Madaba to the Dead Sea

 

Map of the World with explanation

Our first stop of the day was Madaba, which means city of water and fruit. While the country is 2% Christian, Madaba is 50% Christian and once had 120 churches. We’re here to visit the Church of St. George to see its map of the world, a mosaic created around 542 AD. The top of the map is East, the direction from which Jews believe the Messiah will appear and where Christians believe the Second Coming of Christ will occur. Jerusalem and Bethlehem stand out of the map, with the Jordan River from Lake Tiberius to the dead sea. On another portion is the Sanai desert and the Nile.

Actual Mosaic

We had a family hosted lunch at the home of Ferris with his wife and mother-in-law. Our meal was salad with a delicious chicken and rice meal called ouzi, with lots of Arabian spices, but mild in taste. He had been a pharmacist but now has a small print shop in his home. She has a master’s degree and teaches how to restore mosaics at the University. They have many relatives in the US and Canada, including a brother who worked for HP and Microsoft.

Ouzi

The Jordanians have been doing mosaics for 2000 years. We went to a workshop where they teach people how to create mosaics. It is part of a handicraft protection program created by Queen Noor to provide employment.

Our last stop for the day was Mount Nebo, where God showed Moses the promised land. Here is where he was buried. Down below we could see the Jordan Valley from Gilead to Dan, ending in the dead sea. In the Monastery of Nebo we saw several mosaics from the sixth century. Then we headed for our hotel, Movenpick on the Dead Sea.

Sixth Century Mosaic

In the evening, we had a talk by Rani Husseini, author of “Murder for Honor” and “Years of Struggle”. She went to University in Oklahoma and returned to Jordan in 1993. She worked for the Jordan Times as a crime reporter, where she focused on honor killings of women. At the time, the sentence for men who murdered their wife or daughter because they dishonored the family was 3 to 6 months. She became a women’s right activist to change the laws and sentences. There was a lot of resistance to these issues. Even today, the Muslim Brotherhood is against their movement. Since 2000, there is more awareness of women’s rights, an increase in sentences for abuse and honor killings and there are now three safe houses in the country. In 2003, women were given the vote. Today 20% of the ministers are women. But only 14% of women are employed and there are few day care facilities. There are still no sexual harassment laws, DNA cannot be used to prove paternity, and women’s salaries are significantly below that of men.

Jordanian Economy

The Jordanian dollar is tied to the dollar ever since the Peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. The US and Jordan have a free trade agreement. Your Levi jeans may come from Jordan. Tourism is the largest industry representing 14% of the economy. Isham, our guide is booked to the end of the year except for July and August. Mineral excavation is #2. With the war is Ukraine, the price of phosphate has gone up 20x, for fertilizer. Number 3 is agriculture, fruits and vegetables are grown in the Jordan Valley. Fourth is education, both foreigners going to university, and educated Jordanians working in the nearby countries and sending money home.

The government is a constitutional monarchy where most of the power ls with the king and his cabinet. There is a 130-member parliament with a quota for women, Christians, and Chechens, that is elected every four years. They don’t initiate laws, but approve, deny, or amend them. The king appoints a prime minister who is approved by the parliament, he then appoints members of the cabinet. A 2/3 vote of the parliament or the king can remove the prime minister or cabinet minister.