Jordan

In November 2022, I travelled to Jordan with Charlie Waite on another Lightandland organised trip. Our first stop was at Jerash, home to Gerasa, one of the best preserved Greco-Roman cities and one of the most visited sites in Jordan. Ancient Greek inscriptions suggest that the city was founded by Alexander the Great and his general Perdiccas, who allegedly settled aged Macedonian soldiers there during the spring of 331 BC, when he left Egypt and crossed Syria en route to Mesopotamia. However, other sources, namely the city's former name of "Antioch on the Chrysorrhoas", point to a founding by Seleucid King Antioch IV, while still others attribute the founding to Ptolemy II of Egypt. After the Roman conquest in 63 BC, Jerash and the land surrounding it were annexed to the Roman province of Syria. In 106 AD, it was absorbed into the Roman province of Arabia, which included the cities of Philadelphia (modern day Amman), Petra and Bostra. The Romans ensured security and peace in this area, which enabled its people to devote their efforts and time to economic development and encouraged civic building activity. Jerash is considered one of the largest and most well-preserved sites of Roman architecture in the world outside Italy and is sometimes misleadingly referred to as the "Pompeii of the Middle East", referring to its size, extent of excavation and level of preservation.

We then visited the Citadel and Roman amphitheatre in Amman and walk the streets. The citadel is an archeological site at the centre of Amman on one of the seven hills (jabals) that originally made up Amman. It has a long history of occupation by many great civilizations. The hill became the capital of the Kingdom of Ammonsometime after 1200 BC. It later came under the sway of empires such as the Neo-Assyrian Empire (8th c. BC), Neo-Babylonian Empire(6th c. BC), the Ptolemies, the Seleucids (3rd c. BC), Romans (1st c. BC), Byzantines (3rd c. AD) and the Umayyads (7th c. AD). After the Umayyads, came a period of decline and for much of the time until 1878 as the former city became an abandoned pile of ruins only sporadically used by Bedouins and seasonal farmers. Despite this gap, the Citadel of Amman is considered to be among the world's oldest continuously inhabited places. Most of the structures still visible at the site are from the Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad periods. The major remains at the site are the Temple of Hercules, a Byzantine church, and the Umayyad Palace. Archaeologists have been working at the site since the 1920s, including Italian, British, French, Spanish, and Jordanian projects, but a great part of the Citadel remains unexcavated.

We then travelled south, a drive of 3 1/2 hours, and spent two nights at Wadi Musa to visit the fabulous ruins of Petra and Little Petra, which must be the highlight of any trip to Jordan. Access to Petra is through a 1.2 km gorge called the Siq in some points no more than 3 m wide. It is a natural geological fault split apart by tectonic forces, later worn smooth by water. The walls that enclose it are between 91 and 182 m high. The entrance contains a huge dam, reconstructed in 1963 and again in 1991, designed to bar its mouth and reroute the waters of the Wadi Musa river. The dam is a fairly true reconstruction of what the Nabataeans did to control the Wadi Musa in the 1st c. BC. The entrance also contains the remnants of a monumental arch, of which only the two abutments and some hewn stones of the arch itself have survived. The Siq was used as the grand caravan entrance into Petra. Along both walls of the fissure are a number of votive niches containing baetyli, which suggest that the Siq was sacred to the Nabatean people. In 1998, a group of statues were uncovered when digging was conducted to lower the road by more than 2 m. Although the upper part is greatly eroded, it is still possible to recognise the figures of two merchants, each leading two camels. The figures are almost twice life size.

Petra is also called the "Rose City" because of the colour of the stone from which it is carved. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. Towards the bottom of the Siq, the gorge dramatically opens up on to Al-Khazneh ("The Treasury"), one of the most elaborate temples in Petra. As with most of the other buildings in this ancient town, including the Monastery ("Ad Deir"), this structure was carved out of a sandstone rock face. The structure is believed to have been the mausoleum of the Nabatean King Aretas IV in the 1st c. AD. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in both Jordan and the region. It became known as "Al-Khazneh", or The Treasury, in the early 19th century by the area's Bedouins as they had believed it contained treasures. Its name derived from legends regarding the decorative stone urn high on the second level, which in reality is solid sandstone. One legend is that the Egyptian Pharaoh and some of his army escaped the closing of the Red Sea, created the Khazneh by magic as a safe place for his treasury and continued in his pursuit of Moses. This led to the name Khazneh el-Far'oun, "Treasury of the Pharaoh". Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt wrote of another local legend that "ancient pharoanic treasures" were hidden in the urn. Significant damage from bullets can be seen on the urn, which the Jordanian government attributes to Bedouins who believed the legend. Many of the building's architectural details have eroded away during the two thousand years since it was sculpted from the cliff. The sculptures are thought to be those of various mythological figures associated with the afterlife. On top are figures of four eagles that would carry away the souls. The figures on the upper level are dancing Amazons with double-axes. The entrance is flanked by statues of the twins Castor and Pollux who lived partly on Olympus and partly in the underworld. In contrast to the elaborate facade, the interior comprises a plain main chamber and three antechambers with interior volume of around 2,000 m3.

