Day 13 Petra to Amman

Today we visited Wadi (Valley) Rum in the South of Jordan which lies about 50km from Aqaba at the tiny Jordan coast line on the Red Sea. We enjoyed a four wheel vehicle drive through the desert to see Nabatean engravings and nomadic Bedouin encampments, see photo. Even though the land looked really inhospitable we were assured that there was a big export vegetable growing area nearby.

The land of the Midianites included Petra and Wadi Rum and stretched into the present Saudi Arabia.

We had Church “on the move” while on the four hour bus drive from Wadi Rum to Amman. Singing choruses without the words was a bit of a challenge but we did it!

Although Wadi Rum is on the “normal” tourist route we were reminded of
• Paul’s stay in Arabia (Galatians 1:17) directly after his conversion on the road to Damascus.
• Moses and Jethro in the land of Midian (Genesis 3, 4 and 18).

We also learnt of biblical connections with the Nabateans:
• The King Aretas mentioned in Paul’s escape from Damascus after his conversion was the Nabatean King at the time. (2 Corinthians 11:32)
• Herod the Great’s mother was a Nabatean and this was the reason he was never accepted as a Jew.
• Herod Antipas was married to a Nabatean princess and dumped her to marry his brother’s wife and John the Baptist's denunciation of this is what got him into trouble with Herod and John’s eventual beheading.

The run from the south of Jordan back to Amman is through desolate country, see photo, with infrequent herds of sheep and/or goats tended by single Bedouin shepherds either on foot or riding a donkey. We passed a truck load of New Zealand sheep which looked normal to us but which the guide said looked very different to her from the local black and white sheep she was used to.

Driving in another country (or rather, watching someone else drive!) is an interesting experience especially driving a big bus on narrow roads – parking and give way rules don’t seem to have too much relevance in either Israel or Jordan.