A Day of Ruin

Day 8

Don't be alarmed by my title here. Today was our first program-sponsored trip, a day outing via bus to Roman ruin cities of Umm Qais and Jerash plus a crumbling crusader-era castle at Ajloun. Not a one of the sites was more than an hour from Irbid or each other so the going was pleasant (if slightly bumpy) in a rare air-conditioned Yarmouk University bus.



Umm Qais
Umm Qais is 30 km NW of Irbid, right in Jordan's NW corner where Syria, Jordan, and Israel join along the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee. It's famous in biblical terms for Jesus banishing some demons from human-form into a nearby herd of swine or something. I dunno, read you Bible if you are interested in the facts of the matter. The city is more notable for its role in Greek and Roman imperial history as a city of the Decapolis in Greater Syria. The ruins from this period that remain to tell Umm Qais' history were the subject of our visit. Today, the ruins, situated atop a hill over-looking part of the Jordan valley serve also as an amazing view of the lowlands of Israel adjacent to the Sea of Galilee and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, beyond which lies Syria. Interestingly, mixed in with the ruins of the amphitheater and colonnades is a pillbox bunker from the '67 war. The view it's gun box frames was an interesting take on Umm Qais' vantage point I thought.














Ajloun
Even higher up in the hills of North Jordan lies Ajloun Castle, built during the crusades and serving also as part of a link of forts that could transmit a message from Baghdad to Cairo in under 12 hours (or so we were told). The exterior of the castle was damaged not by battle but a series of powerful earthquakes and so the now crumbling walls and towers are a interesting host to a maze of dark interior chambers and archery slits. Like Umm Qais, the chief attraction is the view from atop the castle's highest points, which on a clear day, can take in a large sweep of the Jordan valley. Joining us amongst the castle's innards were an obviously awkward group of East Asian tourists. Today was the first day I felt like a tourist and not a student. But, if that's the cultural price of admission to these kind of sites around Jordan it is a small price to pay.










Jerash
Our last stop on the day trip was another Roman member of the ancient Decapolis. Jerash is a huge and well-preserved Roman city centre, complete with long colonnades, arched entry gates, oval plazas, and not one but two large amphitheaters, among the remains many temple and practial structures that characterize the Roman cityscape. At the end of our self-guided walking tour (I spent about 45 mins just by myself) we stopped to sit in the main amphitheater, where we ran into a group of Spanish, Italian, and Danish tourists--most of whom did not comply with the respectful dress code that governs our program and especially our women. Whatever, they're Europeans, and looked like they were dropping a lot of bank on their holiday in Jordan anyway. Not ten minutes into our rest stop, a contingent of bagpipe players and drummers in traditional Arab Bedouin dress livened the mood with renditions of British classics, and, to our delight ,Yankee Doodle Dandy. Then we prompted them to play some authentically-Jordanian music, whence some members of our group started a traditional Dabka dance (Andrew = passive observer as I don't know its steps quite yet). Also of note at Jerash is the annual Jerash festival--a culture and music extravaganza filling the last weeks in July. Traditionally a draw for musicians of every style from all over the Middle East, lately the festival and it's unique staging have drawn in acts from all over the world--including the British ballet. Hmm, is a return trip in order?...




Quite the good day. I'm exhausted.