headed to the market in Amman
mmmm freshly baked bread
sunset at Jerash
view from Mt. Nebo – sign points to places in the near distance: Hebron, Dead Sea, Herodium, Bethlehem, Qumran, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jericho, Nablus
Petra
This 2nd-century Roman theater is carved into a hillside in the middle of a lively national capital. Known as Philadelphia when the theater was built, the city was a member of the Decapolis, a group of 10 culturally-similar cities in the eastern Roman Empire. The theater seats 6,000 and is still used for concerts and other performances.
Can you name that city and country?
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Qasr Kharana
Qasr Amra fresco
Roman theater of Amman
Petra
Amra desert castle (really more of a hunting lodge), one of a string of desert castles east of Amman built in the 7th and 8th centuries by caliphs of the Umayyad Dynasty
Amra dome
fresco inside Amra castle
Roman Theater, Amman, Jordan
Roman Theater, Amman, Jordan
Can you name that country?
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salty shores
the Dead Sea forms part of the border between Israel and Jordan
The Dead Sea shore is 1400 feet below sea level, the lowest land spot on earth. There is no outlet for the water, which flows into the Dead Sea, technically a lake, from the Sea of Galilee (also technically a lake) via the Jordan River. Water leaves the Dead Sea only by evaporation, leaving minerals behind in high concentration. Because of the extremely low elevation, the barometric pressure is higher than anywhere else on earth, there’s a greater concentration of oxygen in the air, greater filtration of ultraviolet sun rays, and the air is practically free of pollen and other allergens.
The Dead Sea has been known for its healing properties for thousands of years, and even today, the unique climactic and mineral properties are used in therapies for conditions such as psoriasis, arthritis and cystic fibrosis.
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The Greco-Roman city of Pella (named for the birthplace of Alexander the Great) was a Decapolis city, one of 10 centers of Greek culture established on the eastern fringes of the Hellenistic Greek world. Pella is located about 80 miles north of our mystery country’s capital city Amman (built on the site of another Decapolis city, Philadelphia).
Can you name that country?
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Even in its ruined state, the Roman Temple of Hercules, including the evocative, disembodied Hand of Hercules, commands the high ground in the city of Amman.
Amman’s central hill, Jabal al-Qala’a or the Citadel, was among the earliest parts of the city to be settled, with archaeological evidence of habitation going back to the Neolithic period. A list of occupiers includes many of the usual suspects, as well as a few relatively small, regional powers – Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, biblical Ammonites, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and the early Islamic Umayyad and Ayyubid dynasties. The Umayyad Palace is another prominent historical remnant on the Citadel.
Can you name that county?
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The grand entrance hall pictured above is all that remains intact of the large palace complex that once wrapped around the north side of the Citadel, the historical and geographical center of the country’s capital Amman, as well as its highest point. The palace was built around 720CE by the Umayyads, a dynasty that ruled the area 661-750. Much of the complex was destroyed by an earthquake in 749. The entrance hall takes the unlikely-for-Islamic-architecture shape of a cross because it is built on top of the foundations of a Byzantine church.
Can you name that country?
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