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| Seven Pillars of Wisdom |
Isham will be our guide in Jordan. The Gulf of Aqaba is a
continuation of the Great Rift, from the Jordan Valley north of us. We drove to
Wadi Rum, a desert
landscape with colorful mountains, like the Seven Pillars of Wisdom rising out
of the sand. On another stop, we could see the yellow sand where the movies,
Lawrence of Arabia and the Martian were filmed. The Silk Road passed through here
and we came upon camel pictographs. The desert is spotted with Bedouin camps. Only
1% of the Bedouins remain nomadic, most have settled in villages with schools
for their children. An aquifer provides water so the people raise goats and
cows, selling their meat and milk.
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| Yellow Sands of Wadi Rum |
We stopped at one for tea and lunch at another. We had Bedouin dishes of salads and meats that were cooked underground. They dug up our meal as we watched.
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| Unearthing Lunch |
After many centuries of Arab kings, the Ottomans took
control of Jordan in 1500. We passed the narrow-gauge railroad that the Germans
built to connect Syria with Mecca. While the Ottomans were Muslim, they were
not Arabs. During World War I, Thomas Lawrence offered British help to the
Arabs against the Ottomans and the Germans. In 1921 Trans Jordan was created as
a British Protectorate. In May 1946, it became the Kingdom of Jordan under King
Abdulla from Mecca.
We continued along the Kings highway on our way to Petra.
This road connected the ancient kingdoms of Edom, Moab, and Ammon mentioned in
Genesis. That night we had a Mideastern dinner at a local restaurant and we’re
entertained by male dancers. These are typical dances among males at Jordanian
celebrations. They managed to get us involved in the dance.
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