ATTRACTIONS | Exotic Travels

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JORDAN ATTRACTIONS

“SHOULD YOU SHIELD THE CANYONS FROM THE WINDSTORMS, YOU WOULD NEVER SEE THE TRUE BEAUTY OF THEIR CARVINGS” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

The Dead Sea is truly an extraordinary place that should not be missed. The uniqueness of this Salt Lake has been known for thousands of years, and has attracted visitors ever since. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley at the bottom of a natural depression that reaches 423m below sea level, making it the lowest spot on Earth and the only place in the world where one can experience floating ethereally on its saline waters without exerting any effort. Although the Dead Sea is fed from a number of small streams, springs, and mainly from the Jordan River, which flows south from the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberias), but due to the diversion of more water out of the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee, the rate of evaporation exceeds that of the feeding river and hence the salinity levels of the Dead Sea waters are exceptionally high, measuring over thirty percent while sea water is about three or four percent, making it so buoyant that it’s actually impossible to sink and marine life quite non-existent, except for a few species of bacteria and algae.

The remarkably unique healing and beautifying powers along with the relaxing feeling that the Dead Sea imparts, makes it an exceptional natural spa with exclusive benefits, ranging from the oxygen-rich atmospheric haze which filters out harmful ultra-violet sunrays to the soothing and therapeutic properties of its mineral-rich salty waters and mud.

Several hotels are lined up along the Dead Sea northern shores, offering superb mud baths and spa treatments which would enhance your experience.

THE DEAD SEA

The Red Sea resort of Aqaba is Jordan’s only coastal city famed for its remarkably rich marine life and renowned for its palm- fringed beach resorts and luxury hotels which offer a relaxing atmosphere and a great range of water sports activities.

Aqaba’s sparkling crystal clear warm waters offers a breathtaking snorkeling experience and an unsurpassed scuba diving adventure amongst the vast array of beautifully colored coral reefs.

Aqaba which had great significance in ancient times has interesting historical sites. The Roman ruins of Aqaba port city, Ayla were unearthed along with mud brick remains of what is believed to be one of the world’s earliest known churches, dating back to the late 3rd century AD, but the resort’s main attraction is the 12th century AD Crusader fortress of Helim, known as Aqaba Fort, which was rebuilt by the Mamluks in the 14th century AD and remains relatively well-preserved.

Underwater enthusiasts may enjoy snorkeling and diving at Berenice Beach Club which is distinguished by its location since it’s situated along the rich and bio diverse south coast region of Aqaba, at the heart of the 7 km long protected Marine Park, which was created to conserve the thriving near shore underwater marine life where extensive coral communities (over 300 species of hard & soft coral) dominate the coast-line and provide habitat for a multitude of reef fish. More than 20 stunning snorkeling and diving sites are located at the Marine Park, two of which are most famous and within easy reach -just off the Beach Club- the Cedar Pride Wreck (Shipwreck) and the Black Rock, suitable for both advanced and beginner divers. Nearby is also one of the popular dive sites in Aqaba, the colorful reef of the Japanese Garden.

The beach club houses the outstanding Sindbad Dive Club which is an Aqua Lung Partner Centre offering up-to-date scuba and snorkeling rental equipment, along with state-of-the-art PADI diving courses for all levels (introductory, beginner & advanced) under the guidance of professional PADI instructors. Snorkeling and packaged diving trips (day/night – shore/boat) for certified and advanced divers are also available.

A wide range of water sport activities are available at Berenice Beach Club including water skiing, jet skiing, parasailing, banana boat & inner tube rides and also a variety of yachting cruises are offered at the club including a Coral Viewing Cruise aboard a glass-bottomed yacht with the option to snorkel, a sunset cruise with the option to dine & a full day sea excursion to explore the Crusader’s island of Ile de Grave (known as Pharaoh’s Island) in the Red Sea, near the shores of Sinai-Egypt, where one may enjoy snorkeling amongst the pristine reefs.

One may also explore the wonders of the Red Sea on the Semi-submersible Submarine which is available at Tala Bay.

AQABA

Mujib Nature Reserve

MUJIB RESERVE

Mount Nebo

MOUNT NEBO

The rock carved city of Petra.

