Cyber Ethiopia

Over the last four weeks we visited Petra and other sites south of Amman. We complete our journey in Jordan this week NORTH OF AMMAN Jerash Only an hours’ drive north of Amman is probably the best preserved Roman city in the world. This famous site draws many visitors, but the sheer size of its’ long colonnade lined streets and immense buildings accommodates the crowds easily. A large parking area filled with buses and cars disgorges the visitor for a short walk up to Hadrians’ Gate and the entrance to Jerash (called Gerasa locally). Visitors from England in particular can be forgiven for thinking that Emperor Hadrian spent most of his time in the British Isles building the Hadrian Wall which protected them from my warlike ancestors – the

Picts. Hadrian was in both places, but actually spent much more time in the Middle East, especially as the Governor of Syria. While Hadrian was Emperor for 21 years he traveled extensively through the vast Roman Empire of his day. In preparation for the visit of Emperor Hadrian in 129 AD the gate was built at the entrance to the public and ceremonial part of Jerash. The gate is an appropriately impressive opening to an impressive city. It is a tall arch through which chariots could pass stacked next to each other. The large number of pieces of broken columns and other bits neatly stacked inside the gate attest to the much larger size of the gate before deterioration – reputedly three times the current height. Within the gates there is a long walk which is still part of the public area of the modern town. Along the edge at the beginning are stables for horses and chariots constructed from stone blocks. It is the only place in Jordan where we were dogged by beggars, several little boys trotted along at our heels. After a long walk down the first street, you come to the enclosed area of the city, and lose the little beggar boys. The main city has a long row of columns, stretching more than 1 km straight down, lined with many buildings, branches to other rows and staircases. At one point the rows of columns enter into a wide circle, surrounded by columns capped by headstones and a massive fountain in the middle. Marvelous! There is a wonderful basilica near the far end with elaborate stone carvings. A massive staircase takes you up to the arena above. From the top you are afforded great views of the Jerash city, both ancient and modern. By the time I was climbing the big stairway I had four bored kids (my two and their friends) on my hands. We decided to stop for a rest, so I gazed out over the town. The kids, in their wonderful way, immediately became engaged in watching bugs (the boys) and stair joints (the girls). After 10 minutes I was ready to move on, but the kids were hard to move. In the midst of the most wonderful Roman city in the world, they didn’t want to leave the bugs! The Amphitheatre Perhaps the most wonderful part of the city is the almost perfectly preserved amphitheatre. All the Roman amphitheatres have good acoustics, but I had no idea how good until we tried this well preserved example. Entirely made of stone, with a stage in the front and a performing area in front of it, surrounded by a semicircle of stone seats 50 high, the theatre was perfect. A small circular indentation in the middle of the floor is the perfect spot for testing the acoustics. I stood there and spoke to my son in a low voice, and he heard me perfectly from the top of the seats perhaps 100 feet away. My daughters’ 13 year old friend gave us a wonderful recitation of the speech of Marc Antony from Shakespeares’ Julius Caesar. After passing a pleasant interlude at the theatre, we reluctantly made our rather long way back, departing again through the high Hadrian gate (after an ice cream). I don’t fully understand why Jerash has survived so much better than other Roman ruins – but I was very pleased it had! The Jordan Valley From Jerash there are two choices to go further north – the direct road or the long way via the Jordan Valley. We did both. On the way to the Jordan Valley you see the castle of Ajlun on top of a mountain. Although I didn’t have time to stop at the castle, I was impressed by its massive walls and setting. Built by Saladdin (or more properly Salah al Din) to protect the area against a feared return of the Crusaders, the castle survived massive invasions over the centuries and fell only once (to the Mongols through deception). Salah al Din was of course the great leader who united the Moslem forces against the Crusaders. His greatest victory took place before the construction of Ajlun. This decisive Battle of Hittewn (spelled several different ways) was a well prepared ambush for the Crusader army, which was defeated by good preparation, fire and dry weather. After the victory the Crusader occupation of the ‘Holy Land’ quickly collapsed, except for a bridgehead maintained and used by Richard the Lion Heart. Although Richard was a handful for Salah al Din, he was not able to recapture Jerusalem for the Crusaders, and retired before reaching the site of the Ajlun Castle. The northern Jordan Valley is green and lush – a better picture of the ‘Land of Milk and Honey’. The Jordan River is only a shadow of its former self. It is odd to see this famed river, renowned for its size and healing power, is actually little more than a trickle. The irrigation schemes that stretch out on both sides of the river are the explanation – this dry area is mining their limited supply of water. At the north end of the valley, before the Sea of Galilee, the road turns up to the heights above. From the top northwest corner of Jordan you can see across to three other countries – Israel, the Golan Heights of Syria, and in the far distance the mountains of Lebanon. How many places in the world can you see four countries (including Jordan it’s four) from one place? This strategic point has been fortified many times, most recently in response to the wars with Israel. Gazing over these famous places, constantly in the news, it’s easy to understand why this place is so important. The Golan heights tower over the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River Valley. This part of Syria has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Um Qais The most obvious previous occupants of this part of Jordan were the Ottoman Turks and the Romans. The Turks named the place ‘Um Qays’ (spelt various ways of course), which apparently is the name given to the tax collectors of the day. There is a building as you enter the site of Um Qays that contains a small museum. It starts with a statue with its’ head knocked off. There are a lot more statues with their heads knocked off. I’m irritated by places that are filled with Roman or Greek statues with their heads knocked off. Who were these vandals who went all over the Mediterranean world knocking the heads off of statues (or their noses if they didn’t have enough time)? There are some more interesting things at the museum, although there are also a lot of typical broken pieces of Roman columns (one is kind of interestingly heart shaped). There is an interesting stone grain grinder, which is two pieces of stone – one conical with another that fits on top with handles that were used to turn the stones and grind the wheat. We had sat on one of the top pieces at Petra a few day before, and not known what it was! It looks like a giant stone vertebra. About the only statue that isn’t busted up is a big limestone snake, similar to a giant curled snake at one of the shrines of Petra. Outside the landscape is dotted with olive plantations and other trees stretch around. None of the people who planted, tended, and relied on these trees remain – the local population was moved out because of the war. Archaeologically this was good, there is a large Roman town here which has been restored. There is also a nice modern restaurant, where you can sit outside and have a nice but overpriced meal while looking over the battlefields of 1967. There are still bunkers and trenches to protect Jordan against Israel that mix with the Roman ruins. The Roman ruins are very nice, with long colonnaded streets, temples and markets. There is a problem however. There are so many Roman ruins around the Mediterranean, based on the same basic design, that they actually get quite boring. The interesting thing about the Um Qays ruins is that they have columns made of heavy black basalt, which is hard to work and unique. Of all the Roman ruins, Jerash is the best because it is so massive and well preserved. Although Jordan has many other sites worth describing – Amman is quite wonderful and the Crusader castles in the Eastern desert for example – the ones I have described were the main places I visited. Jordan is a great combination of modern country, market, Holy Land, and historical battelground that spans the ages. My mother, who passed away only a short time ago, always wanted to visit the Holy Land but never did. In a way I feel this visit was for her.