Next it was off to the black basalt columns of Umm Qais, but not, of course, without a bit of a run-around first. After happening upon a bus to the awful, awful city of Irbid, we intended to catch another bus to our hostel in Umm Qais. Instead, an opportunistic Jordanian man attempted to drive us to Ajlun. Perhaps Jordanian taxi drivers think that shouting a city’s name about twenty times equates to a different city entirely, but I’m more inclined to think that this particular man was simply rather daft. Well, anyway, we did make it there eventually. So take a gander.

The quote above is from the blog ‘Travel to Saturn,’ painting a verbal picture the potential thrills and spills of striking out on one’s own in Jordan.

That said, while checking out what some other recent Umm Qais related bloggery, I came across these two images of the dark basalt stonework over at Flickr:

The contrast between antiquity & modern - by Puri

I might have taken the same shot, except our tour guide was immutably parked there this past November.

Only For the Royal Family - by Faris Madi

This latter image from taken from the last row of seats lining the ancient Umm Qais Greco-Roman theater. As the photographer, Faris Madi nicely puts it:

As you can see they made it from rocks in a curvy way…perfect

And finally this word image (followed by some huge .jpg photos)  from Lauren’s Live Journal of what many experience their first day out of Amman on a guided tour:

First stop – Umm Qais. Umm Qais is in the North West of Jordan, and is home to the ruins of the Roman city of Gadara. My guidebook says you can see Syria, Israel and the Palestinian Territories from Umm Qais, and there were terrific views there, but with my shoddy sense of direction I had no idea what I was looking at. The scenery was nice, whichever country it was.

One of the things I really loved about Jordan (it was also the case, to a lesser extent, in Turkey) was that the Roman ruins aren’t ‘fenced off‘ the same way they are in Italy (and the way Greek ruins are, in Greece). There were no guards, no ‘keep out’ signs, really nothing from stopping you from getting up close to the ruins. Umm Qais was really quiet – there was our party of four, and a couple of other small groups, and that was it.

Emphasismine … as I was quite disappointed this past summer while touring the Acropolis … having to pay to take photos from several yards away of historic locations obscured by ugly chain link fences.

Not so in Jordan, there you can still see, feel and touch the Biblical and ancient history – especially at Umm Qais.

The Quarryscapes project started in 2005 and is now almost finished … The project is basically an effort to study and raise awareness about ancient quarries in the eastern Mediterranean area. In this context, we in Jordan studied ancient Bronze aged quarries in the Jafr area, Nabatean quarries in Petra and Roman quarries in Jerash. In the upcoming meeting, I will present some of our work in Jerash.

How cool is that?! And how can I get in on such action the next time I tour Jordan?

Until then, I suppose I’ll just have to live vicariously through posts like the one above by Nizar over at the Jordan science and engineering blog …

… and project websites such as “Quarryscapes” that offer ancient imagery of:

• Al Jafr – whose formation begins as massive thickness of chalky limestone or marl, then repeated the sequence by chert and chalky limestone, chalk or hard limestone.
• Jerasa – where  visit to the site will reveal that stone was brought to the site from many sources. Remarkably, large granite columns are present, apparently brought all the way from Egypt.
• Petra – The stone is extracted from the Cambrian Um Ishrin formation. This is a well indurated fluviatile quartz arenite. The lower section consists of reddish sandstone and the upper is whitish.

Like I said … where do I sign up to see some awesome archaeological sites like these?

Located at +32° 16′ 54.83″, +35° 53′ 27.61“, Jerash is known for its wealth of ruins from the Roman Decapolis city of Gerasa (sometimes Garasa). Jerash also sometimes referred to as Antioch on the Golden River. It is sometimes misleadingly referred to as the “Pompeii of the Middle East or Asia”, referring to its size, extent of excavation and level of preservation (though Jerash was never buried by a volcano).

Recent excavations show that Jerash was inhabited during the Bronze Age and Iron Age (3200 BC – 1200 BC. After the Roman conquest in 63 BC, Jerash and the land surrounding it were annexed by the Roman province of Syria, and later joined the Decapolis cities.

The photo is of the areas well-known and well preserved amphitheater … where I took the opportunity to test the acoutsics by singing a little solo based on the 23 Psalm.

In AD 90, Jerash was absorbed into the Roman province of Arabia, which included the city of Philadelphia (modern day Amman). The Romans ensured security and peace in this area which enabled its people to devote their efforts and time to economic development and building activity.

In the second half of the first century AD, the city of Jerash achieved great prosperity. In AD 106, the Emperor Trajan constructed roads throughout the provinces and more trade came to Jerash – as seen in the city square pictured here.

The Emperor Hadrian visited Jerash in AD 129-130. A remarkable Latin inscription records a religious dedication set up by members of the imperial mounted bodyguard “wintering” there. The Triumphal Arch (or Arch of Hadrian) pictured here was built to celebrate his visit.

In fact travelers can get a taste of this culture through a nifty little Roman re-enactment held at the Hippodrome. It includes authentically dressed and drilled soldiers, a gladiator spectacle and a small but exciting chariot race. Here I am getting into the act … with less success than the modern movie’s Maximus.

For those into religious tourism, Jerash is long considered to be the chora ton Gerasenon or “country of the Gerasenes” mentioned to in Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26, and Luke 8:37, a large ecclesiastical complex exists within the city houses a fountain and a church where Byzantine citizens once annually celebrated Jesus’ miracle of turning water into wine.

Today, the “Fountain Court” within Jerash is a popular destination for modern pilgrims who want to commemorate the travels and teachings of Jesus in the most spectacular remains of a city of the Decapolis.

You can explore more details about this amazing city of the Decapolis on our wiki page on Jerash.

