I LOVE Jordan!!!!! Part 1

I have just returned from five days in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and I found it a lovely country. As I have expressed in numerous previous posts, 2 of the places I have most been looking forward to seeing are in Jordan and they did not disappoint. But everywhere I went, I found Jordan to be a place welcoming of strangers and hospitable in every sense of the word. I have known a number of Jordanians in the US over the years (both Christians and Muslims) and always found them to be wonderful people, I was so happy to learn that they are not the exception but, but the rule in this little Kingdom.

Why am I gushing so? Because my experience as a traveler was a real contrast to Israel. Israel made it difficult for us to get out of their country and Jordan welcomed us. Jordan made it simple for us to leave and Israel made it as difficult as possible for us to get back in. That ongoing sense of welcome is something I have experienced among the Arabs I have encountered in the Middle East. In contrast, I have often felt that the Israelis would just as soon I go home.

Reason two - We had mechanical problems twice on the road in Jordan and the men we encountered bent over backwards to help us with as little impact as possible. That ancient sense of treating the stranger in your midst well and considering him your responsibility while he is in your midst (characteristic of all Semitic peoples) is alive and well among the good people of the Hashemite Kingdom - both Arab and Bedouin - and I was grateful for it.

We arrived in Jordan on an incredibly hot Thursday afternoon. The closest border crossing to Jerusalem is the King Hussein Bridge (called he Allenby Bridge by Israelis) just north of the Dead Sea and east of Jericho. We chose this crossing because it is closest to the sites we wanted to see in the north of Jordan. The process to get out of Israel took two hours and the process to get into Jordan took 20 minutes. One takes a bus across the militarized zone and the actual bridge between the two stations.

Our rent-a-car was waiting for us when we arrived. We headed out for our first stop - the site where Jesus was baptized. Since the cessation of hostilities between Jordan in Israel in the 1990s there has been a lot of cooperation of Jordan with international archaeological groups to discover important sites around that country. Among them is the actual site of Jesus' Baptism. We are told in John's Gospel that John the Baptist's activity was at "Bethany beyond the Jordan." Excavations in the late 90s at a Jordanian site called Bathania have unearthed the ruins of at least 6 Byzantine and ancient Churches that mark recall this site and its natural spring - a tributary of the Jordan as the actual place where Jesus was baptized.

Because this site is so close to the Dead Sea and so far below Sea Level, it is very hot. The development of the area to handle tourist is still young, but the one necessary commodity that they must have is drinking water - it is so incredibly hot. The day we were there the person in charge of selling the drinking water had gone home for the day. That made this site very dangerous, actually, and our guide was quite embarrassed, having assured us that there would be water there. He was able to get us some lukewarm drinking water from a fountain nearby. That aside, it is clear that this remote site is under development. There are a number of modern churches and institutions under construction in the area and in a few years it is going to be a thriving tourist/pilgrimage site.

The most interesting part for me was the excavations of the ancient churches and the actual pool of water from the spring itself. We also walked down to the Jordan River, a few hundred feet away and could look across at the highly developed Israeli concession for remembering the baptism of Jesus. It was developed a long time ago and is quite nice. The water of the Jordan is quite polluted this far south (a real contrast to what we saw in Dan and Baniass). Consensus is growing that the historical and archaeological evidence points to this Jordanian Site as the actual site of Jesus' Baptism. Right at the river, there is a beautiful little Greek Orthodox Church dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

We left the Baptism Site and drove up to Mt. Nebo, high above the Dead Sea and overlooking the Holy Land. It was from Mt. Nebo that God allowed Moses to see the Promised Land (Deut. 34:1). The site on Mt. Nebo is holy to Christians, Muslims, and Jews all of whom honor Moses as a Prophet - it is dedicated to Moses. There were two disappointments at Mt. Nebo - 1) the sky was so hazy that one could barely see into Israel at all - it is clear that Moses was not invited up Mt. Nebo on a hot July day months after the last rain. We are told he could see all of the Land of Promise from that summit. And I guess that is still true today in a more hospitable climate (say, wintertime). 2) The Church of St. Moses was closed to pilgrims for the sake of more archaeological work going on there now. What we did see of note there were some beautiful mosaics that are on display outside the Church and two interesting monuments - one recalls the serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness. Clearly a cross intertwined by a serpent, the monument is very christological. The second monument was given in honor of Pope John Paul II Jubilee year visit to this site in 2000. It is engraved in both Latin and Arabic with the words "One God, father of us all, over all" The late Pontiff also planted an olive tree beside the sculpture to signify the Peace that he prays for in the Holy Land.

From Mt. Nebo, we headed down to Madaba hoping to arrive in time that I might get my first glimpse at the Map I have so been longing to see. Unfortunately, the Church closed early for the evening because of a funeral. Oh well, we were spending two nights in Madaba; I would have plenty of time to see the Map. So we had dinner and explored this quaint little town a little.