The area around Petra has been inhabited from as early as 7000 BC and the Nabataeans might have settled in what would become the capital city of their kingdom as early as the 4th c. BC. The Nabataeans were nomadic Arabs who invested in Petra's proximity to the incense trade routes by establishing it as a major regional trading hub. The trading business gained the Nabataeans considerable revenue and Petra became the focus of their wealth. The Nabataeans were accustomed to living in the barren deserts, unlike their enemies, and were able to repel attacks by taking advantage of the area's mountainous terrain. They were particularly skillful in harvesting rainwater, agriculture and stone carving. Petra flourished in the 1st c. AD, when its Al-Khazneh structure was constructed, and its population peaked at an estimated 20,000 inhabitants. Although the Nabataean kingdom became a client state of the Roman Empire in the 1st c. BC, it was only in 106 AD that it lost its independence. Petra's importance declined as sea trade routes emerged, and after an earthquake in 363 destroyed many structures. In the Byzantine era, several Christian churches were built, but the city continued to decline, and by the early Islamic era it was abandoned except for a handful of nomads. It remained unknown until it was rediscovered in 1812 by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.

Some of these images are of Little Petra, also known as Siq al-Barid, an archaeological site located north of Petra and the town of Wadi Musa. Like Petra, it is a Nabataean site, with buildings carved into the walls of the sandstone canyons. As its name suggests, it is much smaller, consisting of three wider open areas connected by a 450 m canyon. It is part of the Petra Archeological Park, though accessed separately, and included in Petra's inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I also include here some more images around Petra illustrating the wonderful rock formations. These sandstone layers were key to the choice of this location, the scale of its monuments, the fine architectural details and its good state of preservation. Most of Petra monuments were carved in two layers of sandstone referred to as “Disi Sandstone”, in the upper parts of the site, and “Umm Ishrin sandstone” below it, together dated to the Paleozoic period, 540 to 260 million years ago. To create this Petra sandstone in these brilliant tones, nature used various iron and manganese oxides, together with hydroxide minerals within the sandstone. From the Visitor Centre down to the Siq, you are surrounded by the upper “Disi sandstone”, hard and pale gray, transported by ancient rivers, 520 to 490 million years ago, forming this thick sand-bed under the water of a shallow sea that covered all of Jordan. Carved out of this layer are the monuments of the Djin Blocks, Snakes Tomb and Obelisk Tomb. At the entrance of the Siq starts the older layer “Umm Ishrin sandstone”. The rest of the monuments of Petra, including Ad Deir were carved out of this layer. Some 20 million years older than the layer above, it is easily recognized by its beautiful patterns that look like abstract paintings. Rising humidity exposes the most stunning patterns: stripes, in dramatic brown, red, orange, mauve and gray all grouped and braded in bands, a rhythmic deposition of sand, formed by a river system 540 million years ago.

The Monastery ("Ad Deir") is a monumental building carved out of the rock probably in the 1st c. AD. It is located high in the hills northwest of the Petra city centre and is reached by ascending a 800 step path (90 minute walking time ). The huge facade, the inner chamber and the other structures next to it or in the wider area probably originally served a complex religious purpose and was possibly repurposed as a church in the Byzantine period. Scholars believe that the flat area in front of the Monastery was levelled through human action in order to make the area suitable for social gatherings or religious occasions. The rock-cut façade of the Monastery, 47 m high and 48 m wide, has a broken pediment, the two sides of which flank a central tholos-shaped element. This element has a conical roof that is topped by an urn.

