During my recent travel I went to Jordan for a few days. It was a mind boggling experience. I have seen Egypt, Turkey, Greece with so much history of the ancient world, however, when I went to Jordan I was totally surprised. It is such a small country with so much history, the history that we love. It was the place where our prophets made history thousands of years ago. It is an amazing place. I don’t even know where to start.
Jordan is called the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a land of mesmerizing beauty and contrasts.
I flew to Amman, capital of Jordan, from Dubai. I spent two days in Amman. In Amman I saw the majestic ruins of a bygone civilization. After checking into my hotel I relaxed for the rest of the day. Next morning I went out for sight seeing. Amman is crowned by the Citadel, a hill with ruins of the Temple of Hercules, an Ummayyad Palace, and a Byzantine Church. At the foot of the Citadel lies the 6,000 thousand seat Roman Theatre.
I bought a ticket to enter the theatre when a tour guide came forward and offered his service. I agreed as he spoke very good English and seemed to be a nice person. He explained a few things about the Theatre. I have seen this type of theatre in Greece and Turkey, that curved shape. George asked me to keep my ear at one end of the theatre. He went to the other end and spoke from there and I could hear him clearly as if a telephone was used. It was due to the way the theater was designed. It was amazing. George also showed me a place with a cross mark on the ground. It was the centre of the stage. He asked me to sing a song which I did in a very low voice, just humming and George video recorded my song. The sound was magnified as if I was using a microphone. It was amazing! At the same time I was thinking of making history by singing a Rabindra shangeet in Citadel Theater, “Elem notun deshey…” . What a great experience!
From Citadel Theater my tour guide took me to Madaba which is about 33 km from Amman. It is best known for its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics, especially a large Byzantine-era mosaic map of the Holy Land. Madaba is known as the city of mosaic in Jordan. The word Madaba means the calm waters or the land of the water and the fruit. According to my tour guide it means sweet water. It is the city for the Islamic Christian coexistence, where the church bells embrace the minarets of the mosques.
My tour guide took me to Madaba Archeological museum. I was absolutely captivated to see the beautiful artwork in mosaic. Next to it was the 19th century Greek Orthodox church which housed a treasure of early Christianity. In 1884, Christian builders came across the remnants of an old Byzantine church on their construction site. Among the rubble they found something of extraordinary significance, The oldest map of Palestine in existence with many historical insights. All the tourists were standing there with great curiosity. I took photos and video. It was a great feeling to be there.
From Madaba, my tour guide took me to Mount Nebo. My tour guide explained that the word Nebo meant The Prophet. The word Nebo and Nabi must have similar origin. According to Hebrew bible it is the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land. The view from the summit provides a panorama of the Holy Land. The place was 817 meters above sea level. It was so beautiful from the top, the openness, the vastness! It was a great feeling
that nearly 3000 years ago Prophet Moses was here. What was the world like at that time? What was life like at that time? At one side of the mountain was a serpentine cross sculpture (the Brazen Serpent Monument). It was created by an Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni. It is symbolic of the bronze serpent created by Moses in the wilderness and the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.
After our visit to mount Nebo, it was lunch time. My tour guide took me to a very nice restaurant next to mount Nebo. The food was excellent and the view was spectacular. The restaurant was on top of a mountain with a 360 degree view!
After lunch we came back to Amman.
The next morning I headed for the Dead Sea in a taxi. It is a little over an hour’s drive from Amman to Dead sea. I went to my hotel and relaxed for the day. The Next morning I took a taxi to Petra. The drive was beautiful. On our way we stopped at a beautiful place along the Dead Sea. The view was spectacular. We saw crystals of salt forming at the bends in the sea. The water was a beautiful blue. I simply couldn’t take my eyes off the beautiful Dead Sea. Behind us was the mountain of prophet Lut (PBUH). I felt very fortunate to get the opportunity to be there.
We continued our trip, up the mountains, along the winding road. The driver was driving very well. I was enjoying the beautiful view. It took us about three hours to reach Petra. After buying the ticket I headed for Petra. It was about an hour’s walk from the entrance. It was a very sunny and hot day. I kept walking in the scorching sun. After about 40 minutes I reached the Canyon. It was an amazing experience walking through the canyons. The canyon is called Al Siq. It was nice and cool there. This is the first time in my life I have walked through Canyons and I felt overwhelmed by emotion. It is so beautiful and an experience of a lifetime. After another 20 minutes I reached the main rock of Petra. It was an amazing sight. It is a wonder to the rest of the world.
Petra, originally known to Nabataeans as Raqmu, is a historical and archaeological city. It was the capital of the Nabatean Kingdom dating to around 300 B.C. It contains tombs and temples carved into pink sandstone cliffs, earning its nickname, the “Rose city”. The most famous structure is 45m high Al Khazneh, a temple with an ornate, Greek style facade, known as The Treasury. Petra was once a thriving centre and the capital of the Nabataean empire between 400 B.C. and A.D. 106. People from all over the world come to see this. It was so beautiful. I felt overwhelmed with emotion when I stood in front Petra.
The city sat empty and in near ruins for centuries. In the early 1800s an European traveler, disguising himself in Bedouin costume discovered the mysterious place. I have seen pictures of it so many times and always wanted to come and see it. Finally I am here! I took many photos. It was so beautiful to see the camels sitting in front of Al Khazneh. I didn’t feel like leaving the place! However, I had to. On my way back I took a horse driven cart as I was running out of time. I wanted to go back to my hotel near the Dead Sea by day light. I decided to come back again. Next time I would stay at Petra so that I get a full day to visit the place.
The next day I took a taxi to go to Aqaba which is about 230 km away from the Dead sea. I kept enjoying the view. We went past the Dead Sea which is about 50
km long. It was about a 3 hour trip and we stopped to have our coffee break in the middle of our trip. The Gulf of Aqaba or the Red sea is a beautiful place. There was so much history around it.
We reached Aqaba and the first place we went to was The Gulf of Aqaba. I have read so much about the Red Sea. I was standing next to the giant flag which symbolised the flag of revolt. This flag was erected to commemorate the Great Arab Revolt of 1916 against the Ottoman Empire. The leader of the revolt was Sharif Hussein Bin Ali whose house was right near the flagpole. Outside his house was a 100 year old well which I photographed too. The life was very different in this part of the world at that time. Next to his house was the Archaeological museum. The museum was closed due to renovation. I went in the courtyard and took some photos.
My next stop was at Mamluk palace which was just a few minutes walk from the museum. Walking around that place was a great feeling. It was the place where the great Arab victory took place in July 1916 when this heavily defended Turkish stronghold fell to a daring Arab camel charge. Lawrence of Arabia rode triumphantly from here to Cairo to report the good news to General Allenby who was totally astonished.
The castle was originally built by the Mamluk sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri in the 16th century.
I stood right in front of the front gate and took photos. Right after the gate was the prison and the execution chamber..it was scary.
I also had the opportunity to see the messenger pigeon’s place and the former horse stables.
I wanted to go to Wadi Rum as well, however, time was short. So I decided to come and visit Jordan again in a couple of months.
Traveling in Jordan was an amazing experience. The country had so much history. People from different religious backgrounds, Jews, Christians and Muslims will find the place interesting. The landscape is so unique, the mountains are so rocky! There were times when I traveled for many kilometers without seeing a tree! At the end of the travel I was just thinking, “This world is full of wonders”.