I’ll start out this post talking about the day before Jordan, which was a free day for us. We went to a little place called Tomb of the Kings, which was a series of 10 or so interconnected rooms that had burial niches all around. There are no bodies there now, of course, but it was fun because it was located in a fairly random spot (we knocked on a random door on kind of a random street) and then we had to move some boards and other things put there to get in. Also we had to bring our own lights to see in there. After that I jumped in with a group who went to the Knesset, and we got a tour of the building, and got to go walk through where the 120 member Israeli congress meets. We ate lunch and walked all around town, and went back to the Jerusalem Center to get some stuff done.
Jordan was quite the experience, just like everything we do here. After crossing the border (the Jordan River) we went first to Mt. Nebo, where Moses looked over the Jordan Valley into Israel but did not cross into Israel. It was kind of a dusty day so we couldn’t see a lot but we got the basic idea of what Moses would have seen. Our teacher pointed out that Elijah crossed the river Jordan and was taken up into heaven there, so both end their mortal lives there. These two appear on the mount of transfiguration, as well in LDS theology together in the Kirtland Temple. An interesting mix that they come and go in 3 places together.
After that we went to a location where a church has been built over a floor mosaic that is from the 3rd or 4th century AD. It was very well preserved, and was a map of the Holy Land from that time. It shows Jerusalem, which was a Roman city, with its two main cardo (streets) and the church of the Holy Sepulture on the map, as well as the surrounding country and important pilgrimage sites.
After that we went to the ancient ruins of Machaerus, Herod Antipas’ fortress where he held John the Baptist and where he had him beheaded. There was a big old rock siege ramp below from when Zealots took the place and when the Romans unsuccessfully tried and take it back. Also, our teacher pointed out a deep pit that was probably used for a jail-> so it could very well have been the very place where the Baptist was kept! WE had a little devotional about John the Baptist there. As we drove to our hotel that day on the King’s Highway our tour guild pointed out the railway that is in partial use that was fro the time of WWI when the Bedouins were trying to gain independence from the Turks in that area. The railway would be familiar to those who have seen “Lawrence of Arabia” when the Bedouins bomb the railway. We spent the night in Wadi Musa near Petra.
The next day we visited Petra. This place will seem familiar to you for those who have seen “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” The “treasury” there is the building where the grail is kept in the movie. Actually, the place was a burial tomb for Aretas IV who was King of the Nabateans during Jesus’ time. Nabatea was a Kingdom just south of Judea, basically, and was allied to Rome, and had lots of dealings with the kingdoms around it. Herod Antipas Married Aretas’ daughter, and later decided to divorce her, prompting John the Baptist to condemn the divorce and make him unpopular with Herod’s new wife, who would eventually ask for John’s head. Also Aretas decided to go to war over that decision and took some land from Herod who was King over some area there. Also 2 Corinthians 11:32 has a reference to an arrest warrant Aretas had for Paul and when he was captured, then escaped. ANYWAY, so the Indian Jones place is Aretas’ tomb. (It doesn’t go in very far in, just a room inside.) That I think is what Petra is best known for, but truthfully it shouldn’t, because there are tons of other super neat ruins. The place was extremely prosperous and so the people had lots of money to carve tombs. There are so many tombs or carved images you probably couldn’t visit them all in a week, but we went to a couple, including a huge palace, a huge old pagan temple (broad room style similar to the Israelite ones I’ve talked about), and a huge “monastery” on the hill (really a tomb). Also we went around some big tombs that were close to the city. My good friend here Ashley lived here for 6 weeks excavating before her mission, and she was excited to come back. When she was here this time she met two little Bedouin girls who recognized her from 4 years ago. That was neat for her. The Bedouins used to live in the old tombs here until the government moved them out about 20 years ago. Also I got to ride a camel for just a bit. We got to see some carvings of Dushara the god they worshipped there as well as AL-Uzza, another god. The neat thing about that was the city was destroyed in an earthquake in the 3rd century, so the idols and carvings weren’t around for Muslims to destroy in the 7th and 8th centuries. These gods were almost certainly part of the pantheon worshipped in Mecca before Muhammad, and these are some of the only example left of those. Anyway, after that we drove to an old Crusader Castle (Shobak), which was pretty sweet, was still standing for the most past, and had an underground part on the castle as well.
Now, I was really glad I saw all these things, but at the time I had a little piece of Jordan traveling through me if you know what I mean, so I stopped at like every bathroom, and couldn’t eat anything, and was pretty darn sick. I really wanted to see everything so looking back on it I was pretty much the walking dead, and hey I got to see all those things but by the crusader castle I was pretty much done for. I spent the next day pretty destroyed as well.
The next day was better, but got started off strange. The bus driver was late, as well as some of the students. Then we went to the King Abdullah Mosque, and even though our ladies were dressed very modestly they were going to make all the women don burkas in order to go in. (I mean we were modest with head coverings, skirts or pants to the ankles, etc. ) Well, they didn’t have enough burkas so rather than alternate who could go in (take a lot more time) we left the mosque to go see other things. It was kind of intense because when we got there they at first told the girls who wore skirts to the calfs they had to don burkas, then not, then all girls, anyway it was characterized by confusion and people yelling things and some getting upset, and ended with our leaders saying we’re leaving. We were behind schedule but because of that we got a little ahead. Anyway we visited ancient Rabbath Ammon, modern Amman, which is a city with a long history as well. Joab was besieging it when David was with Bathsheba and it was there where Uriah the Hittite died. Joab later took the water system and waited for David to come so he could take it in his name. (Both Jerusalem and Rabbath Ammon was taken through the water system.) Anyway, eventually it became the roman city of Philadelphia, and has continued to be inhabited since. There was a large temple to Zeus there, (We saw a small part of what remained of his hand from like a statue that was like 10 meters high or something) and there was also a museum with the oldest known statue made by humans, as well as artifacts from every period of earth and man. Cool place.
