Trip to Jordan

We went out on the road today to see related sites. These include the Jordanian National Park that is located at the baptism site of Jesus.

It was a very well done area, there is a winding foot trail through undergrowth adjacent to the river for several hundred yards, it is a pleasant well kempt dirt path, and adds a quiet solitude to the journey. There are a number of Byzentine historic features along the way. Then one reaches the banks of the Jordan, and there is a sensational experience of being able to actually reach out and touch the same flowing waters that were there when Jesus was baptized.
I got to touch the waters personally at this point . . .

Then we went on to Umm Ar Rasas, once also a thriving Christian community in the Byzantine era. There are many spectacular ruins.

Kareen suggested I ride a camel while out here, well, here's the best I could come up with, sure fits the territory!

Over the last several days we have been meeting with people in the office here and also going out to Madaba to see staff in the field, meet experts, and observe the sites of the town. Our goal is to develop exciting tour features, brochures, text panels, short movies, guide's text books, audio tours etc. At one point we had lunch with the local staff and experts in central Madaba, it was an excellent experience!

We met a number of Jordanian specialists assigned to this project, and they took us out to the Madaba site for the afternoon.

It is a truly remarkable world class site, rich with archaeology, architecture, and human history, with special focus on the resilliance of Christian culture in ancient and present Jordan. There are many highlights, but one of the most prevalent is the mosaic map at St. George's church.

This map shows the communities of the region during the first century of Christianity.

The Madaba area was selected during the Byzangtine era to be a Christian site, and the mosaic map was constructed at that time into the floor of a Christain church. Indeed, the town was prosperous and an authentic paved Roman roadway still remains in the vicintiy of the major antiquities in Central Madaba. Since Christianity predates Islam, it is interesting to note that both faiths coincided comfortably side-by-side in the ancient days, and then likewise today as well. There were some 15 churches functioning in Madaba during the height of its ancient days. Madaba dissapeared from the scene sometime after the sixth centrury AD, and was rediscovered by an Arab Christian community relocating from another vicinty nearby in the late 1880s.

It was by chance (or more likely fate) that they decided to build their new church on the exact location where the ancient mosaic map floor was located, and found it while excivating during that consturction. Hence, they incorporated that old floor with the map into the current floor of the church. As we say, truth is always stranger than fiction, and this was a truly amazing coincidence.

We arrived at 4am this morning, so it already feels like a double day. I rember as a kid my dad talking about his Navy days, and when he had 4 hour on, 4 hour off "watches" whiched repeated for many days on end. That's kinda like what I feel like I am doing, and so far it is working out ok to keep ahead of any jet lag, readjustment. Amman is a busy city,

some changes since I saw it 10 years ago, but much the same. We visiten the Citidel, a very moving ancient hilltop site, with intact Roman columns and remains of both Byzantine chaples and ancient Mosques, truly a land of multiple heritages.

A highlight was seeing several pages of the authentic Dead Sea Scrolls on display in the Museum at the Citidel.

The last few days have centered around preparing for departure. I have been able to meet with several people who have direct connections with Jordan, including Bristow and Jami Hood, and a graduate student named Marwan from Jordan who works in our office. They all had positive things to offer regarding my trip, and will offer connections with individuals in Jordan that will be helpful. A site that is worth visition is http://www.siyaha.org/v1/main.php. This site provides much detail on the Jordanian entity that is assisting with our project.