Al B’doul, a Bedouin tribe that used to live in Petra, claim to be descended from the Nabataeans who occupied this land at the end of the Roman Empire. They lived among the tombs and caves for over 170 years. But after Petra became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the mid-1980s, many B’doul were forced to abandon their semi-nomadic life for the nearby, purpose-built settlement of Um Sayhoun, where they still live today. The B’doul go to Petra every day to act as tour guides and provide local colour from music and entertainment to camel and donkey rides. They feel a strong attachment to the site and some still cling to Bedouin life in the ancient valley. Our guide Mahmoud was born one of twelve children, in a cave in Petra but now lives with his family in Um Sayhoun. He invited us for dinner made by Fatima, his wife. Her mother made shrak bread and we had a traditional dinner of Maqlouba. Mahmoud’s children were also there – Tameem, Soundos and Dalia (the youngest). They thrive catering for visiting archaeologists.

Here is a precise of an article in the National Geographic magazine:

"After Petra was designated a World Heritage site in 1985, the Jordanian government began efforts to relocate the resident Bdoul from Petra to the new village of Um Sayhoun nearby. Many, especially families with children, liked being closer to schools and hospitals but others like Mofleh Bdou didn’t want to give up their traditional lifestyle, and in any case, the supply of housing in the village was limited so the people who did not have housing guaranteed to them stayed in the park. According to Mofleh, before the construction of Um Sayhoun, there were about 150 families living inside Petra; now there are around 10, and he is the only one left in the center of the park. “I like it here, it’s better,” he says. “If you live in the city, maybe you don’t walk all day.” Nada Al Hassan of UNESCO said that they are working with Jordanian authorities and local communities to define a management plan for Petra that will balance “the conservation imperatives of the site; local community needs, their sense of ownership and belonging; local communities’ livelihoods; [and] sustainable tourism practices that do not hinder the site’s integrity and authenticity". Like most of the Bdoul, Mofleh relies on the tourist economy. Many Bdoul sell souvenirs and donkey rides in the main tourist drag. Mofleh offers tea, conversation and sometimes lunch to the visitors who venture off the main road and stumble across his dwelling. He collects a few dinars from the tea and makes small stone carvings to sell. Sometimes he offers tours. But as much as he relies on the cash that visitors bring, he also offers hospitality for its own sake. Shannon Mouillesseaux from New York stumbled upon Mofleh’s cave during a trip to Petra. After striking up a conversation, Mofleh spent two hours showing Mouillesseaux and her friend his favorite sights on the back trails of Petra. He refused to take money or even lunch in return, she said. “Once he started talking, you realized he was someone who had so much to share and really wants people to appreciate Petra and the culture and the history,” she said. “It’s amazing that he’s remained and it’s to their benefit if you ask me.”

We left Petra for the long drive down country to Wadi Rum, in part using the Kings Highway. Our first stop gives us an overview below of the Petra sited illustrates how well hidden it was to the casual observer. The Kings highway road was a trade route of vital importance in the ancient Near East, connecting Africa with Mesopotamia. It ran from Egypt across the Sinai Peninsula to Aqaba, then turned northward across Transjordan, to Damascus and the Euphrates River.

The Nabataeans used the road as a trade route for luxury goods such as frankincense and spices from southern Arabia. It was possibly the cause of their war with Hasmonean Alexander Jannaeus and with Iturea in the beginning of the 1st c. BC. During the Roman period, the road was called Via Regia. Emperor Trajan rebuilt and renamed it Via Traiana Nova, under which name it served as a military and trade road along the fortified Limes Arabicus (Desert frontier).

In the Byzantine period, the road was an important pilgrimage route for Christians, as it passed next to Mount Nebo, Moses' death and burial site according to the Bible. Another road connected it with Jerusalem passing by Livias and the traditional site of Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist on the Jordan River, known today in Arabic as al-Maghtas, and on via Jericho.

During Muslim rule from the 7th century, the road was the main Hajj route from Syria to Mecca until the Ottoman Turks built the Tariq al-Bint in the 16th century. During the Crusader period, use of the road was problematic. The road passed through the province of Oultrejordain of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. During periods of truce, the Hajj caravans were usually left unharmed by the Crusader lords of Oultrejourdain; however, Raynald of Châtillon attacked and plundered the pilgrims twice.

So basically, a road with a long history. We stopped by the road side at this second location below and had a long discussion about composition using the V shapes and curves before proceeding to Wadi Rum.