We drove then north and stopped to check out a bush that they made the Balm of Gilead from, and then we’d eventually go to Jerash around where Gilead was. First we went across the Jabbok River and had a little devotional there. Jacob wrestles with an angel and he is given the name Israel there. Later he would say “I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved.” I think there is a lot missing from the text there, but at least part of the struggle was physical, but with a spiritual outcome. Also note that his name was not changed but he was given an additional name there. Also we went to Jerash which was one of the best preserved Roman cities on earth. I was exhausted from the previous day so after the tour guild brought us into the city I walked right back out to the busses. However, it was neat to walk alone through the city. There are not many tourists these days with the Arab spring so I was pretty much alone in this huge Roman city and got to think about the people there and how they lived. However, I was stopped near the entrance by this Middle East correspondent who wanted to interview me about why I was in Jordan and if it was safe and all that. I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to get interviewed so we did the short interview. He was from an Australian TV station, but I was too sick to bother finding out which one. A sleep on the bus was nice, and I went to bed at 5 PM after scarfing 2 ice cream bars cause I was sooo hungry/exhausted.
Well the last day I felt better and we visited a very large Roman theatre in Amman, bigger than any we’ve seen so far, as well as going through a market in Amman that past student haven’t been allowed to for security reasons. After that we headed over to the Jordan River to a traditional baptismal place of Jesus. This was probably the coolest part of the trip, walking through a place that you’ve heard so much about from church and from being on a mission, and thinking about what happened there. It’s neat to think about how the creator of the Universe went there to be baptized to be an example of what every person whose ever lived must do. The Jordan River is very desert-like, and so the river was very brown. Christ was probably baptized very soon before he began his ministry, but probably not in flood season, so my teacher guesses it was in January or February. The water though, as I mentioned, is extremely brown. Why would someone choose to do a cleaning ordinance in a place like that? Maybe it has something to do with it being the lowest place on earth as well. Maybe he needed to show humility by going to the lowest place on earth, or maybe there is some symbolism I don’t understand. Anyway, church baptismal fonts tend to be very low in the church buildings, so it’s something to think about. I can only describe the experience there as being a lot like being in the temple, and feeling the spirit there. Afterwards we walked away from the river and the dreary wilderness in front of us caught my eye, and wondered if Christ may have had a spiritual high at his baptism and then had to go out into the world just as we all do. (Although it may have been a little greener earlier in the year, it was still pretty desolate in the Jordan Valley.) After that we crossed the border, going through customs and all that.
Later that night about 25 of us went to a reggae concert of this guy called Matisyahu. He’s supposedly a Jewish Rabbi/ Orthodox Jew turned Reggae artist- famous in America and Israel. All us Mormons crowded in the front near the stage and were certainly the most energetic bunch there, at least for the first hour while the pre-show was playing. It was fun, and while most of the people didn’t have a lot of clothes on compared to the rest of the middle east, there wasn’t much alcohol and not much pot either, so it was good in that it was mild. P.S. Mom and Dad I didn’t think too hard about this aspect when I bought the ticket, but luckily the concert turned out pretty mild. Anyway, when Matisyahu performed he honestly wasn’t that good, you couldn’t hear him very well, and people were really pushy. One lady spoke to me in Hebrew and when I didn’t understand told me I was “huge” and needed to move. I said sorry and moved like a foot over. What’s funny is there is a ton of tall girls in our program (6 foot) so the people who were directly behind us couldn’t see much. What happened is a bunch of small girls ended up behind us, I guess because no one else wanted to be there. Also I met a guy from California who had heard of Jimmer Fredette. Anyway me and a couple other people left early cause the concert was bad, we were dehydrated, people were smelly, and we wanted sleep. So we did. That was pretty much the week, cause Friday we studied, went to class, and recovered from the trip. We also put together hygiene kits together in the afternoon with some people from red crescent hospital and watched Lawrence of Arabia that night.
Well we have Finals this week so wish me luck! After that we start the New Testament class, which is really why I came here so it should be great! (T- Minus two weeks till our Galilee field trip!)
Pictures: (not in order)
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| Veiw from Nebo into Jordan Valley |
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| Jesus was baptized "accross Jordan" (this side). P.S. My side is Jordan and the other side is Israel! |
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| Jerash |
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| "Monastary" at Petra |
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| At the concert |
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| Soldier from the Jordanian legion in classic dress and headdress |
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| Place where John the baptist was beheaded. |
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| Steadying the ark in West Jerusalem. |
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| Tomb of the Kings. |
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| Crusader Castle. |
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| Indiana Jones outside the Indiana Jones Giftshop at Petra. |
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| Ammon (Philidelphea) theatre. |
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| At the Jabbok. |
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| Temple of Hurcules, I mean HUNKules. |
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| Chillin with a camel. Don't worry I don't smoke. |
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| That place in Indiana Jones. So close to the Holy Grail. |
