"Hallo," said the gun-toting soldier with a smile and a wave. His beaming, moustachioed face pressed in through the driver's window, his dark glasses reflecting our bemused expressions.
We were five miles from the Golan Heights on the Jordan side, on our way to visit the Roman town (and subsequent villages) at Umm Qais in northern Jordan. Earlier our driver had asked if we had our passports; we had both said "no" and indicated that, if we had been asked, we would have brought them. "Ah no problem," was the laconic answer, only to round the corner to see the sandy coloured Hum-Vee parked in the shade by the side of the road. A bored soldier was manning a ridiculously large machine gun and an equally bored soldier was standing in a sentry box in the middle of the road.
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| Umm Qais |
Bemused, we asked what had been said. Our driver stated that he had said that we were English (not strictly true since Mara is an American) and that most of the Jordanian Army officer corps had trained in England, and so had a liking for English tourists. Also he said that we didn't look like Iraqis or Syrians, whom weren't allowed in the border areas. With that we sped on. This was our second day in Jordan and it was turning out already to be a very interesting week...
You may recall that an Iraqi family wedding was bombed at the SAS Radisson in Amman - what was less reported was that bombs were also at the Holiday Inn and the Grand Hyatt, where we were staying. In order to gain the tourists' and businessmen's confidence, all the hotels had security posts, with guards and armed police. We went through the metal detectors, and all our luggage through an x-ray machine, but it was noticeable then and later that it was only when an Arab looking person set the detectors off that a search was done (always with a woman for woman and man for man).
Sunday morning in an Arabic country is the start of the working week. The hotel breakfast was a vast buffet with international and local foods, from foul (pronounced fool - chickpea and beans with garlic and olive oil to taste) to sarj (thin bread, almost pancake style, with thyme and oil filling, sometimes with tomatoes and cucumber). It was a great way to start a full day.
We started with a city tour of Amman, something that we hadn't wanted to spend much time on since there isn't a great deal to see. The main sites are the Citadel and the Roman amphitheatre.
We then headed out for a tour of three Desert Castles. Castles is a grand title, as they are more like lodges and houses dating from 800 AD to 1200 AD. The bit about the desert is accurate. It's much like the Mojave Desert in California, hot, windy, dry, featureless and treeless.
The first castle was Qasr al Harana, also known as Kharaneh, is one of the desert castles that appears to have been built with a genuine military purpose in mind, and was a basic square box from the outside. It sits on a wide plain with only a power station and listening station for company; it was a dramatic sight.
The second Qasr Amra is a small palace dating back to the early days of the Islamic Conquest and was more of a hunting lodge and was smaller than the first. This one dates from 800 AD and is covered with frescoes, including hunting scenes, domestic scenes and the night sky. The frescoes are in bad shape but much can still be made out. We were shown around by the guard and - after a French tour group left - he was happy to show us into closed rooms, to see the mosaics, sundials and frescoes. A small tip was accepted with many thanks.
The third Azraq was older (late Roman) and was once the winter HQ of Lawrence of Arabia; while we were really hot, apparently winter can be nasty. It was Lawrence that helped the locals overthrow the Ottoman Empire in the area in 1917-18, only to find that the British and French governments decided to make the area into a series of protectorates rather than grant independence. Thus Israel, Jordan and Iraq fell under British control. The big feature here is a door carved from a single piece of rock, some eight inches thick and weighting over two tonnes; it must have been difficult to move at the best of times.
We had a disappointing lunch - tourist trap really - and then went on to the last place that day the Roman town of Umm Al Jimal. This is a little visited (i.e. our guide Hussein was lost) location about five miles from the Syrian border. The town was Roman then occupied up to the 18th century, more a working town than others we were to see later. And what buildings - built out of dark basalt rock, they stood out clearly from the surrounding countryside. Hussein persuaded the guard to give us a tour. The four of us walked around the windswept site, towers and arches standing undisturbed - apparently only four other people visited the site that day. Some of the ruins were better than the major attractions we visited later. We would have liked to explore longer, but it was just beginning to get dark. It was a fantastic and unexpected site that would take a whole day to explore fully.
The following day found us (once past the check point) at Umm Qais. This is another Roman city (its main street over a mile long) with further villages built over parts of it. The theatre is a fine example with the best seats carved from a single piece of rock. Much of the main street still stands with many upright columns lining the route. The city is set on a hill overlooking both Israel and the Golan Heights and is thus fortified for the 20th century; it also overlooks the Sea of Galilee (or Lake Tiberius).
Heading back we briefly stopped at Ajloun Castle - a crusader castle that was taken by the Sal Al Ad-Din (Saladin) family. Damaged by earthquakes, it still represents a good example of 12th century crusader castle building and design.
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| Jerash |
At this point, our guide discussed earthquakes and explained how the Romans had used lead in the centre of the columns to allow the column to flex when shaken, but not break. Our guide placed a spoon on two small rocks and then wedged this under the edge of the nearest column. The spoon started to move up and down caused by the rocking movement of the column. He then placed his hand under the edge and motioned that we did this also. Now, I don't know about you, but putting your hand under 20 tonnes of 1800 year old column which is gently rocking is not the first thing you think of doing when you wake. It is, however, an amazing feeling, having your hand gently squeezed by 20 tonnes of rock moved by the wind.
