Jordan Day 2

The last night in a beautiful hotel of wonderful accommodations had me feeling much better by the morning. Omlettes made to order was a highlight of my stay in the booming city of Amman.

We were reminded at our first stop that Amman has not always been a booming metropolis. In fact, the lack of water supply has made it hard for this location since its roots. In other ways, the site is similar to Jerusalem. It is on a spur with valleys on three sides. It also is just east of the watershed ridge like Jerusalem. A modern museum in the remains of the citadel holds some very interesting artifacts. The oldest human sculpture is that of a body with 2 heads - reference to the Biblical narrative of a male and female person.

One of our final stops was a mystery location. It was interesting to come to a site trying to consider the possible history based merely on the topography and showing structures. While some rough ideas were concluded it was nothing compared to the information given by those that have studied and researched the archeology and history of the locale. What we considered a Hellenistic palace turned out to be Tobias' Tyre, the palace of a want-to-be king.

On our way to Petra, we watched a blatant propaganda film about Jordan and its king. It was funny to see such straightforward propaganda but also interesting to consider what truths were mixed with the desires of the king to portray his land in a particular way. Is such filmography all that different from the showy building projects of Herod the Great?