At Wadi Rum, we stayed in a desert camp similar to that shown below. We had a late buffet lunch before the first of a number of a jeep tours with our jeep drivers Abu Laith and Khaled. On one such trip, we stopped at a camel station where camel trains, operated by local Bedouin, run trips for tourists (We did not take the offer up). We had the opportunity however to take photos of the camels and paid the guide to lead his train backwards and forwards several times in front of the cliff face. Wadi Rum has been inhabited since prehistoric times, with many cultures, including our old friends the Nabataeans, leaving their mark in the form of petroglyphs, inscriptions, and a temple. In the West, Wadi Rum may be best known for its connection with British officer T. E. Lawrence, "Lawrence of Arabia", who passed through several times during the Arab Revolt of 1917–18 Desert scenes of Wadi Rum in Lawrence of Arabia from 1962 kick-started Jordan's tourism industry and it is now one of Jordan's most popular tourist sites. It is home to the Zalabieh tribe, who developed adventure tourism and services including 4x4 tours, camel rides, camping under the stars, riding Arabian horses, hiking and rock-climbing throughout the protected area. They provide tours, guides, accommodation and facilities. They also run restaurants and small shops in the villages that provide meals and basic supplies for visitors. Their guides have an unmatched knowledge of the local area and often speak fluently in two languages or more. This enables people to continue earning a living from the land and helps to ensure that the protected area remains protected. Our guide, Abu Laith, demonstrated his skill by tea and bread making along the way. And very photogenic it is.

For centuries the Nabataeans moved goods in the desert by camel caravan. The camel was the backbone of their merchant enterprise. They etched graffiti on many of the rocks and wadi walls bearing reference to or pictures of camels. The camel is not of Arab origin despite its long connection with Arab life. Before its domestication, the camel was unknown in Arabia. There is a good possibility that the camels of Arabia were originated in North Africa. The earliest known representation of the camel dates back to the Stone Age in two carvings in Kilwa in Jordan and is of the same single humped variety known today as the Arabian camel. It seems that the camel must have been domesticated in North Africa and then made its way into Arabia during antiquity. There are many biblical references to camels. It seems that by this time the camel was already an indispensable part of Arabian life. Arab poets have often called the camel the ‘ship of the desert.” Long ago, Saydah Dhu alRumma said that his she-camel was a safiinat al-barr or land ship. His poem stated “a land-ship whose reins beneath my cheek are passed.” The camel has several features that make it ideally suited to desert life. Its feet have wide pads with slimly built legs that help it move easily over the desert. It can tolerate thirst for long periods, and can eat the tough thorny shrubs in the desert that even sheep and goats pass over. This is possible because their lips have tough stiff hair that permits it to nose through thorny plants. Its mouth is also specially adapted to chewing and digesting these thorny bushes. The Bedouin use the camel for many purposes, including transport, meat, milk, and skins. There are two main types, the two-humped camel known as the Bactrian (Camelus bactrianus) and the Arabian/North African one-humped camel known as the dromedary (camelus dromedarius). During the winter, the camel can go fifty days without being watered, while in the heat of the summer it may only go five days. In winter the camel can graze on the many green plants which contain enough moisture to enable the camel to go without water. However, if it had a choice, the camel would water every couple of days in the winter and every day in the summer. Many Bedouin water their camels only every three days. Camels are given water to drink in the evening, and then again on the morning of the second day, and then after three days. Camels watered in this way are called khamiir. A thirsty camel can drink up to eighty litres of water in one session, and can drink up to twenty litres in one minute. The Bedouin often sing or chant while the camels drink, as they believe it helps them drink to their full. The camel is usually amber brown in color, but there are many white and black camels as well. It is common for Arabs to name their camels after some characteristic of the camel, such as its colour, speed etc. The camel seems to lack the perception that wild animals have, for finding its own food. Often Bedouin go with their camels to show them where foraging may be found. Other times, when the camels are reasonably well fed, they are simply allowed to wander. They may go for several days, before they return to their master for water. The Bedouin consider that there are two types of camels: common camels and thoroughbreds. The thoroughbred camel comes from a long line of careful breeding for speed, size and strength. The Bedouin have also produced a race of excellent camels that have been used down through the centuries as war animals.

