An eclectic and well-dressed group of Ammanis joined Wonho Chung for an evening of variety show-like material. The show, presented by Shashati.TV, was a mix of stand up comedy, video clips, and cartoons produced by Jordanian media companies. Shashati.TV is a new website to help Arab filmmakers get in touch with each other. They are asking for content, good or bad content; Shashati.TV seems like it is trying to be the deviantArt of Arab film. A noble quest in my opinion.

It goes like this: you join the community by posting videos, leaving comments, joining conversations and learning about film related news. In the mean time, you meet new people and hopefully collaborate with others in your projects. It is an interesting concept, and a well-organized team.

The benefit to someone like myself, living outside of Jordan, is that the posted videos on Shashati.TV offer a number acts in English for those of us whom who’d like to sneak a peak at modern Jordanian and Arabic arts and culture, though this writer believes that performances on such as the Bedouin-techno dances transcend all barriers of language and geography.

Domingo performed against the backdrop of one of the most impressive and best preserved Greco-Roman theaters in the world in the city of Jerash, 40 kilometers north of the capital Amman. Krall performed at the Amman Citadel, an equally impressive Greco-Roman site. more >>

Known as Jabal al-Qal’a as in the Arabic, or Rabbath-Ammon to afficianatos of antiquity, the Citadel Hill offers travelers to Amman an opportunity to take at least 9,000 of history … contrary to the abbreviated chronology cited by ABC New Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper (i.e. the site dates back to the Neolithic period, not the Roman Empire).

Below are 24 photographs of 24 things historical Senator Obama may have quite literally overlooked while visiting Jordan’s Hill of the Citadel.

The Mosque and Cistern one sees when entering the grounds::

Various views of the Temple of Hercules:

Various vista of of Amman:

A 5th Century Byzantine Temple next to the Temple of Hercules:

Jordan’s National Archaeological Museum located at the Citadel grounds:

Lower Citadel Grounds (defensive walls) one sees while leaving:

Here’s a link to the public Picassa gallery of the above photos – all taken during my 2004 trip there. I still need to sort through the 500 or so photos I took of the museum artifcats, and 30 mintues or so of video I shot of the same while there this past November.

On a personal note of commentary: after listening to his speech and reading the subsequent news stories, I find it somewhat symbolic that Obama missed an opportunity to speak to antiquity, while the press also displayed some confusion as to where Senator Barack stood.

At least the picture, well several pictures we read on the blog Journey of my Life whose post ‘Day 1 – Amman, Jordan: 10 April 2008, Thursday‘ included a morning tour of the:

1. Hill of the Citadel
2. Temple of Hercules
3. National Archaeological Museum of Jordan
4. The Roman Amphitheater in Amman
5. A tour of the city of Amman

All before heading out to Petra by way of the famous Karak castle via a King’s highway the authoress describes as:

After that we headed for lunch but first we have to pass the King’s Highway which was one of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen. It was just absolutely breathtaking and beautiful. Very similar to Grand Canyon in Las Vegas, USA.

It does sound like the new museum is yet to be opened as the writer describes her own archaeological find:

This small museum houses an excellent collection of antiquities ranging from prehistoric times to the 15th century. There is an exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a copy of the Mesha Stele and four rare Iron Age sarcophagi.

Still, not bad for the first day … and yet another great description of all there is to see and do just about any and everywhere in Jordan.

I definately will be checking back in on this blog to see how the rest of the story goes.