Umm Ar-Rasas and Al-Lahun

Since my last couple of posts and our trip to Wadi Mujib last weekend, we spent the week enjoying playdates, the park, and staying mostly at home. Chris did a little Arabic tutoring and that put Jake and I out of the house for the morning. We had a breakfast date at Crumz and then headed to the park across the street. Last night (Thursday), Chris and I went to Bonitas for date night. It's an Italian tapas restaurant and we enjoyed some Shrimp, Salmon, Sausage, Spinach, and a few other items on the tapas menu. It was a nice night.

Yesterday, we got up and spent the day touring some archeological sites about an hour and a half from Amman. Jon Bess was our tour guide again this weekend, generously giving up his last weekend in Jordan to chauffeur the Baldwins around Jordan.

First we went to Umm Ar-Rasas, an archeological site, which started as a Roman Military Camp and grew to become a town from the 5th Century that has not been excavated very thoroughly. It contains remains from the Roman, Bysantine, and Early Islamic periods (end of 3rd-9th Centuries AD). The site has 16 churches, some with well preserved mosaic floors, particularly Church of Saint Stephen with its representation of towns in the region.

Also noteworthy mosaics were found in The Church of the Lions and The Church of Bishop Sergius.

 It's amazing that these structures have survived over the years. These arches seem to be predominant among the many ruins we have visited, surviving earthquakes and many years of existence. It seems that this design is very structurally sound. This particular set of ruins at Umm Ar-Rasas sits on a fault line and about every 100 years an earthquake hits. Apparently, it's been about 89 years since the last major earthquake in this are, so another is due pretty soon.

 This is the very intact mosaic floor on the Church of Saint Stephens. Absolutely amazing that it can survive this amount of time.

This is a mosaic on the floor of the Church of the Lions. They have the floors of this church covered with sand bags to protect the mosaics until they build an overhead structure to protect the remains of the church.

 Jake standing in the entrance to the Church of the Lions.

Then we went to Al-Lahun, the ruins of a Moabite village and a view point of Jordan's "Grand Canyon."

 The Palette House.

 Roof Stones of the Pillar House.

 Scarab House.

 Jon Bess on the rocks of Jordan's "Grand Canyon"

 The wadi (or canyon) to the right of this picture is Wadi Mujib. We hiked up to a waterfall through Wadi Mujib last weekend from the other direction.

 Chris and Jon standing above the Grand Canyon

Today we got groceries, went to the park, and also got to have dinner with Mark Hollis, Chris's former boss from Ft. Benning. It was good to see him, visiting from Israel.

6th Century Byzantine Monastery

We just realized we live less than 400 meters from the ruins of a 6th Century Byzantine Monastery. We noticed the ruins a couple of weeks ago, but weren't sure what they were. The CLO told us it was an old church, but Chris did some research and discovered it was a monastery. Pretty interesting.

Mosaic floors.

Jake got a hold of some of the stickers that have felt on them that are supposed to go on the bottom of chairs so they don't make noise when they slide on the floor. He liked wearing them on his face. I thought it was super cute and funny to see him out in public like that.

Ajloun Castle

Last Saturday, I went on a bus and walking tour of the Swefieh neighborhood in Amman. It is a fun little area with a lot of interesting shops, but it is ALWAYS busy and full of traffic. I was introduced to a great bakery and lots of specialty shops that I didn't know existed. It was a tour and it was an Embassy CLO (Community Liaison Office) sponsored and guided trip.

After Jake woke up from his nap, we drove to Ajloun Castle. Ajloun is located north of Amman near Jerash. It is a pretty neat castle. The remarkable thing about Ajloun Castle is the view. It was gorgeous. There are not very many signs or displays that explain what things are, so it's hard to really get excited about the history that took place at many of the places we visit.

 This man was selling coffee at the entrance.

 

Jake collecting rocks to build his own castle and searching for dragons.

 Building a Castle with the rocks he found.

 Great view from the top of the Castle.

Here are a few pictures I found from Oman that didn't load the first time. 

This is Jake calling "Oh Toodles!" to get his Mouse-ka-tools from Mickey Mouse. He doesn't realize when you cup your hand to make your voice carry, it's supposed to be on the side of your mouth. He just puts his hand in front of his mouth and yells. 

 Dan, Chris and Jake at Bahla Castle in Nizwa.

 Bahla Castle.

 Pomegranate season must be here.  Lots of stands along the road selling them in Jordan.

Wadi Mujib

I'm way behind on my blog posts. I haven't blogged since updating with the Oman trip. Since we returned our days have been filled with play groups, parks, and dinner at the Embassy.

Last Friday, we went to Wadi Mujib Nature Reserve. It's located along the Dead Sea and you have to be 18 or older to participate in the hike, so we left Jake home with Ms. Ailyn. Our friend, Jon Bess, acted as our guide. You have to have a guide or someone who has been on the hike before. I'm not sure how you could get lost because you just follow the wadi and climb in and out of water along the trail. They provide life jackets and once you get to the waterfall, the fun begins and you can float back down most of it. It was beautiful!