This morning our first stop was Mount Nebo. This is one of Jordan’s three biblical destinations. The other two are the supposed baptism site of Jesus at Bethany Beyond the Jordan, and Mukawir where John the Baptist died.
I’ll be honest - I’m probably the least religious person you know, and have been known to joke that AFL is my religion. I was the kid in primary school RE that was bored and would draw all over my books, and felt confused as to whether any of this was true or whether it was all a bunch of made up stories. But I do respect the fact that for many people, religion is a very important part of their lives. And when I visit religious sites I can appreciate their significance and why they are so important to so many people.
Mount Nebo is the place at which the prophet Moses ended his journey from Egypt. He was born in Egypt and fled with the Jews to escape slavery and head to the holy land. He arrived at Mount Nebo, found water and created more springs in the valley below. He gazed out at the marvellous views across to the Dead Sea and Israel, but never made it there as he fell ill and died. His body is buried somewhere around Mt Nebo and has never been located.
Today it is a popular site for christians and in 2000, Pope John Paul II even visited. In the 6th century, the Byzantines (an extension of the Romans) came here and built a memorial church to Moses called Siyagha (‘church on top’) in the local language. Today it has been restored in a modern fashion that allows the mosaics inside to be protected. It was extremely windy up the top of the mountain!
The mosaics inside were brilliant. So much detail, so clear and nearly 1500 years old. Some of them depicted scenes of every day life like food that was eaten, animals that were killed and even a man going to the toilet (that’s what it looked like to me anyway - I had a good giggle!). I found it interesting as well that donors’ names for the mosaic were listed at the top in Greek, much the same way we list donors’ names on a plaque when raising money to build something. Others showed interesting patterns.
There were a small group of people having mass up the front and singing in Latin which only added to the atmosphere. Unfortunately a huge Chinese tour bus came in and completely ignored the “no tour guides allowed inside” sign, talking away loudly. But I dobbed them in to security and they got in trouble. I might not be religious myself, but people should respect what is important to others. Those who are ignorant and rude in this way really annoy me.
When we took in the view it was quite hazy so we couldn’t see Jerusalem unfortunately, but apparently you can on a clear day. Hakam said the haze is due to a combination of sand, dust and evaporation from the Dead Sea. Some people on our tour are continuing to Israel after Jordan, but I couldn’t due to $$$ and having to be back for work. I’ll just have to come back one day!
We then went to a mosaic workshop where local women continued to make mosaics in front of us. This was so clever because some of the pieces they were placing down were absolutely tiny. It was like a giant jigsaw puzzle without any instructions - I don’t think I would be much good! We enjoyed some cardamom tea and sesame seed biscuits here - mmmm.
Next up was Madaba. 5% of the people in Jordan are Christian, but 25% of Madaba’s 270,000 residents are Christian. Hakam said Jordan is unique in this region because people of different faiths live together in harmony and even celebrate each others’ traditions.
We went to the Greek Orthodox Church of St George, home to the famous map mosaic. Before entering, Hakam showed us a picture guide of the map and pointed out some features. It was like a smaller, mosaic version of the Bayeux Tapestry in France, but instead of telling me a story like Bayeux did, this was showing you geographical features in the area.
The mosaic is on the floor of the church and originally was thought to be between 15-25m wide and 6m high, containing 2 million tiny mosaic pieces. It was constructed in the 6th century, but was lost until 1884 when Christian builders stumbled across the remains of a Byzantine church when building theirs on the site. Considering it had been covered, forgotten about and survived fires, it still looks pretty good. But it makes sense that some parts are missing due to damage. We could still make out Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, Jericho, the Nile Delta, Mediterranean Sea, Mt Sinai and Karak.
Bound for Karak Castle next, the landscape changed. We went from dramatic mountainous roads to flat, dry desert. We had a falafel sandwich for lunch. I'm going to turn in to a falafel sandwich soon, I am eating so many! But this one like all the others was delicious. Full of much more dip than others I've had. Yum!
Once we arrived at Karak it was extremely windy, uncomfortably so. But the views and the castle were worth the trade off. Karak Castle was a Castle constructed by the crusaders in the 11th century during their campaigns to spread Christianity. There are two of these castles in Jordan including Karak, but Karak is the larger of the two. It originally had three levels but due to earthquake damage is only left with one today.
You could immediately see why the crusaders chose this location. At 1000m above sea level, the sweeping views from here would have allowed them to see incoming enemies for miles.
Saladin was a fighter against the crusaders. Born in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) he led an army resisting the crusaders and even held the Karak Castle under siege for 3-4 months before the crusaders surrendered. Eventually it was used by the Ottomans who continued to use it until 1916 as a military base. Lawrence of Arabia helped the people here and in many other parts of Jordan revolt against the Ottomans.
We walked around the complex seeing the kitchens including holes for letting smoke out, a jail and more. It was very interesting, but I didn’t go wandering further in my free time because it was so windy you couldn’t enjoy it.
The rest of the day was spent driving to Wadi Musa (meaning Valley of Moses - Moses stopped here on his way to Mt Nebo). Jason let me watch ‘The Martian’ on his iPad for the whole journey. It’s a movie with Matt Damon which was filmed in Wadi Rum where we will be on Tuesday. I hadn’t heard of it and soon realised why - it was released in 2015 when I was in England. Movies were £15/$30 to see in London and I was far too poor to shell that out, so I missed out on all the movies that year!!
Tonight we are having dinner at the hotel, and tomorrow a childhood dream will be realised. WE ARE GOING TO PETRA! I am so excited that I’ll probably cry when I see the Treasury. I’ve always wanted to go since I saw Petra in Indiana Jones (theme song has been on repeat on my iPod). I absolutely cannot wait!! Woohoo!! That’s why I strategically made Jordan country number 70, because I wanted to mark it with something I really really wanted to see.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
No comments:
Post a Comment