PETRA

Madaba the “City of Mosaics” is renowned for its magnificent collection of lavish Byzantine mosaics found in its churches and homes. The most famous and significant of all the city’s treasures is one of the oldest maps of ancient Palestine, the 6th century AD mosaic map which covers the floor of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George, depicting the major biblical sites from Egypt to Palestine. The extraordinary map offers a historical insight into the surrounding region and was depicted in the past for the benefit of the pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. The River Nile, Mount Sinai, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River and Lake Tiberias are easily identified on this map, in addition to many cities such as Gaza, Bethlehem and the detailed Holy City of Jerusalem where one can still clearly make out the city walls, gates, the main street (cardo) and the domed Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Not to be missed is the Church of the Apostles, with its beautifully decorated mosaic floors depicting native birds, flowers, animals and a large central medallion, known as the female Personification of the Sea, surrounded by fish and marine creatures.

The City of Mosaics has an interesting Archaeological Park which houses a rich collection of ruins and mosaics from the area, and a Folklore Museum housed at the Madaba Museum, which displays a collection of ancient artifacts, pottery, jewelry and traditional costumes.

MADABA

Dana is one of the largest and most beautiful protected areas in the kingdom, famed for its spectacular scenery and commanding views. The reserve stretches from the peaks of the Sharaa Mountains in the east, with an elevation of around 1,800 meters above sea level, descending across gorges with sheer rock walls, down to the beautiful dunes in the Rift Valley of Wadi Araba at sea level. With Dana’s natural and diverse ecosystem, it is perfect for supporting wildlife. More than 45 species of mammals were spotted at the reserve including the ibex, the mountain gazelle and the caracal, which inhabits the lower rocky areas, and a variety of other animals roam the sheltered valleys, such as the red fox, the badger, the wolf, the wild cat, the jackal and the striped hyena.

The wide variety of plants and tree cover including juniper, citrus, desert acacias and palm trees, makes Dana home to more than 180 species of birds including the crested lark, chukar, partridge, great grey shrike, Sinai rose finch and pale crag martin.

The reserve offers numerous hiking trails, a guesthouse located at the charming 15th century stone Village with fantastic views of the valley below, a campsite at the Rummana area; in the upper parts of the reserve overlooking Wadi Dana and a lodge at Feynan in the lower valley below.

DANA NATURE RESERVE

Jerash, One of the most splendid provincial cities anywhere in the Roman Empire

JERASH

Amman, the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

AMMAN

Wadi Rum best described by Lawrence of Arabia as ‘vast, echoing and God-like’ for its stunning natural beauty, and known by the Arabs as the Valley of the Moon for its moonscape terrain.

WADI RUM

Little Petra, a miniature Petra with a modest gorge, Siq el-Barid that leads into the area of carved tombs and monuments.

LITTLE PETRA

Hammamat Ma’in is dramatically set amidst the mountains above the Dead Sea around a series of hot springs and hyper-thermal waterfalls that cascade into natural mineral-rich hot pools, making it a wonderful retreat in the colder months. The therapeutic properties of these waters were already known and exploited in antiquity. During the 7th century AD, pilgrims travelled from all over the world to Jerusalem, Jericho, Bethany, Mount Nebo and ended their trip in bathing in the natural hot springs and waterfalls of Hammamat Ma’in.

HAMMAMAT MA'IN

The imposing Crusader stronghold of Kerak with its commanding position overlooking the town of Kerak was one of the most famous Crusader castles strategically situated on the Kings’ Highway and dominating the ancient caravan routes between Egypt and Syria. The fortified castle was built in AD 1142 and had witnessed many battles between the Crusaders and Saladin’s Muslim armies until its surrender to the Arabs after more than a one year of siege.

Visitors will be amazed by the network of the dimly lit vaulted rooms and long winding corridors, which lead into each other through heavy arches and doorways. Also of interest, are the narrow arrow slits in the walls, to prevent invaders from climbing up the steep rocky slope to the castle and the spacious underground dining rooms, the giant oven, and the millstone used for pressing olives.

KERAK CASTLE

Bethany is the most important and extraordinary biblical site in Jordan. It marks the place in el-Kharrar Valley (Saphsaphas), East of the Jordan River, where our Lord Jesus Christ came 2,000 years ago, to be baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him” (Matthew 3: 13), and where Prophet Eiljah is said to have ascended into heaven in the 9th century BC, on a chariot of fire from Elijah’s Hill which is located at the eastern edge of the valley.

