From the pre- BC to the medieval ... in Italy!

Yes we needed a break... as anyone would! Thanks to Egypt and their re-organisation of flights,in their language... a cancellation of our flight from Cairo to Rome direct...we hadtofind another carrier.So why not stop at Athens, Greece, to meet up with a long-time friend. You realise I didn't use the term 'OLD'. At our age (he is six months older than me) old is not a description one uses easily.
And so it was quite a relief to be standing in the never ending queue of customs to make our way through to the other side. We knew he'd be waiting... and we werent disappointed. But how easy was this? We were all exclaiming our pleasure at the smooth run as we kissed each cheek...but after a few minutes...after our admiration for the airport developments we hadn't seen before...the economic situation of Greece became obvious.
Our friend, an ex-resident of Australia, couldn't believe that we were journeying to Europe in these "depressed" economic times. He had heard of:Superannuation:or his ex-wife had anyway and that was our explanation... not the ex. but the word,savings. Time to change the topic we thought.Those two (or three) words were not acceptable in modern Greece. After a couple of hours we were ready to face the flight from hell!! A delay at first then to our horror we found ourselves amongst 200 fellow angry and frustrated travellers of the ALITALIA line. So when I say Mediavel you instantly understand my meaning.
So we wound our wayto the HIRE car and full of confidence drove out listening to our hired TomTom. But why was the women's voice tell us to turn left when there was no room to turn left, only a right turn possible? This went on all the way until after midnight when we gave in and rang the pre-booked BB and cancelled. Surprise, surprise we found another hotel room over-looking the ocean. So being a tourist is not all beer and skittles!!
Next day we headed towards Siena.

 And this is where the real medieval era faced us. On every hill we could recognise a conglomeration of buildings, sometimes walled sometimes not but nevertheless accessible by car and open for the inspection by tourists.

 And I thought I lived close to my neighbours

on our 300square metres property. But this what travel does to you...it opens your eyes! Each little hole not necessarily letting in light appeared occupied by some keen resident willing to exploit
 the medieval memories,including us. Of course we were willing each time to understand the motivation of each resident...all we could remember was the Australian habit of desiring a quarter acre of land with a nice house, and maybe somewhere to put the car...in the garage? Click on the photos to enlarge!

Fear of the unknown!

There was some, certainly, especially since Isis had threatened terrorist activity in Amman in the weeks previously. However the bus with a load of British Tourists in the main, some colonialists and one or two Americans, drove without incident to the south of Jordan.
All on board welcomed the sight of over 1200 tents indicating the home of refugees, all it appeared well looked after and all, as the local guide had told us, all now Jordanians with the right to work. Only problem is that the  new workers were under-cutting the locals efforts in the workplace. So a quality of life for the  locals might be seen to be threatened by the newcomers.

Then again we Australians have been fed on a sense of fear since it made it much easier for the government  and previous right wing governments to ignore human rights and change laws to suit their intentions rather than the rights of the individual. But....politics is.....

So when I read what Anne Micheals' character, Jakob Beer, said about the sense of fear in the book, Fugitive Pieces, it occurred to me that a better quotation I probably wouldn't find to emphasise my point. This book was Anne's first attempt at novel writing and I must say it is some of the best writing I have ever read anywhere and at any time.

"I learned to tolerate images rising in me like bruises. But in my continuous expectation of the burst door, the taste of blood that filled my mouth suddenly, many times a day, I couldn't conceive of any feeling stronger than fear. What is stronger than fear? Who is stronger than fear?"page 19.

So fear of the unknown would not be what I would wonder about. I decided to look it straight in the eye and act by buying two books at Petra 1. Living with Arabs by Joan Ward and 2. Married to a Bedouin by Marguerite van Geldermalsen. Both people I discovered wanted to experience some excitement in their lives. Joan Ward, a teacher close to retirement from England, discovered and fell in love with the mountains of Petra whereas the nineteen-year-old, a back-packer from Nelson, New Zealand, fell in love with a local Bedouin. Although Joan Ward was not expected to live in a cave, she taught English at Amman and explored life in Petra at weekends. Marguerite, married and had three children, became a Muslim and lived in the culture, inside her husband's cave at the most, and moved to the local village at the behest of the government some years later. Her husband died soon after.

Both books give a good insight into the Muslim culture.

 Seeing I have mentioned Fugitive Pieces by Anne Micheals, I need to write about In The Half Light by Anthony Lawrence. This, also by a first time novel writer, I must say is very impressive and a talent to which many of us can aspire. I have read both books since returning from holidays and feel proud to say that both are books worth re-reading many times. And I keep reminding myself also that both books were bought for $3.00 each at the Save the Children's Book Fund at Belmont W.A. When I can face the recycling of them in the future I will take them back and hope to find two more with writing just as good.

Toss Up! Book review or our visit to Petra!

Looks like Petra won. The book review must be next even if I do love the books I have recently read...two I bought in Petra at our hotel and two I bought at the Save The Children's second -hand book store at Belmont for $3.00 each before we left. But more of that in the next Blog.

