Israel and Jordan, 2011—Day 11

Enroute to Jordan. We departed Jerusalem early in the morning, leaving the cool temperatures and 2600 feet altitude for the Judean Desert, and the Jordan River, which is the border between Israel and Jordan. About 20-25 feet wide, the Jordan River is little more than a muddy stream, since much of its water, about 90 percent, has been removed upstream for use by Israel and Jordan. The border crossing from Israel to Jordan was time consuming, but uneventful. First, we went through Israel Customs, then Jordanian Customs. Our luggage, and we, were scanned at each. We changed buses, bus drivers, and guides, and were on our way to Jesus’ baptism site. By the way, our guide was a Jordanian Catholic.
Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan, Jordan. The site traditionally identified with Jesus’ baptism is east of Jericho in Jordan. It has been extensively excavated and developed since the 1994 peace treaty and there are now many ancient ruins and modern structures to see here. Obviously, it is one of the most important recent discoveries in biblical archaeology. Excavations only began here in 1996, following Jordan’s peace treaty with Israel in 1994, but have already uncovered more than 20 churches, caves and baptismal pools dating from the Roman and Byzantine periods. Jesus was baptized by his cousin, John the Baptist, on the shores of the Jordan River. Here John identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, and a dove was seen to land on Jesus as he came up out of the water (Matthew 3). He later returned to the site to teach (John 1:40-42). Enroute to the baptism site, we drove by an area associated with the ascension of the Prophet Elijah into heaven, which is commemorated at a hill called Tell Mar Elias. The baptism site is located in a desolate area of jungle like vegetation just off the Jordan River. The bus parked, we exited, and most bought cold bottled water for our fairly long walk to the baptism site. The air was thick and hot; the temperature was 102 degrees. It is nearly the lowest point on earth, near the Dead Sea, at over 350 meters (over 1,100 feet) below sea level. The ground was dry and chalky and vegetation was sparse except on the banks of the river. As we walked along the trail, we noted baptisms across the Jordan River on the Israeli side. After five or ten minutes’ walking, the path leads into a clearing marked by a modern pool where the site itself had been tastefully developed. adjacent to the ruins of the 7th-century Church of John the Baptist. Here you can see the original altar and mosaic floor, which was originally placed atop an arch to prevent flooding. The support pillars of the arch lie on the north side of the church, in the very spot they fell many centuries ago.
Mount Nebo. Mount Nebo is a 1,000 meter (3,300 feet) high mountain located 6 miles northwest of Madaba in Jordan, opposite the northern end of the Dead Sea. According to ancient tradition, this is the mountain from which Moses saw the Promised Land before he died. In the 4th century AD a sanctuary, mentioned by the pilgrim nun Egeria, was built on Mount Nebo to honor Moses, possibly on the site of an even older structure. The church was finished by 394 AD and had three east apses flanked by funerary chapels on the north and south sides. In the 6th century, the church was enlarged and transformed into a basilica with a sacristy and new baptistery (whose surviving floor mosaics date from 530 AD). Soon the church was the heart of a large monastery and pilgrimage center that would thrive for nearly six centuries. The site was abandoned by 1564 and remained mostly neglected for several centuries more. Finally, in 1993, the site was purchased by the Franciscans, who excavated and restored the area. On March 19, 2000, Pope John Paul II visited the site during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, planting an olive tree next to the Byzantine chapel for peace. We were unable to visit inside the church because the roof had begun to cave in, and massive renovation was underway.
Mosaic Workshop. Not far from Mount Nebo, near Madaba, just south of Amman, is a workshop where mosaics are made, and a large display area where they are sold, together with textiles and other craftwork. We were given a short demonstration of how mosaics are made nowadays, and an explanation of the amount of work that went into the most detailed of them (presumably to justify the rather high prices, compared to the poorer quality mosaics available elsewhere). A high proportion of disabled people were employed in the workshop. Most of the time spent at this location was in the show room, where Jordanian salesmen and women pushed their Jordanian products quick robustly. We managed to escape without buying any of the beautiful, but expensive, goods.
Amman. From Mount Nebo, we drove to Amman, Jordan, with elevations ranging to over 3,600 feet, where we were greeted to 80 degree weather. Amman is the capital and largest city of Jordan. It is the area’s political, cultural and commercial center and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The city has a population of over 2.8 million people. As we entered the hotel, both we and our luggage had to undergo security screening. Our room was modern and quite nice, perhaps the best of the trip.
We went to bed early as we had had a long day of traveling by bus, made a border crossing as we changed countries, and changed climate zones; my cold is finally breaking, but Kay is beginning to sneeze and cough. This does not bode well. Tomorrow is Petra.