The Baptism Site (al-Maghtas) is about 9 km north of the Dead Sea, depicted as Saphsaphas on the 6th century AD mosaic map of the Holy Land in Madaba, and known in the Holy Bible as Bethany or Beth-abara (the Place of Crossing) “These things were done in Beth-abara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing” (John 1:28). From the days of John the Baptist, when he started his ministry and where he was baptizing, Bethany was considered a major Christian pilgrim station en route between Jerusalem and Bethlehem to the west and Mount Nebo to the east.

Recent excavations have revealed a 5th century AD monastery built on the remains of a church around a cave, on the western side of Elijah’s hill, believed to be where John had lived and where Jesus was known to have visited him. The site is still very much the same as to how it would have looked in the time of Jesus and John, where the Bible describes the reeds and the small rough bushes which are habitats for bees, reminding us of what John the Baptist used to eat in the wilderness while he was preparing the way to the Lord, wild honey and locust. Excavations have revealed caves, where monks and hermits used to live, dug into the upper layers of the eastern side cliffs of the Jordan River, the remains of churches with mosaics and marble floors dating back to the Byzantine era, and some to the late Roman era, along with ancient baptismal pools, where pilgrims descended through the marble steps into the water to be baptized. A vast water system that used to bring water from the valley to the church and a water reservoir were also found.

BETHANY - BAPTISM SITE

Umm el-Rassas, an ancient complex of four Byzantine churches, once surrounded by a stone wall. It has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site

UMM EL-RASSAS

Desert Castles, Qasr Amra, Qasr el Kharaneh, Qasr Azraq

DESERT CASTLES

Azraq is a unique wetland oasis located in the heart of the semi-arid Jordanian eastern desert. It contains several natural and ancient built pools, a seasonally flooded marshland and a large mudflat known as Qa’at Azraq.

Scores of bird flock to the reserve each year, on their winter migration route from Europe to Africa, such as the larks, finches, warblers, eagles, raptors, harriers, plovers and ducks. The reserve is also home to the wild water buffalo that live in the marshland.

Lizards, foxes and jackals are sporadically seen in the late evening. Best time to see birdlife is in winter (December to February) and early spring (March and April).

AZRAQ WETLAND RESERVE

27 km northwest of Jerash, on a beautiful short journey through the pine forested northern hills, lays the stronghold Castle of Ajloun (known as Qala’at el-Rabbad), which is strategically perched on a 1250m high hilltop, formerly the site of a Christian monastery and home to a monk named Ajloun. For its strategic position and commanding views, the historic castle was built, by the Arabs -Saladin’s nephew Izz al-Din Usama- of the Ayyubid dynasty, as part of Saladin’s defensive chain of forts against the Crusaders in AD 1185, and as one in a chain of beacons. The castle was also a strategic message station for the carrier pigeons which relayed messages between Cairo, the headquarters of the Ayyubid’s dynasty, and Baghdad (Iraq) or Damascus (Syria). The impressive military castle of Ajloun is a fine example of Islamic architecture. It was once surrounded by a sixteen-meter-deep moat with a drawbridge, for defense purposes, along with towers that had narrow arrow slits and gaps in the stonework through which boiling oil was poured on assailants. The castle’s chambers were also filled with boulders for hurling at invaders by catapult. The views from the towers are very rewarding through the entire surrounding countryside.

AJLOUN CASTLE

The Dead Sea Rift is more than a thousand km long depression which stretches from northern Syria to the Red Sea in the south and constitutes a unique section of the immense Syrian-African rift system (Great Rift Valley) which stretches from Turkey in the north to Mozambique in the south.

The Jordanian segment along the Dead Sea Rift includes the Gulf of Aqaba, the Araba Valley, the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. The rift with its numerous wildlife and abundant vegetation provided favourable conditions for hunting and gathering and evidence of early settlements were unearthed along the rift.