We visited one Bedouin camp sheltered by protruding rock formations on three of its sides to protect it from the strong desert winds. One interesting feature in this particular camp are the carvings of the faces of Lawrence of Arabia, Prince Abdullah Bin Al Hussein and the Bedouin Sheik Odah Abu Taeh, key personalities in the Arab Revolt of 1917-18. Lawrence used Wadi Rum as a base to camp away from Ottoman eyes and also to meet with the local Bedouins in the region to arrange a joint attack to capture Aqaba. King Abdullah, the founder of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, was a monumental figure in the newly emerging era of the contemporary Arab World. He was one of the first Arab leaders to adopt a system of constitutional monarchy following the formation of his country. Under the Hashemite banner, he led the Arab forces of the Great Arab Revolt with his brothers Ali, Feisal and Zeid against the Ottoman occupational forces. By the end of the First World War, they had liberated Damascus, modern Jordan and most of the Arabian peninsula. Following this conquest, Emirs Abdullah and Feisal assumed the thrones of Transjordan and Iraq respectively. Transjordan was formed in 1921 when King Abdullah established the first centralized government from a mostly tribal and nomadic society. Over the next thirty years, he focused on nation-building the institutional foundations of modern Jordan. He sought autonomy and independence, promulgating Jordan’s first constitution in 1928 and holding elections for its first parliament in 1929. He presided over a series of Anglo-Transjordanian treaties culminating in the March 22, 1946 Anglo-Transjordanian Treaty, ending the British mandate, gaining full independence and changing the name of the country to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He was assassinated in 1951 by a lone gunman on the steps of one of the holiest shrines of Islam, and the jewel of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In the 1980s, as a marketing gimmick I suspect, one of the rock formations in Wadi Rum, originally known as "Jabal al-Mazmar" (The "Mountain of the Plague"), was renamed "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" after Lawrence's book penned in the aftermath of the First World War, though the 'Seven Pillars' referred to in the book have no connection with Rum (It comes from Proverbs). The first problem is that I can only see five columns.

Lawrence described his entrance into the Valley of Rumm: "The hills on the right grew taller and sharper, a fair counterpart of the other side which straightened itself to one massive rampart of redness. They drew together until only two miles divided them: and then, towering gradually till their parallel parapets must have been a thousand feet above us, ran forward in an avenue for miles. The crags were capped in nests of domes, less hotly red than the body of the hill; rather grey and shallow. They gave the finishing semblance of Byzantine architecture to this irresistible place: this processional way greater than imagination." Lawrence also described his encounter with the spring, Ain Shalaaleh, "On the rock-bulge above were clear-cut Nabathaean inscriptions, and a sunk panel incised with a monogram or symbol. Around and about were Arab scratches, including tribe-marks, some of which were witnesses of forgotten migrations: but my attention was only for the splashing of water in a crevice under the shadow of the overhanging rock. I looked in to see the spout, a little thinner than my wrist, jetting out firmly from a fissure in the roof, and falling with that clean sound into a shallow, frothing pool, behind the step which served as an entrance. Thick ferns and grasses of the finest green made it a paradise just five feet square."

On the second day of our visit, we crossed the main highway into Disi to the Mushroom Rock and watched the sunset from the top of a tall sand dune, which we then drove down. I waa pleased about that because there are few great sand dunes in this part of the park, it is instead rather flat and less interesting.

On our last day we also visited the Hejaz railway museum. The Hejaz railway was a narrow-gauge railway that ran from Damascus to Medina, through the Hejazregion of modern day Saudi Arabia, with a branch line to Haifa on the Mediterranean. It was a part of the Ottoman railway network and the original goal was to extend the line from Istanbul to Damascus and Mecca, the destination of the Hajj annual pilgrimage, to improve the economic and political integration of the distant Arabian provinces into the Ottoman state and to facilitate the transportation of military forces. However, although reaching 1,300 km, construction was interrupted due to the outbreak of World War I. During the war, the line was repeatedly attacked and damaged, particularly during the Arab Revolt, when Ottoman trains were ambushed by the guerrilla force led by T. E. Lawrence and the railway was effectively abandoned by 1920.

On day seven, we checked out of the Wadi Rum camp and headed north towards the Dead Sea before turning off towards Tafilah and then on towards Dana for lunch at an hotel, a convenient mid trip pit stop. Dana is a village near the city of Tafilah in central-western Jordan. It is situated on the edge of Wadi Dana, a large natural canyon, and has views over Wadi Araba. It is host to Dana Biosphere Reserve, one of Jordan's premiere nature reserves. The modern village of Dana has been occupied for approximately 500 years. According to some sources, the village was built by Bedouins from Hebron, Palestine, who settled the area during the Ottoman period and were members of a tribe called Al 'Ata'ata. The perhaps 6,000 years of prior human occupation at the site included Paleolithic, Edomite, Assyrian, Egyptian, Nabataean, and Roman cultures, taking advantage of its easily-defensible topographical position, fertile soil, and water. Supposedly it preserves many aspects of Jordanian villages of the 19th century. There is some rustically charming accomodation here and it is popular for hiking, although in part abandoned and in poor repair. We wanderered around and I took photos of doors. We also noted a number of wall paintings in a local Canadian funded playground, designed to encourage the locals to recycle.

