The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

With two other Canadians (from Vancouver) and four Dutch (a rabbinical student at Hebrew University here in Jerusalem, her parents and partner who were visiting) I spent several days in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Because the Allenby Bridge across the Jordan River at Jericho is closed due to security issues, we had a two hour drive through the West Bank to the King Hussein Bridge. Across the fertile, agriculturally rich Transjordanian Plain and into the arid, rocky Gilead Mountains, just south of the Syrian border, our first stop was Jerash, one of league of ten major Graeco- Roman cities of the 4th BCE to 1st CE centuries. Remnants of temples and columns, baths, roads, and an amphitheatre leave you in awe of the riches and power of the Empire. In its day. Something I read this winter remarked that none of the major empires have survived as long as the major religious traditions have, suggesting there is, indeed, something more durable than economics and military might . . . .

Philadelphia was another city of the Decapolis with origins stretching back to the Neolithic period, 8,500 years ago. Today all this somewhere under modern Amman, the capital of the Kingdom. With a population of two million people, Amman densely covers nineteen hills.


It is a city of contrasts – Roman-era amphi-theatre and fortress stand along side of modern high rises, luxury cars share the road with donkeys. I saw a Starbucks. Visions of my first decent cup of coffee in three months danced across my tongue. But, alas, everyone else in the van voted for Turkish coffee. Our driver remarked that he has heard that a coffee at Starbucks costs 5 dinars (about $10). I asked him what his point was.

We toured around, saw some sites, saw an extraordinary Byzantine mosaic in Madaba, and went to Mt. Nebo where our faith stories has it Moses sees the Promised Land laid out beyond the Jordan and then dies. But everything was eclipsed by Petra.