The Dead Sea is the lowest part of the Rift, whose shores lie at 417 m below sea level. The fertile Jordan Valley which includes, the Jordan River, is a 120 km long and constitutes the northern part of the rift and runs from Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) in the north to the northern part of the Dead Sea in the south; forming the northern western boundary between occupied Palestine (Israel) and Jordan. It was in the fertile Jordan Valley that early settlements were built, some 10,000 years ago, when people started to plant crops and abandon their nomadic lifestyle, and where significant biblical events took place.

The southern part of the rift is the Araba Valley, also known as Wadi Araba, which stretches from the southern part of the Dead Sea, for a 155 km, to the Gulf of Aqaba and consists mainly of mud flats and Salinas.

THE DEAD SEA RIFT VALLEY- WADI ARABA

The Crusader castle at Shobak was known as “Crak de Montreal” or “Mont Realis” –the fortress of the royal mount– built in AD 1115 on a remote hill to keep the route that connected Syria and Egypt under control. It was the first of a string of similar strongholds in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. The fortress was captured by Salah el-Din in (AD 1189) after an 18-month siege, and then by the Mamluks who completely restored it during the 14th century AD, as witnessed by the numerous Arabic inscriptions adorning its walls and towers.

A visitor today can see the remains of the enclosing wall, archways, arrow slits, Crusader chapel, and most fascinating of all, the ancient well shaft cut deep into the rock, with 375 steps leading down to the water supply at the bottom. The shaft is one of the deepest ever created by Crusader forces.

SHOBAK CASTLE

Known as the world’s most sinful cities, “The five Cities of the Plain”, mentioned in the Bible as Sodom, Gomorrah, Zoar, Admah and Zeboim were unearthed along the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. According to the Bible these Bronze-Age cities were destroyed by the Lord with a rain of brimstone and fire to put an end to the perversions and wickedness of its people. Genesis 19 describes how God sent his two angels to Sodom, to lead Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and his family outside the city before its destruction. Lot and his two daughters sought refuge in a cave overlooking the southeastern part of the Dead Sea near the ancient city of Zoar (modern Safi) while his wife was turned into a pillar of salt because she had defied God’s orders and looked back to watch the destruction of Sodom.

The cave where Lot and his two daughters dwelt in has been recently discovered in the barren hills overlooking Safi, along with ruins of a small Byzantine church with mosaic floors and burial chambers. At the base of the hill is Lot’s Museum, “The Lowest Museum on Earth” where about 400 archaeological finds from the area and across the Jordan Valley, representing history from 8000BC, are exhibited.

SANCTUARY OF LOT

IRAQ EL AMIRThe ruins of the small but beautiful Hellenistic palace of Qasr el-Abed (Castle of the Slave) lie on a grassy plain near the village of Iraq el-Amir, approximately 22 km west of the capital Amman, and are considered to be one of Jordan’s rare and finest examples of Hellenistic architecture dating back to the second century BC. The fortified palace which was built out of white marble, with beasts of gigantic sizes carved on it, was once surrounded by a wall and is believed to have been enclosed by a large pool or a moat. The setting and the wonderful sculpted lions on the castle’s walls are the highlights today. The palace was badly damaged by a devastating earthquake in 362 AD.

In the village of Iraq el-Amir, about 500 meters from the castle, are eleven rock cut caves called Caves of the Prince with carved doorways leading to a network of rooms, believed to be tombs.

IRAQ EL AMIR

110 km north of Amman, on the northwest border of Jordan, lays the Decapolis city of Umm Qais which was known by the Romans as Gadara. The city reached its full glory under Roman rule, and was famous for the richness of its intellectual life, being the birthplace of several classical Philosophers, poets and writers.

Not only popular because of the extensive ruins but because of its magnificent panoramic views over the Golan Heights, Lake Tiberias (the Sea of Galilee) and the Jordan Valley.

The ancient city of Gadara is also believed to be the site where Jesus Christ cast out demons from two men and forced the evil spirits to enter a herd of pigs, which in turn rushed down the steep slope and drowned in the Sea of Galilee (Matthew chapter 8, 28-34).

Much of what can be seen today was actually constructed during the 2nd century AD. A visitor can observe the West Theater which was constructed from the black basalt, and once seated an audience of 3,000 people. Beside the West Theater, stand the black basalt Corinthian columns of the 6th century octagonal Byzantine church, and further west is a bath complex. Numerous Greco-Roman tombs and a colonnaded street can also be observed.

UMM QAIS

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