On Friday we headed north to see the ruins of the Roman City of Jerash. Jerash (Gerasa) was one of the cities that made up the Decapolis - these cities defined an area of Frontier that was more Greco-Roman than its Semitic neighbors. They were highly Hellenized during the Hellenic period, and they were largely inhabited by Gentiles in the Roman period. We are told that Jesus ministered in the area of the Decapolis in Mark 5 (We went to Kursi earlier - that was in the area of the Garasenes - the Garasenes were inhabitants of Gerasa - modern day Jerash). So the extensive and beautiful ruins at Jerash are Greco Roman - like those we saw at Bet She'an (another of the Decapolis cities). We started the day thinking that we had seen enough Greco-Roman ruins that we would be ready to head back to Madaba in the afternoon to see the Map.

Little did we know that Jerash would so completely capture our imaginations. Easily more than twice the size of any ruin we had been to before, there is so much to see and explore. With regards to tourism, it is the exact antithesis of the Baptismal site, with lots of services and very well-developed tourist services. In the hippodrome (circus) the Jordanian Army sponsors a demonstration of Roman military maneuvers. Special forces soldiers dressed in full Roman armor demonstrate drill and fighting techniques well known in history. The show continues with a demonstration of gladiatorial games and culminates with a Chariot Race. This is the only place in the Middle East that we have encountered the kind of show we would expect to see at an historical site in the United States and it was a lot of fun! It is called RACE (Roman Army and Chariot Experience) and shows a couple of times each day. And here is the icing on the cake - the audience is invited to meet and have photos taken with the characters from the show. As that was wrapping up, one of the chariot drivers asked me if I wanted to go for a spin around the hippodrome. Before I could say know he said "jump on" and I found my self being whisked away behind two very powerful horses. It was great!!!!!

Before Lunch we had only managed to see and photograph the Triumphal Arch and the Hippodrome both of which are technically outside the Archaeological park itself. It became quickly clear that there was so much to see at Jerash that we would stay all day and into the evening. The map would have to wait until Saturday. We enjoyed the warm day in the sun crawling all over the ruins of temples, churches, mosques, fountains, gates, theatres, baths, monuments, and roads. Jerash is a truely amazing site adn I will have more to say about it in the post I will do about the history of the middle East. We left around sundown and drove back to Madaba. There are more than 700 pictures from Jerash at my Picasa site: http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/0724Jerash.

On Saturday mornign we checked out of our Madaba digs and headed over to see the Map (finally). I was giddy with anticipation to see this one mosaic that has become so important to me only in the last few weeks. As I said in my post of July 8 (http://frbartjerusalem.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-just-mad-about-madaba.html) I have become somewhat obsessed with the image of hte depiction of Jerusalem that is at the center of the 6th Century mosaic. My classmates have taken to pointing out any reference or image of the map we see anywhere in our travels. It is amazing to me that 20th and 21st Century archaeologists check their assumptions and calculations against the information contained on this 6th Century artistic representation. It is a kind of Archaeological Rosetta Stone (never mind that the Rosetta Stone is an archaeological rosetta stone...). I have read everything I can get my hands on about the map and it is become a symbol for me of this whole experience. The anticipation did not disappoint. As I said in my brief post on Saturday evening, I was moved to tears at the sight of it.

First of all, let me say that St. George Church in Madaba is a beautiful little church right in the middle of this little city. It has a number of beautiful mosaics on the wall representing a range of saints and all the significant moment sin the life of Our Lord and Our Lady. But what everyone comes to this church to see is this Mosaic which covers about a sixth or an eighth of the floor space in the Church. Throughout the town you see signs indicated that such and such a business is across from the "map church" or the "mosaic church." It isn't even called "St. George" by the local populace. The Map is a religious relic in that it is an adornment in an historical church. It is an important archaeological artifact and historical record in that helps historians locate 6th Century geography and gives context to other historical realities. It has also become a real symbol of my experience this summer. IN addition to being a time to study Scripture, this summer has been a marvelous romp through thousands of years of history. We have been to places that were occupied 10,000 years ago - but we have made a systematic study of nearly 5000 years of religious and cultural history. The study has dragged us through all three of the great monotheistic religions of the Middle East and down the avenue of pagan worship. It has brought us to layers upon layers of historical conquest and the movements of peoples. It has given context to great historical and religious movements, and it has given us the opportunity to refocus our attention on that which has been important to countless cultures and cavitations. The Map is a symbol of all of that. It was under the weight of that burden that I was moved to tears at finally seeing the Madaba Map. To peer finally at the original is to see Michelangelo’s David after seeing so many copies and parodies all my life. While not the most sophisticated of the many, many mosaics I have seen this summer, it is, arguably, the most significant. We spent a good deal of time in the Church. I took more than 200 pictures. I genuflected, and lay down on the map and was even moved to venerate it with a kiss - and then it was time to go. I bought a copy of a book that interprets the entire map and offers a key to the Greek labels that appear on the Map. But more importantly, I bought the one important souvenir that I will take from this summers experience - I bought my own mosaic copy of the Madaba Map of Jerusalem. Once back in Tucson, I will have it framed and it will be a reminder always of the Glory of this two months. There are a lot of pictures of the Mosaic Map at: http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/0725MadabaMosaics.

After St. George we stopped in to see the beautiful mosaics at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin and the Madaba Archaeological Center. They were beautiful, but face it; they are the step-siblings of the Madaba Map. In late morning we headed out of Madaba for our next important destination and the fulfillment of a life long dream: Petra. To be continued...