Gunthers in Jerusalem : Monday - Thursday 3 - 6 November 2014 Jordan Field Trip

Monday, November 3, 2014, we went with the students and faculty to Jordan. We left at 7:00 a.m. so we could be some of the first in line at the King Hussein Bridge (Allenby Bridge) crossing into Jordan. The bridge goes across the Jordan River which is not very big. Most of the water has been diverted for agriculture before it gets to the Dead Sea.

We entered Jordan with a thorough inspection. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to go through the checkpoint. We reloaded into a Jordanian bus and met our Jordanian tour guide, Mohammed.

This is the landscape entering Jordan. There were small clusters of Bedouin tents along the way.

Mount Nebo is a peak on the west Jordanian Plateau facing the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. We drove a steep road to get there and looked out at cities below.

At Mt. Nebo there was a Byzantine basilica built to honor Moses as he viewed the Land of Canaan. This monument represented Moses' staff with a serpent.

View from Mt. Nebo: Dead Sea, Jordan Valley, and Judean Wilderness. This area was ruled by the Amorites, whom Moses defeated. To visualize the Promised Land, Moses was taken atop Mt. Nebo, where he viewed the Holy Land.

Mosaics of exotic animals from Mt. Nebo church

As were driving through Madaba, we saw a shop keeper weighing chickens. She was having a hard time keeping them all in the bucket at the same time. It reminded me of how different some things are here.

Madaba was the last water stop from Petra along the Kings Highway before reaching Amman.

In the St. George Church at Madaba, part of the mosaic floor is a map of the Holy Land. Historians have used it to reconstruct the Near East during the Byzantine time period.

The mosaics on the wall were from the early 1900's.

This part of the map shows Bethlehem.

This part shows the Jordan River. The mosaic map had east as the top.

An exhibit outside showed the map in detail with a map key.

Notice the flat topped barren hill. That is Machaerus, a fortress originally built by the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus and later rebuilt by Herod the Great. It is the traditional site where John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded by Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great.

It overlooks the Dead Sea and is about 15 miles SE of where the Jordan River empties into the Dead Sea.

A modern road leads to the top of Machaerus on one side and a Roman seige ramp is on the west side.

Herod built an aqueduct and cistern system to have water in the wilderness, similar to the one at Masada.

John the Baptist may have bee held captive here.

The fortress was built to defend Perea against the Nabataeans in Petra. It was destroyed by the Romans in 58 BC. Herod the Great rebuilt the fortress around 30 BC.

Bedouin caves and tents are scattered throughout the area.

We had brief showers and then the sun broke through.

Linda with Jordanian Police and tour guide Mohammad

Jill Anderson and Linda in a Wadi Mousa hotel, Petra Panorama Hotel.

The next day we went to Petra. In the 5th century BC commerce-minded Nabataeans moved into this area. Petra became the center of a Roman province called Nabataea and was later inhabited by Byzantine Christians. Rain erosion has carved many narrow gullies like this one leading into Petra.

The entry into Petra has worship stations like this niche for a Nabataean god.

Horse draw carriages took some tourists to the Treasury.

One of the niches was a site of marriage rituals.

The first peek of the Treasury was amazing.

The Treasury is Petra's most famous tomb. The Nabataean elite were buried in rock-cut tombs with carved facades.

Camel rides and photo-ops were a real attraction.

We were not allowed to ride donkeys which was probably a good idea.

King Aretas IV's theater is still used for concerts. Pavaroti sang here.

The Roman ruins of Petra are surpassed only by those at Rome. Roman General Pompey made Nabataea a client state. In a Herod-like role as a puppet ruler, Nabataean King Aretas IV created Roman facilities at Petra, including a theatre, cardo and temples.

This is the cardo, or a Roman road that had pillars on either side.

The hike to the Monastery was a series of steep steps and....

little Bedouin shops along the way.

The rock formations were beautiful and reminded me of the parks in Southern Utah.

The Monastery was about a 45 minute hike beyond the Treasury.

Blaine and Linda inside the monastery.

David Whitchurch and Blaine hiked beyond the Monastery to a scenic lookout.

It may be an ancient civilization, but cell phones are everywhere.

and so are donkeys and horses.

At the Petra Basin Restaurant with Tina Whitchurch, Gaye Strathearn, Linda, and David Whitchurch.

The Petra Great Temple was built over 2,000 years ago and was discovered by Brown University in 1992. Excavation was started in 1993 and continues today.

Petra Great Temple

Petra Great Temple from behind the temple

Blaine wanted to hike to a scenic lookout called "High Place." He was told it took the students 35 min each way. Blaine did it in 15 min. each way. Way to go Blaine.

Blaine met an Egyptian man named Rambo at the High Place. He said the Egyptian people are very united and watch out for each other. They are happy with their current President Sisi.

Panoramic view at High Place.

Ancient ruins at High Place

Altars for animal sacrifice at High Place

Some rode donkeys to High Place and the Monastery.

