on both sides. On the opposite side of the mound we had lunch in a wonderful restaurant. I wanted to be in the first group out to look at the Monastery (about a 20 minute hike up stone stairs). On the way up there are booths of merchandise and many people selling them for 1 dinar and up. I wonder if they have to rent out those spots from each other. Anyway they try and get you to promise that on the way down you will buy something from them (because they KNOW you'll be back that way). Anyway the Monastery was huge it was a little difficult to climb into it. I also saw a vantage point which displayed quite a bit of the city. Then I hiked back down - I saw a group rushing to also climb the Sacrificial High Place walk so I rushed with them. It lead to another vantage point which was cool. On the way back to the buses and bidding a farewell to the site I rode a horse back up. We took that bus on the 4 hour trip back to the Amman area. The hotel was nice that night after such a day of hiking. We did go out that night during which we saw the Rainbow Road shops - which was mostly high class stuff - so I naturally bought something at each shop. There we saw a recreation of Babylons blue and gold gate. Good night to that night. 

The Next day Amman began with a trip to the King Abudulah Mosque where our tour guide Muhammed explained many things about Islamic culture and religion. He explained that the call for prayer five times a day was a helpful reminder to have a prayer in their heart at all times. Also that the first prayer is the hardest as it is   before sunrise - he explained that the devil tries to stop you from praying and this time is usually when he succeeds (he has lead many mormon groups so I expect at this section he was pulling out similarities especially). Also, he explained how Their Prophet Muhammed was reprimanded during a part of his receiving visions because he said to a question "I will tell you tomorrow" after he had asked of God. In that he assumed he could command God and was reprimanded for that by Gabriel (This is in relation to the Cave Question). He was also asked about the beginning of the spirit which he answered with "I don't know" (which was the correct answer as any answer would have proven him to NOT be a prophet in the questioners eyes - a logical hurdle I cannot get over). Next we went to the Citadel - which was a confusing site to me. It was confusing because it had been inhabited for so long I mean a very long time - yet there were no layers from what I could see. Each period built next to each other rather than tearing down and building new it seemed to me. So we would be passing a ruin and explain it's history then jump several periods at the new ruin on the same level. Apparently the Amman Citadel area had been inhabited since the Iron Ages. I quote from Bro Huntsman's blog:

"We then drove to the Citadel, the fortified center of every city on this site since the Iron Age, if not earlier.  It was Rabbath Ammon in the Bible, capital of the Ammonites and frequently fought against by the Israelites.  In the Hellenistic period it became a Greek city known as Philadephia.  It continued as such into the Roman period, when it was one of the Decapolis or "ten cities" mentioned in the New Testament gospels.  In the Byzantine period it became an important Christian site, and in the Arab period it became Amman, by which it is known today.  The Citadel has remains from all these periods.  The most noticeable is the great Temple of Hercules, who was actually a Roman syncretism with Melqart, the chief god of the Ammonites."

There was an amazing museum there which held the first known remains of depictions of humans. It used to hold the metal scroll from the collection of the dead sea scrolls but they have since been moved.

We left Amman and on the way out saw the area where Gen 32 is said to have taken place. A very highly spiritual experience for Jacob (of which we only have a fragment in Genesis).

Next we saw Jerash the ancient city and part of the Decapolis - that experience began with a view of its Hadrainus Arch of mostly original stones we saw to our left while entering the horse stables which would have held ready horses and accepted the tired ones. through those you could enter the smallest known Hippodrome where we saw a presentation of the Roman Legion's formations as well as Gladiator and Chariot section of the show. Come to think of it This site rivals Ephesus as far as awesomeness goes. It may just exceed it in my eyes. Inside the south gate there is an amazing oval plaza surrounded by columns later you can see the center of the city which used to have four Gazebo like structures holding statues. As you continue down the slanted stone road you can see the chariot wheel imprints. On your left you behold a area which used to have a magnificent fountain. We saw a temple to Artemis and were left to wander. I saw a nice theater and loved it. There are columns lining the rows and it's a pretty cool place. We drove on the buses during that trip a large group stopped at the Royal Automobile Museum in Jordan. This Museum featured many of the actual cars that the Monarchy here has driven it was quite interesting and I hope to show you the pictures later. I would describe it but I am not that knowledgeable with cars to tell you much. There were motorcycles, fancy slow cars, slick fast road cars, Jeeps, and racing cars featured among them. We stayed in the same hotel this night as the last. The nights activities were fun as a small group was led by Katie a BYU Jordanian study abroad student to a famous and cheap restaurant via a taxi and afterward a wonderful cheese sweet shop (really good). After a short taxi back we also got this nice Smootie with fruit as well as Ice Cream with fruit dish - we got it at this cool little shop with a fish tank. Then I ended out the night playing never have I ever with some fellow JC students.  

This next day was highlighted by a trip to the Largest theater in Jordan which lies in Amman. I sang "The Spirit of God" with Jared Maxfield and Scott Walker in the center of the amphitheater. Many other performances were had. Directly after this we walked through a market place as a tour so we didn't stop to buy anything. Next a rest stop in a rather random seeming tourist mall thing. Where we also ate KFC then our stop at the Jordan river. Jesus was likely baptized near this site as there are ancient signs that this might be the place. There was an ancient Mikveh there (a Jewish water ritual immersion font which has as one of it's purposes conversion) old enough to have been there at the time of John the Baptist so it's possible that Jesus was baptized in a mikveh and not actually the river Jordan but I digress. There is an early christian chapel with steps down to what must have been a wonderful site - it is now a dry bed as the river no longer allows the small outlet that used to be there. Further along the trail is a wooden deck with a refined jordan "holy water" river there. The opposite bank is Israel and they have set up baptism sites on that side as well. There were several cathedrals there we didn't go inside. Also from a distance we saw there a cathedral commemorating Elijah's ascending into heaven near the river Jordan (2 Kings 2:4-13). 

All that remained was a trip back across the border. So I whipped out a computer and played Jack Johnson while the bus drove back to the Jerusalem Center.

While here I have recently ascertained a cello to borrow. I played my cello for those in the food court named the Oasis and got a pretty good response!  I thought it was really fun.