mosesOur first stop after leaving was Mount Nebo, the supposed final resting of Moses. According to the Old Testament and Koran, Moses was told by God that he would only be able to see the Promised Land rather than being able to step foot there. To think that I had the same view as Moses did looking into Palestine/Israel from was quite moving.
One interesting aspect of the trip at Mount Nebo was the way in which the tour guide, who was a Muslim, spoke reverentially of Moses as he is known as also one of the prophets in the Muslim tradition. In addition to the monument for Moses, there was a church at the mount that possessed a Spartan quality touched up just enough by beautiful ancient mosaics; however, this church was only just the beginning of mosaics I saw that day. About 30-40 minutes south of Amman, Madaba is known as the mosaic capital of the country. Dominated by Christianity before Islam came to be the religion of the Arab world, Jordan has many churches that were built during the early centuries of the religion, and compared to other Jordanian cities, Madaba has many more. With most of its churches being Greek Orthodox, the city consequently has many, many mosaics. Made about 2,000 years, the mosaic on the floor of Madaba’s largest church, based in the city’s center; however, due to the frequency of earthquakes in the region, the mosaic has been partly destroyed. Still, the mosaic, a map of the Middle East made around the time that Christ was alive, is quite stunning.
Following this city dominated by Christianity, we headed to another symbol of Christianity’s historical presence in the region as my group visited the crusade castle at Karak. The excavation process at this castle is still ongoing. Nevertheless, a great amount of the castle has been uncovered and allows its visitors to see how intricate the setup of these crusade castles was. Setup to house soldiers from Europe that protected then Christendom controlled Palestine against Muslim invasions from the east, these castles were compounds that had everything from a church, bedrooms, and kitchens, to galleys and dungeons inside. After an hour, my group and I left Karak for Dana, an ancient village perched over a beautiful rift that now serves as a nature reserve.
Staying at the hotel in Dana was probably my favorite part of the day. More a rest house than a hotel, it was unlike any other place that I have stayed in my life; however, describing that difference in words is quite difficult, so I will let the pictures do the talking.
The hotel’s only guests that night, my group found the services of the hotel’s few employees revolving completely revolving around us. After the dinner that was prepared for us, the hotel’s staff made the rest of the night quite enjoyable for us as they played traditional Arab music and served us hookah.