Some Archaeologists have ranked ancient Petra as the eighth wonder of the ancient world...too true! Here the Historian, Anthropologist, Archaeologist, Geologist, Architect and Naturalist, not to mention the tourist, can find  something to satisfy their cravings for the ancient world. Once inside questions about how, why, and where and by whom will fly to mind never to be left unanswered.
Multicoloured sandstone mountains on a secluded site will challenge the fit and unfit tourist with the rocky slopes, craggy mountain tops, high cliffs, celebrated tombs, theatres and carved stairways. All make up and leave or create a mythical aura filling the visitor with wonderment.
So who created this amazing city with its capitol named Petra?

The Nabateans, one of the most talented people in history.They were an ancient tribe from the Arabian Peninsula. A materialistic peoples they settled 2,200 years ago in southern Jordan and utilised the existing trade routes to become very successful traders. When the trade routes were displaced by the warring Romans the Nabateans had to give in and be over-ruled. So the city which had been throbbing with life had to be disbanded. Thanks to a Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhardt it was re-discovered in 1812.

But how could any warring people reach Petra? Its isolation heavily disguised as anyone who visits will find out.
The ancient main entrance to Petra, As-Siq, an impressive 1200 metres long, deep and narrow, is hemmed in by cliffs soaring up to 80 metres high.Bizarre looking geological features, colourful rock formations, water channels cut into cliffs and niches cut into the rock keep the visitor enthralled.
The 1200 metres disappear in minutes, well almost, and the reward awaits the traveller. The treasury, Al-Khazneh, the most beautiful and astonishing monument in all of Petra, faces you as you emerge from the Siq. Suddenly this enormous sandstone carving dwarfs you and you turn to find, camels, donkeys, horses and their drivers surrounding you and offering 'air-conditioned' rides for the exhausted tourist. Yes, you could have been driven to see this marvel but never mind the offers will follow you as you struggle your way through Petra, sometimes hot sand, sometimes slippery steps hued into the walls of rock and sometimes dirt tracks. A flight of 800 stairs cut into the rock takes you up the mountain of Ad-Deir, the second most attractive carving, the monastry, with its surrounding views.






Salesmanship starts early in young lives. In this case the patterned rocks chipped out of rock somewhere in the area attract tourists but then so do young eager little girls....leaving the tourist wondering...many stopping just to smile in sympathy with the little sales lady.







Through the city centre a beautiful collonaded street remains, flanked by temples, public building remains and shops. A nymphaeum once adorned the street, the marble pavement still visible  and useable today.

 The largest of the Royal Tombs, believed to have been carved around 70 AD, was altered in the 15thC as it was consecrated as a Byzantine church. The main chamber was 17x18.9metres.

We scrambled over heights and rocky paths to find at the end of the day a ride home to the gate using a horse driven chariot would not only help the local economy but rush us to a nice cold drink at the hotel bar. Yes this hotel did have a liquor licence.

The colour of rocks changes as the day is long reflecting the sun's rays. Sometimes a rock carving is discovered, perhaps reflecting someone of importance, however our archaeologist thought it was worth photographing.

Still at St. Stephens Church AD785 in Jordan

Yes hard to believe that this church is still with us and is known and has left a multitude of mosaic flooring to stun the visitor. Of course I have had a bit of trouble getting the year right but then a look at some of the mosaics will make up for that. The mosaics displayed the many activities that the villagers participated in, such as fishing, vegetable growing etc..Over the years different God-loving religions took control and their habit was to simply destroy the faces portrayed if they didn't suit the belief. These images I didn't include seeing I am such a perfectionist! Ha!Not really! But if you enlarge the photos you will see how minute the individual mosaic tiles were.


And so on to the various bath houses which offered
accommodation for the weary traveller not to mention opportunities to relax and spend time in a chapel. Of course some have been restored to some degree yet in general the mind boggled to see the many rooms and chapels presented. Not to mention the descriptive wall sketches.

Important information shows above, if the photo is enlarged, how one of the domes depicts the first ever understanding of Astrology and a depiction of the star signs ie; Leo, Sagittarius, Libra etc.



 

Recalling more of life in Jordan!

Yes I must apologise about certain mistakes made in my last post...for instance as far as warring Nations goes I should have written Israel rather than Jerusalem. And as far as cost of animals ie. goats, I should have written DINARS rather than dollars...1Dinar equals 90 English pence...but what 1Dinar equalled 1 Australian dollar...well I leave those calculations up to you dear reader. Which ever way you look at it GOATS are the most precious animals in Jordan.
Also another amusing bit of information given to us by our local guide was about the cost of units or housing. A unit or building closest to a road is the most expensive. And the unit or living quarters up highest in a building is the cheapest. And the buildings, all flat roofed yet having an unfinished look with wires protruding up into the sky...these looks show how the locals are positive thinkers...they all hope to have some increase in cash-flow soon so that they can extend their building and add another storey.
So while I am onto positive thinkers let's look at the issue of the 'promised land!' Mount Nebo, in the land of Moab,where Moses looked out and found the Promised Land, here the great sense of history others felt on seeing this aspect failed to make an impact on me. Instead the map showing how close we were to Hebron, Jericho and Jerusalem...now that did impress me.

