Day 7, Friday, March 9, 2018 - Beit She'an, Jerash and Amman
Considerably cooler today with temperatures in the 60s although still no rain and mostly sunny.
Our first stop was Beit She'an in Israel, very well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins dating back to the 4th to the 8th century. There are huge Roman baths and an amphitheater that could seat 15000 people. This was an ancient Roman city which after Emperor Constantine became a Christian city in the 4th century. Unfortunately, there was a major earthquake in the 4th century, it was rebuilt and then destroyed by an earthquake in the 8th century and abandoned after that. All of the stone columns fell to the south, helping archaeologists and geologists understand the direction that the earth shifted.
The main Roman road through the center of the city still exists as a smooth road with the original paving stones. The paving stones were arranged diagonally which lessened the jarring of wagons and carts as they traveled along and the center was raised to allow the water to run off. Pretty amazing for 2000 year-old road construction.
When were were there, a very large Christian pilgrim group was in the amphitheater singing familiar hymns although it was a bit obnoxious that they took over the amphitheater and we weren't able to go in.
From there we crossed the Jordan River, still not very big, exiting Israel and entering Jordan. The process was tedious and took about two hours with lots of waiting and inspection of passports. A Jordanian guide met us and we schlepped our luggage from the Israeli bus to the Jordanian bus.
From there we drove through the Jordanian countryside through the ancient kingdom of Gilead. This is largely farming country with olives, almonds, pomegranates and figs as the main crops. There were also many sheep and goats grazing - at times we had to wait for shepherds guiding the sheep and goats down the road. One of the unpleasant first impressions was the large amount of trash along the road, plastic bottles and plastic bags everywhere. As it was Friday, many families were out picnicking along the road after the services at the mosques. The road was very winding and narrow - it is hard to imagine how the driver could maneuver this huge bus - it seemed like we passed within inches of both oncoming vehicles and vehicles along the side. It seemed like all the children we passed smiled and waved at us.
We had lunch at an amazing Lebanese restaurant. The table was covered with so many different appetizers and main dishes that there was barely room for all of them on the table.
Our next stop was the Roman city of Jaresh which is considered the Pompeii of the Middle East. At one time it had a population of 30,000 people and covered 17 square km. Only about 20% has been excavated and unfortunately, before it was re-discovered, the "New Jaresh" was build over large parts of the ancient city. There is a huge entrance gate built for the visit of Emperor Hadrian that leads to the south "Philadelphia" gate of the city. The Roman "Cordo" road passes through the city from the south to north gates. You can see the grooves in the road that were made by the wagon wheels so many years ago! Water was brought via aqueduct from a distant spring and distributed from a central reservoir to basins along the road. There is a temple to the goddess Artemis who is also mentioned in St. Paul's epistles (or maybe the book of Acts). It was nice to see so many local families out for a stroll on a beautiful day - many children were kicking soccer balls around inside the ruins.
From there we went to the Kempinski Hotel in Amman, quite a luxurious hotel. Security is very tight. All our luggage had to be screened and we had to walk through a metal detector just like an airport.
Our first stop was Beit She'an in Israel, very well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins dating back to the 4th to the 8th century. There are huge Roman baths and an amphitheater that could seat 15000 people. This was an ancient Roman city which after Emperor Constantine became a Christian city in the 4th century. Unfortunately, there was a major earthquake in the 4th century, it was rebuilt and then destroyed by an earthquake in the 8th century and abandoned after that. All of the stone columns fell to the south, helping archaeologists and geologists understand the direction that the earth shifted.
The main Roman road through the center of the city still exists as a smooth road with the original paving stones. The paving stones were arranged diagonally which lessened the jarring of wagons and carts as they traveled along and the center was raised to allow the water to run off. Pretty amazing for 2000 year-old road construction.
When were were there, a very large Christian pilgrim group was in the amphitheater singing familiar hymns although it was a bit obnoxious that they took over the amphitheater and we weren't able to go in.
From there we crossed the Jordan River, still not very big, exiting Israel and entering Jordan. The process was tedious and took about two hours with lots of waiting and inspection of passports. A Jordanian guide met us and we schlepped our luggage from the Israeli bus to the Jordanian bus.
From there we drove through the Jordanian countryside through the ancient kingdom of Gilead. This is largely farming country with olives, almonds, pomegranates and figs as the main crops. There were also many sheep and goats grazing - at times we had to wait for shepherds guiding the sheep and goats down the road. One of the unpleasant first impressions was the large amount of trash along the road, plastic bottles and plastic bags everywhere. As it was Friday, many families were out picnicking along the road after the services at the mosques. The road was very winding and narrow - it is hard to imagine how the driver could maneuver this huge bus - it seemed like we passed within inches of both oncoming vehicles and vehicles along the side. It seemed like all the children we passed smiled and waved at us.
We had lunch at an amazing Lebanese restaurant. The table was covered with so many different appetizers and main dishes that there was barely room for all of them on the table.
Our next stop was the Roman city of Jaresh which is considered the Pompeii of the Middle East. At one time it had a population of 30,000 people and covered 17 square km. Only about 20% has been excavated and unfortunately, before it was re-discovered, the "New Jaresh" was build over large parts of the ancient city. There is a huge entrance gate built for the visit of Emperor Hadrian that leads to the south "Philadelphia" gate of the city. The Roman "Cordo" road passes through the city from the south to north gates. You can see the grooves in the road that were made by the wagon wheels so many years ago! Water was brought via aqueduct from a distant spring and distributed from a central reservoir to basins along the road. There is a temple to the goddess Artemis who is also mentioned in St. Paul's epistles (or maybe the book of Acts). It was nice to see so many local families out for a stroll on a beautiful day - many children were kicking soccer balls around inside the ruins.
From there we went to the Kempinski Hotel in Amman, quite a luxurious hotel. Security is very tight. All our luggage had to be screened and we had to walk through a metal detector just like an airport.
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| Beit She-an ruins from 8th century earthquake |
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| Beit She-an device for moving large stones |
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| Jerash - my mother in front of Philadelphia gate |
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| Jerash - ceremony and market oval leading to Roman "Cordo" |
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