Dean becomes a “short lived” attraction at the Hippodrome in Jerash

Dean by the River Jabbok, where Jacob wrestled the angel in Genesis 32.

The amiptheatre at Gesara (not to be confused with ampitheatre in Jerash

Jerash Gladiator (re-enactor) shows-off his new blogJordan.com caribiner

Large, South (and well preserved) Ampitheatre in Jerash

The Temple of Artemis at Jerash

Explore more at the blogJordan photo gallery of our day at the Decapolis.

• This post brought to you courtesy of Zain – Jordan’s #1 wireless communications provider.

That’s right boys and girls, I went ahead and paid the big bucks for the hotel bandwidth, in part to secure the video and pictures captured since the 2nd onto a server I’ve got setup – but also to punch up some Picasa photos and YouTube videos for your enjoyment.

But first a little background. After all, you have to eat your dinner before desert, and you don’t get videos until you get a bit of history. In this case some of the history of the “Pompeii of the Middle East or Asia” – otherwise known as Jerash. More accurately too as no volcano undid this magnificent discovery of Roman ruins. Enough to see to fill at least a 1 or 2 gig memory card (trust me, I know).

There are two approaches, ours taking us by the Hippodrome, or the Circus Jerash. Here you can buy tickets to a re-enactment show run by a retired Swede living out his childhood dream.

At first I thought it was going to be a bit hokey, but along with the showmanship – some history and ancient how-to was explained and demonstrated – making it something I would recommend seeing. Just bring some water and filter for your camera lens as the sun can get a bit high, hot and toasty. That said, here’s a little tidbit I captured with mySanyo Xacti digital recorder:

Hopefully can see through the YouTubey graininess that no small amount of detail was spent on the uniforms – not I did not say costumes; in keeping with the buckets of history one can enjoy here. Speaking of history, did you know that recent excavations show thatJerash was inhabited during the Bronze Age and Iron Age (3200 BC – 1200 BC)? And that the Romans ‘absorbed’ Jerash into the Arabian District – making it part of the Decapolis around 90 AD and building all the neat stuff I got a glimpse of today – like the Temple of Artemis as seen in the video below:

As you can tell, I love this stuff (almost said ‘dig this stuff’). One place I was hoping to get back to was the Large South Theater, one of the largest in-tact Greco-Roman amphitheatres we have today. It is complete with the tunnels, the seats, the staging – and an acoustic sweet spot that I just had to try out:

Sorry about going sharp there on Dvorak’s rendering of the 23rd Psalm form his work 10 Biblical Songs (how embarrassing). The acoustics were so hot, that I found the sound was bouncing back at me, mixing pitches with the ones I was hearing on the iPod. Well that, and how much vocal color can one seriously expect to capture with the very tiny microphone embedded in the Sanyo Xacti VPC E1 (in yellow)?

As credits go, that band behind me is not my normal backup – but rather a group of bag pipers and drummers who normally entertain there – though I did not see their act back on ‘04. I also find the selection of instruments a bit odd, wondering if lutes and lyres weren’t more in order considering the era represented by the surrounding structures.

Knit-picking aside, I hope I made this little history lesson a bit less painful. But for you gluttons for punishment – I’ve provided more to explore at the blogJordan Wiki under the obvious category of ‘ Jerash.’

Picasa pictures incoming as I sleep (getting every penny out of this bandwidth I can). Some even surprise me in terms of quality and atmosphere – the evening sun bathing the limestone and marble in a warm orange glow.

Tomorrow the Citadel – and with it pix from the Temple of Hercules!

Oh hey, before I turn in: a BIG shout out to Diana Scimone who was kind enough to link up my blog on hers: DianaScimone.com.

Noted for being the location of the miracle of the Gadarene swine (Matthew 8:28-32), Gadara overlooks the juncture points for of Syria, Israel and Jordan. The town also went by the names of Antiochia or Antiochia Semiramis and Seleucia.

Before enjoying this vista, we went to the spot where Jacob wrestled with the angel as described in Genesis 32:24-32: the River Jabbok.

I got it all mapped out as points 1,2 & 9 for you below:

Day 3 Tour Map - The Decapolis

Also on the map (points 3,5,6 & you’ll note Jerash (محافظة جرش) a site is known for the ruins of the Greco-Roman city of Gerasa (sometimes Garasa) – with some historical references to it as Antioch on the Golden River.

In the 21st century, the majestic location is sometimes misleadingly referred to as the “Pompeii of the Middle East or Asia“, referring to its size, extent of excavation and level of preservation – EVEN THOUGH Jerash was never buried by a volcano.

Jerash, a city of the Decapolis, is considered one of the most important and best preserved Roman cities in the Near East – as in enough columns and stonework to fill a 2gb memory card.

Of particular note are the Temple of Artimous and the Ampitheatre – I have excellent evening photos of the former – and some YoutTUbe of me proving the acoustics in song I’ll post later tonight.

Why not now? Glad you asked.

I believe it was John Steinbeck who wrote: “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” And suffering both a keyboard failure on the laptop and reduced to dial-up at 236kbps – More than likely I’ll just shell out the almost $20 U.S. to use the Hyatt’s bandwidth – but I have a commitment to those who’ve aggregated and linked this site to give them the best I can.

Good thing I brought a backup keyboard!

That said, interesting message I’m taking away from this trip as there have been several “gremlin” attacks – including the A/C going out on the bus during the hottest stretch of the day and trip.

I think God’s trying to tell me to enjoy what blessing I have and quite whining so much. Sometimes personal growth smarts – but more on how my trips to Jordan continue to transform me in a latter post.

Remember, Dean Sings on YouTube later tonight (or tomorrow

p.s. – also tomorrow the King Abdulla 1 Mosque, the Citadel, and the Temple of Hercules!