Tag Archives: jordan tours

NAME THAT SEA

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Jordan’s only sea port and beach resort is the city of Aqaba on the Gulf of Aqaba at the country’s most southern point. Jordan shares the gulf’s northern coast with Israel and Egypt. These waters have been vital for regional trade for millennia and are also known to divers for their clear water, coral reefs and great variety of sea life, including many endemic species. Located within a 2-hour drive from Wadi Rum and Petra, Aqaba is a great spot for a few days of R & R after a full touring itinerary.

The Gulf of Aqaba is a northern arm of what sea?

 

 

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NAME THAT COUNTRY

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Ancient Gadara was a Decapolis city, one of ten Greco-Roman city-states on the eastern fringes of the Roman Empire. Matthew 8:28-34 in the New Testament tells that Jesus cast demons from two men into a heard of pigs at Gadara, sending them running down the hill and into the Sea of Galilee. Today the Sea of Galilee is just across a national border from Gadara.

 

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NAME THAT COUNTRY

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A predominantly Muslim country today, our mystery country had a large Christian population throughout the Byzantine period and beyond. The city of Madaba on the Kings Highway had its own bishop as early as the 5th century and still has a significant Christian community today. The remains of numerous ancient Christian churches have been discovered, mostly in the northern part of town, with much more excavation yet to be done. So many mosaics have been discovered in the ruins, of homes as well as churches, that Madaba is known as the City of Mosaics. The Muslim Umayyad dynasty took control of the area in the middle of the 7th century and many Umayyad mosaics have been discovered as well.

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NAME THAT BODY OF WATER

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The inland sea pictured above forms part of the border between Israel and Jordan. This sea lies at the lowest elevation on earth, over 1,300 feet below sea level at the surface. Due to a unique mineral content, the sea water and mud are prized for their therapeutic qualities. The extreme salinity of the water makes it very difficult to sink. Bathers bob on the surface effortlessly. Atmospheric conditions here also have health benefits. High levels of oxygen are both invigorating and relaxing. It’s really a magical place. The sea is centrally located and makes an easy stopover between visits to other top tourist attractions. It also makes a good base for visiting a number of tourist sites.

 

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NAME THAT COUNTRY

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The fortified mountain palace of Machaerus is infamous as the place where Salome danced for the head of John the Baptist, whom her step father Herod Antipas had imprisoned there for two years.

Located near the village of Mukawir, about 40km south of the mosaic-rich town of Madaba, Machaerus is one of three fortified desert retreats built by Herod the Great (father to Herod Antipas) and the only one in our mystery country. The other two fortresses are located across the river which gave the country its name and forms part of its western border.

 

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NAME THAT COUNTRY

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Shobak is the Arabic name for the 12th century crusader fortress of Montreal. It sprawls across a lonely hilltop in the southwest of the country, the area known as Edom in the Bible. The castle was built in 1115 by King Baldwin I, the first king of the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem. Like Kerak, its sister fortress to the north, Shobak was built to guard the King’s Highway, an ancient trade route used by crusader armies and pilgrims traveling between Damascus and Egypt. The castle fell to the army of Saladin in 1189 after a 2-year siege.

 

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NAME THAT CITY & COUNTRY

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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.

 

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NAME THAT COUNTRY

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A network of small castles extend eastward along ancient trade routes from Amman, the capital city of our mystery country. They are important examples of early Islamic architecture, built in 7th and 8th centuries by Umayyad caliphs. Although they are collectively referred to as castles, they include forts, towers, baths and caravanserai. Built in the early Islamic period, when figurative art was common, some of the castles shelter lovely frescos of dancing-girls, hunting parties, assembled rulers and cavorting animals. Later, depictions of humans and animals was discouraged in Islamic art. Qasr Kharana, about 40 miles east of Amman.

 

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NAME THAT COUNTRY

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In the north of our mystery country, the Greco-Roman Decapolis city of Pella was built on a site that had already been inhabited for thousands of years. (Hellenistic Greeks named the city after the Macedonian birthplace of Alexander the Great.) Archaeologists have discovered a substantial fortification wall from the early Bronze Age and a Canaanite temple, as well as remains from Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad periods; and there’s still a great deal to be excavated. Pella does not attract as many visitors as the better known and more flashy Decapolis city of Jerash, but most who do visit are impressed by its subtle, evocative quality and beautiful setting.

 

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NAME THAT COUNTRY Episode 131

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The Street of Facades is a main thoroughfare in the most famous tourist destination of our mystery country. Rock-cut tombs of some of the rich and powerful of this ancient Nabatean city line the section of the street pictured, with more modest tombs further down the way. In this sprawling site, beyond the Street of Facades, are temples, theaters and more tombs, some even more grandiose than those pictured.

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