Roman ruins and the Dead Sea

Friday is Jumah, the Muslim holy day. We woke to find the city nearly silent, and the streets deserted. Even the hotel breakfast buffet was a ghost town. It was almost eerie. Fortunately, the skies were clear and blue, and yesterday's rain was gone. Our private tour guide, Nidal, was willing to move our tour to Friday since the weather was so awful yesterday. He agreed that today was a much better day for exploring.

Nidal met us at 8 AM, and we headed out! Our first stop was the Amman Citadel.

This complex was built on the central mountain and overlooks the entire city (5 million people, according to Nidal).

It was mostly built by the Romans, and then it was occupied by the Muslims after the Romans left. The views of the city are stunning! We mostly had the place to ourselves, so we walked around and admired the views. There is a small archaeology museum there, but it doesn't even compare to The Jordan Museum from yesterday.

After that, we drove to the Roman Theatre at the bottom of the hill below the citadel. It is still used 

for concerts and events today. 

Nidal said the acoustics are nearly perfect!

Then we were on the road to Jerash, which is the largest set of Roman runs outside of Italy. It is in the northern part of Jordan, about an hour's drive from Amman, and closer to the Syrian and Iraqi borders. When we arrived, the complex had just opened for the day, and we were the only people there. The complex has a VERY nice indoor shopping area at the entrance. 

Nidal gave us 2 hours to walk around and said "Don't waste your money on hiring a guide!"

The first thing you see when you enter is Hadrian's Arch. It is VERY impressive! 

Then you walk past the Hippodrome (horse race track) and you come to the ruins of a Byzantine era church. The mosaic on the floor is beautiful! Notice the Greek writing on the right. 

The huge Roman circular plaza was beautiful. It was ringed by columns, and the Temple of Zeus overlooked it. 

The Cardo, or Roman street lined by columns, led from the plaza to the rest of the city. The road here was uneven and difficult to walk on. Notice that some of the stones have grooves in them from the Roman chariot wheels! The Cardo was lined with shops back in the day. I can just imagine the bustling street scene!

The beautiful Nymphaeum was a large public water fountain that also served to aerate the city's fresh
water supply.

Behind it was the Temple of Artemis. It had a lot of steep steps leading up to it, and I couldn't imagine trying to climb them in sandals and a toga! 

The view of the entire complex from the Temple was just stunning. 

We spent the whole 2 hours walking all over Jerash. I was very impressed! 

While we walked around, Nidal went to the local mosque. 

After this, we drove down to the western border of Jordan to the Dead Sea. We drove through the very fertile Jordan River Valley, and its many fruit and vegetable farms. Again, we saw roadside produce stands along the way.

Nidal showed us a farm that was growing bananas under a large tent. He said the Jordanian bananas are very sweet and popular with the locals. He also explained that many Jordanians like to come to the Dead Sea and picnic with their families on Friday afternoons. We saw many of them just sitting in the grass along the side of the road. I found it hilarious that there were many vendors offering shisha rentals, and camel, donkey and horse rides along the way.

Since the water was too cold for us to go swimming, Nidal took us to a public beach so we could at least put our hands in the water to feel how salty it was. Again, the locals were picnicking with their families, and there were vendors offering animal rides. 

Nidal showed us how low the Dead Sea has gotten in the last few years. He said it is losing 1 meter of depth every year. Sean noticed this, too, since he visited in 2004. The hotels used to all be beachfront, but now, they are high above the sea. What a shame.

I grabbed a few salt crystals as souvenirs of our visit. Nidal also pointed out how Jericho and Jerusalem are visible across the Dead Sea! 

We then headed back to Amman and our hotel. I really enjoyed the tour, and I have a much better understanding of Jordan and its place in history. 

After the busy day, we relaxed in the huge indoor pool and hot tub, 

and had a light dinner in the Club Lounge. Tomorrow we make the journey to Jerusalem and Israel. It will be the Jewish sabbath, called Shabbat, so I expect the city will be fairly quiet when we arrive. We leave here at 9 AM, and Nidal warned us that we could zip right through the crossing, or it could take hours. We will have to be patient!