From Dana we then headed down the windy road towards the Dead Sea, 400m below sea level, and followed the Dead Sea highway, stopping at a number of places for photo opportunities before proceeding to the Hilton International Dead Sea Resort and Spa for the night. It is a rather grand resort and conference centre but I thought it rather naff but probably inevitable that sand need to be imported to make up a beach. The following morning, we had the opportunity to float, which is about as much as is possible in this water. The next day, we revisit locations along the shore and took a variety of photos including some of the salty rocks. The Dead Sea is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and its main tributary is the Jordan River. The lake's surface is 430.5 m below sea level, making its shores the lowest land-based elevation on Earth. It is 304 m deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. With a salinity of 342 g/kg, or 34.2% (in 2011), it is one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, 9.6 times as salty as the ocean, and has a density of 1.24 kg/litre, which makes swimming similar to floating. This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea's main, northern basin is 50 km long and 15 km wide at its widest point. It has attracted visitors for thousands of years. It was one of the world's first health resorts(for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from asphalt for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilisers. It is receding at a swift rate; its surface area today is 605 km2, down from 1,050 km2 in 1930. Multiple canal and pipeline proposals, such as the scrapped Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance project, have been made to reduce its recession. The Dead Sea has a hot desert climate with year-round sunny skies and dry air. It has less than 50 mm mean annual rainfall and a summer average temperature between 32 and 39 °C and winter between 20 and 23 °C. Until the winter of 1978–79, when a major mixing event took place, it was composed of two stratified layers of water that differed in temperature, density, age, and salinity. The topmost 35 m or so had an average salinity of about 30%, and a temperature between 19 °C and 37 °C. Underneath a zone of transition, the lowest level of the Dead Sea had waters of a consistent 22 °C, salinity of over 34%, and complete saturation of sodium chloride. Since the water near the bottom is saturated with salt, it precipitates out of solution onto the sea floor. Beginning in the 1960s, water inflow to the Dead Sea from the Jordan River was reduced as a result of large-scale irrigation and generally low rainfall. By 1975, the upper water layer was saltier than the lower layer. Nevertheless, the upper layer remained suspended above the lower layer because its waters were warmer and thus less dense. When the upper layer cooled so its density was greater than the lower layer, the waters mixed (1978–79). For the first time in centuries, the lake was a homogeneous body of water. Since then, stratification has begun to redevelop. Aristotle wrote about the remarkable waters. The Nabateans and others discovered the value of the globs of natural asphalt that constantly floated to the surface where they could be harvested with nets. The Egyptians were steady customers, as they used asphalt in the embalmingprocess that created mummies. The Ancient Romans knew the Dead Sea as "Palus Asphaltites" ("Asphalt Lake"). It was an important trade route and many anchorages existed on both sides of the sea. King Herod built or rebuilt several fortresses and palaces on the western bank, the most famous was Masada, where in 70 AD a small group of Jewish zealots fled after the fall of the destruction of the Second Temple. The zealots survived until 73 AD, when a siege by the X Legion ended in the deaths by suicide of its 960 inhabitants. Various sects of Jews settled in caves overlooking the Dead Sea. The best known of these are the Essenes of Qumran, who left an extensive library known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Dating from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD, the Scrolls are considered to be a keystone in the history of archaeology with great historical, religious and linguistic significance because they include the oldest surviving manuscripts of entire books later included in the biblical canons, along with deuterocanonical and extra-biblical manuscripts which preserve evidence of the diversity of religious thought in late Second Temple Judaism.

We left the Dead Sea to travel to Madaba, our final stay. We stopped on the way for a photo of some trees on a hill high above the Dead Sea. Madaba is best known for its mosaics, especially a Byzantine-era mosaic map of the Holy Land. The Madaba Mosaic Map is a map of the region dating from the 6th century and preserved in the floor of the Greek Orthodox Basilica of Saint George, sometimes called the "Church of the Map". With two million pieces of coloured stone, the map depicts hills and valleys, villages and towns in Palestine and the Nile Delta. The mosaic contains the earliest extant representation of Byzantine Jerusalem, labeled the "Holy City." The map provides important details about its 6th c. landmarks, with the cardo, or central colonnaded street, and the church of the Holy Sepulchre clearly visible. This map is one key in developing scholarly knowledge about the physical layout of Jerusalem after its destruction and rebuilding in 70 AD. We took photos in the church, shopped for mosaics and flew home next day.