Day 11 Amman to Petra, Jordan

We travelled today through the land of the ancient Ammonites and Moabites famous for Moses leading the people of Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land.

Members of the group read Bible passages that are relevant or mention the area we are passing through and as we were leaving Amman we read about King David’s taking the city of Amman in 2 Samuel 12:28ff. Part of Solomon’s wealth came from control of trade and military routes but of course they were hotly contested by other surrounding kingdoms.

On the way to Petra from Amman in the north to Petra in the South our tour took us to
• Mount Nebo where Moses died after viewing the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 32:48-52). When we were there it was very hazy (see photo) so we couldn’t see much but we understand that from Mount Nebo you can see Jerusalem, Jericho, the Dead Sea and further.
• The traditional site of Jesus baptism is not far from Mount Nebo,
• We saw the fortress were Herod Agrippa imprisoned and later beheaded John the Baptist, Mark 6.
• We travelled part of the way on the Kings Highway Numbers 20, 21

Mosaics are very big in this area and have been for over 1,000 years, in fact there is a Mosaic school in Madaba. We watched the meticulous placement for very small pieces – the photo shows a small section (about 10cm long) of a larger mosaic. The colours are all natural local limestone rock colours.

For the last few days we’ve been enjoying beautiful oranges given to us from the garden of the 80 year old founder of the Guiding Star tour company we are travelling with. Gabriel lives in Jericho.

Pictures of the current King Abdulla II and his father King Hussein can be seen in many public places every where we have been in Jordan.