Jerash, Ajloun, Madaba, Mount Nebo, Bethany, and the Dead Sea

Before I tell you all about my absolutely WONDERFUL trip to Egypt, I'm going to, once again, play some catch-up and share some stories about the weekend before last, when I got to see some more cool historical sites in Jordan.

On Friday (July 29), most of us students went on the program-sponsored expedition to Ajloun/Ajlun and Jerash. First, we visited Ajlun Castle, which is a fortress built to protect against Crusaders in the 12th century. The castle itself was pretty sweet, and provided some beautiful views of the surrounding valleys and mountains.

Then, after lunch, we headed to Jerash, which is one of the best-preserved Greco-Roman cities in the Near East. It was quite hot there, but we got to see a lot of gorgeous architecture, and were even treated with our own bagpipe show (apparently, they've been popular in Jordan since the British put them in the army band in the 19th century.)

The next day, three other students and I hired a cab for the day to visit Madaba, Mount Nebo, Bethany, and the Dead Sea. In Madaba, we made a quick visit to a Greek Orthodox church there that houses the oldest map of the Holy Land, in the form of the mosaic floor of an old church that once stood on the same site.

After that, we drove away from the city, winding through the arid hills of Jordan to Mount Nebo, where Moses took his last look of the Promised Land before dying:

1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, 3 the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. (Deuteronomy 34:1-6)

After taking in the majestic view, we continued on our biblical tour, and drove to Bethany, the site of Jesus' baptism and possibly the hottest place in the world. It was amazing to see such a religiously significant spot, and to see Israel only a few feet away on the other side of the river, but I kind of wish I hadn't felt like I was melting... and, I must say that I was quite surprised by how fluorescent the river water was, and how dry the actual baptism site was (apparently, the river's path changed...)

We finished our day at the Dead Sea, where we all enjoyed the extreme buoyancy of the super-salty water, and where my zillions of bug bites made it feel like my skin was on fire. I didn't stay in the water long, but it was fun to float around for a bit, and then cool off in the beach-side pool.

I arrived back home that night, excited to go to sleep, but unable to shower off since we ran out of water (water is rationed here)... yay for smellysweatysandydirtiness!

(The rest of the pictures are here and here.)