However, Jerash was not the major wow that we had expected. We certainly enjoyed it, but it felt constrained after the freedom we had had to wander around in Umm Qais and Umm al Jimal.
We headed to Madaba to see the sixth century mosaic of the (then) known Christian world. Some large areas of the map are missing but the reminder is very clear. From here we went to Mt Nebo, from which it is believed Moses saw the Promised Land. There is a series of early Christian churches on the site, the last dating from around 700 AD and covered with some exquisite mosaics. Local and Danish archaeology teams maintain the site.
From here we visited the crusader castle at Karak. This is perhaps the most famous of the castles and covers a large area. Inside are huge underground stables and a market area, along with various churches and prison cells. After falling to Saladin following an 18 month siege, the castle was converted with a mosque and a larger keep. One final stop on the route for us was Showbak castle. Another crusader castle that fell not long after Karak, it is smaller and less restored/cleared out than Karak and so offers the chance to clamber into its small dark passageways.
The next morning we headed for Petra. Petra is known for the image of the Treasury, that pink stone building curved out of the rock which is, perhaps, most famous from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The Natabateans built the first city in the 1st Century BC, and it was surrendered to the Romans in the 1st Century AD. Some buildings were converted to churches in the mid-5th century and it was destroyed in the late 6th Century by an earthquake. It is unusual for the Middle East, since there are no mosques on the site. Also, early Bronze Age material has been found. The saying is that only 20% of the site has been found; the other 80% is still there under the dust.
The visit starts at the Visitors Centre where tickets are purchased for entry and for the horses. There is a nice little scam that all tours must buy tickets for the horses for the first 800 yards down to the beginning of the canyon leading into Petra. We said we wouldn't ride them, given the alleged ill treatment of horses - but from what we saw they are making efforts to improve this. Really the only abuse we saw was a donkey carrying a very overweight woman up to the Monastery!
As you walk the first 800 yards you pass a number of carved tombs - all the rock is soft sandstone - and, as you notice the first tomb, so you notice more spreading across the hillsides. There is an elaborate tomb curved with three obelisks above the entry, another seemingly in a cone shape.
You cross the wadi and over the dam, first built in the 1st century BC to keep water and flash floods out of the siq, which drops down and travels for 1,200 yards before opening on to the Treasury. The siq is lined with a pipe system and gutter system to bring water into the city and some of the Roman pavement still covers the ground. There are a few carvings including four camels and guide, altars and reliefs.
By the time you arrive at the opening, which looks straight on to the Treasury you have walked 2,000 yards, over a mile. The Treasury is fantastic and takes the breath away. You cannot go in it, and the numbers of people milling around in a confined space make it quite noisy. However, there are other tombs all around the area. We were told that some people go no further having reached the here, but this is just the beginning. A tomb can be a square hole, opening into a hollowed out room, or a huge facade cut out of the rock with two or three rooms behind. There isn't a standard tomb. Noting remains inside them, but in one tomb in Little Petra there are some frescos on the walls and ceilings - the only ones known to remain.
Heading further along the canyon are more tombs large and small, high and low. In a moment you notice the whole canyon is honeycombed with them. A little further brings you to an amphitheatre (seating for over 2,000), again carved out of the rock, with tombs above the theatre. Further still and over on the right a little distance away are three further enormous tombs. Then the road goes left, which leads on to the Roman main street, perhaps 2/3 of a mile long. This has the remains of arches, temples, baths, theatres and markets lining the route with, on the right, a short distance away, two sets of early Christian church remains. Leading down the road over to the left are the remains of a crusader castle. The street terminates at a small restaurant complex.
From here it is a further 11/2 miles (and 800 steps up) to the Monastery, another carved building similar in design but much bigger than the Treasury. The rock colours go from a sandy colour to a pink colour, with some amazing colours produced by water seeping through and leeching out minerals. In Little Petra this is mainly magnesium. Throughout the hills are numerous tombs, some plain, some massive, some almost overwhelming, all empty and with a staggering amount of rock removed.
As an example the Monastery is 40 yards wide and 45 yards high, carved out of a rock face. The rock has gone back some 25 yards from its natural edge at its widest point. Inside the tomb is a room over 15 yards high and 25 yards wide and 20 yards deep.
My favourite memory is standing on the hill overlooking the Roman street and looking around us at all the shaped stones laying around us, noticing the faint layers of walls, the pieces of terracotta pottery. Over that was the sound of the goat and sheep bells of the local bedouins’ flocks, the snorts of the camels and donkeys that gave rides long the canyons and Roman street and finally the sounds of the local kids trying to sell trinkets and postcards.
It was a total adventure that was played out under clear blue skies with 28C heat and a relative humidity as low as 50%, walking miles and going up and down hundreds of steps and numerous hillsides. We wouldn't have missed it for the world.
First published in VISA issue 78 (Apr 2008)
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