 However our bus took us further south and before we knew it we were stunned by the sight of the massive Jordan Canyon. Looking down on the bare land masses we could not only identify the Jordan Dam but also the Jordan river and beyond where we imagined because one had to have a great imagination to be able to see or recognise Jerusalem.
Ali, our guide was enthusiastically comparing this great landscape with the Canyon found in California, USA. According to Ali, tourists from Israel treck for seven days through the Jordan river valley to arrive at the dam.

Did I mention the trees at Amman that caught my eye? Unusual aren't they? The way they grow upwards to the light? They are not trimmed to grow like that.



And the further south one drives the less greenery one can expect to find and the more important water becomes to the people living in those dry areas.

 We stopped at various historical sights on our way to Petra but the remnants of this church AD174 impressed me the most.
Many samples of Mosaic floor tiling could still be seen, the size of each tile so small and the design lasting hundreds of years made me feel guilty about not having repaired my small mosaic tile outdoor table at home. But it will be done!!

The images of Lions was most important wherever we went. These particular images were found lying out in the weather under sand and were covered with material by concerned Archaeologists. Don,t forget to click on the images to enlarge them.

LIFE as compared to....in Jordan!

Yes overnight I kept coming back to the life as I saw it in Jordan. I searched for photographs and if you'll be patient I want to write a few lines on what seemed to be important to people in this country.

Of course there is the King...his family in direct line from Mohammed's messenger and also the recipient of a Western Education. Yes I am still in AMMAN and in this case looking down on the business area showing the remnants of a Roman occupation. The pictures of the king and family become obvious if the photo is enlarged by clicking on it.

And I am not the only one looking down on a busy city scape...two friends meeting for morning tea their bodies entirely covered in black show us their Muslim commitment.

Of course Jordan depends in the main on Tourist activity and it is a prerequisite that a local tour guide is employed by any tour group visiting the country. 'Aldi' was our selected guide who filled us in with a number of customs...cover both forearms and ankles for women...any woman walking out with wet hair is regarded as cheap and available...women should always be accompanied by a male etc.

 An occupation for females in the main is watching over the very valuable goat herd. Of course it is also a job for men; goats are the most expensive animal at $400.00 each whereas sheep are only half that price. They are important for meat and their long hair.
Donkeys are very valuable for transport purposes (in the country) as are horses and camels as we found out later in our travels to Petra.
What interested me the most (donkeys are very much loved by me) was how this particular shepherd of goats kept his donkey tied. To my horror I saw chains used which were wearing into the animal's nose and flies covering the festering site.

Later on in Petra a sign alerted the tourist to report any cruelty to animals. Unfortunately I was not in a position to let anyone know about this poor donkey.

Cats are tolerated in this culture but dogs are considered dirty animals and most are strays barely surviving.

Post Obliteration!

Not a good title considering the murderous activity of Indonesian politics after midnight last night. And so two Australians who had made a major mistake in their lives are no longer alive. And in a few months their futile deaths will be out of the limelight and only their nearest and dearest will remember them. But it is a simmering worry below the surface of our consciousness to have neighbours who consider murder to be a legitimate activity. Perhaps the many Australians will reconsider their holiday destination from now on! I hope so anyway.
And so I write having survived the treacherous threats made by ISIS on shopping centres in Jordan and other places in the world. Of course we needed to say goodbye to our friends, just in case, to confirm that if just if anything untoward should have happened, then we would have found our end in the midst of doing what we enjoyed.
So of course I have a few photos of our magnificent historical journey...some tongue-in-cheek humour of course why not? Anyway here is AMMAN, the door to a fantastic journey through history in Jordan and so near and yet so far from the other warring nations...Syria, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Jerusalem...separated only in some cases by the river Jordan.

 From the highest point overlooking Amman I wondered what was being taught at the Architectural course at Amman University! I could see nothing but flat roofed 'boxes on the hillside' facing me. And I am not exaggerating! But in the more well off areas houses did show a little imagination with extensive balconies curling around the abode.

Then of course the museum kept our attention for some time acknowledging that this country was not just OLD but had so much history that coming from a continent where all the action started in the C18th ... the mind was overwhelmed.
I wondered had my partner seen the first ISLAMIC canon? No, of course not! Ha! I was up one on him! And so are you because the photo below shows just such a thing.

 And so I thought the domed church (Islamic) though many times before its reason for existence was to worship a Christian God!

   And coming crawling out of the soil of the Herculeneum were the remaining fingers and later the elbow of Hercules... the size of these remnants were massive giving you some idea of the actual size of the original statue.



So just a small taste of what's to come. Watch this space!