There's always a souvenir shop at the end.

Shobak castle is a 12th Century Crusader castle, located about 15 miles north of Petra.

On Tueday.November 4, 2014, it was back to Amman. This was either the Syrian, Iran, or Iraq embassy.

That evening we walked down Rainbow street and watched them make ice cream in a frozen pan.

Sugar and cream is poured on the pan and scrapped into ice cream. It was called Pan-tastic Ice Cream.

The next day, November 5, our first stop was the Jabbok River (Zarqa River). En route to meet Esau, Jacob crossed the Jabbok River. Serving as an ancient border, this stream was the site where Jacob wrestled with an angel who changed his name to Israel. Here he saw God "face to face."

We had time to read our scriptures (Genesis 32:22-30) and write in our journals.

Jeff Chadwick showed us pods from a mustard tree. The seeds inside them are smaller than a grain of sand. He talked about our faith as a grain of a mustard seed.

The pod and mustard seeds

The mustard tree

Our next stop was the ancient Roman city of Jerash. It is one of the best-preserved Roman sites in the world. Before we entered the city, we walked through a souvenir and craft store. Here the man is making sand bottles with pictures in them.

It really is a work of art.

Archaeologists found evidence of civilization at Jerash from the Stone Age through the Iron Age. This is the entrance to the city.

We stopped at the hippodrome where the students had races.

Temple of Artemis

Retired Jordanian military play their bagpipes in one of the theaters.

Forum-like Oval plaza

The city had a North-South Cardo and two East-West cross streets.

These were man holes in the cardos. The stones were laid on an angle so the wheels of chariots would not be caught between the stones.

Temple of Artemis

Blaine was holding up one of the pillars. Actually the pillar does have some give to it.

Yes, Blaine was on this field trip.

This pillar reminded me of the one Scott made in his 2nd grade art class with Joseph Germaine.

One of two theaters at Jerash was in amazing condition.

Another cardo with an arch. Can't you just imagine Roman chariots going down the street.

Great Temple of Zeus

Jessica Simpson, Trevor Johnson (Vocal Point member), and Linda.

Lunch at Green Valley Restaurant

The Green Valley Restaurant baked their bread directly on hot coals in brick ovens.

Then it was back to Amman, Jordan's capital where we went to the citadel. Remains of the Old Testament Ammonites (descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot), the Roman Empire, the Byzantine "Holy Land" and the Arab-Muslim conquest of the Fertile Crescent were all there.

The Hands of Hercules from the Roman temple of Hercules. The Romans built the temple on the summit of the Citadel.

The Hashemite family rules the country. King Hussein's picture is in the museum at the citadel.

Umayyad mosque was built by Muslim Arabs late in the 7th century atop the Citadel. They also built the Dome of the Rock.

Inside the Umayyad mosque

Outside wall of Amman Citadel

Linda with Jordanian security as we leave the Citadel of Amman.

Our last stop was the Royal Automobile Museum. It was built by King Hussein's eldest on, Prince Abdullah as a memorial and tribute to his father. "The attractions does not lie so much in the car itself, rather in the man who chose it and drove it."

Auto used to transport the Pope

Belle Vue Hotel for our last night in Amman.

Breakfast our last morning: Linda, Kim Chadwick, Tina Whitchurch, and Jill Anderson.

We visited the new LDS Church Center in Amman. It is also the office of LDS Charities.

The building also serves as a hotel for church leaders when they come to visit.

The senior missionaries live there too.

I really like this couch...

I'm not sure the reason, but they had to have a picture of King Abdullah in the building.

Elder Hammond, Ron Anderson, Sister Hammond, Jill Anderson, Linda and Blaine on the ground floor.

King Adullah I Mosque was our next stop. We wore a black dress over our clothing and a scarf.

Inside the mosque listening to our guide.

The arched niche faces Mecca and is called the Mihrab The pulpit, the minbar, is where the Iman stands for his sermon on Friday.

The ceiling of the mosque.

Ceiling in a separate mosque for women.

Linda standing in the Mibrah.

Outside King Abdullah Mosque. It was built between 1982 and 1986 as a memorial to the late King Hussein's Grandfather, His Majesty As-Sayyid Abdullah I, King of Jordan. The mosque is an example of modern Islamic architecture. It is capped with a blue mosaic dome and holds up to 3,000 Muslims for prayer at any one time.

The new Jordan Museum was the next stop on our tour. It presents the history and cultural heritage of Jordan. In the parking lot are Dolmens which are burial tombs.

Copper scrolls discovered in Cave Q3 at Qumran are the only known inscription on metal from the Dead Sea area.

Tal Siran bronze bottle. 92 letters in 8 lines giving the geneology of Amminadab, the king of the Ammonites. It dates to 600 BC.

The votive stone was originally placed in a niche inside a temple. It depicts a stylized face peering out from the entrance to a sanctuary. The Nabataen inscription says it is the Goddess of Hayyan. It dates from 1st century BC to 1st century AD.