Trip to Jordan (Day 1)

Hello My Dear Great Ones,
We spent 3 days in Jordan.  What a contrast to Israel.  Not nearly as modern or clean as Israel.  Still a very interesting place.  Here are the stops we made on our first day in Jordan:

Jerash

The Jerash ruins of Jordan are said to be the best-preserved Roman ruins outside of Italy. At just 48km (30mi) north of Amman, Jerash is a great day trip from the capital. The modern city of Jerash sits alongside Gerasa of Antiquity, an ancient city housing some of the finest Greco-Roman architecture in the world. The city is positioned in Jordan’s countryside of fertile rolling hills and valleys filled with olive, plum trees, fig trees, pine forests and wheat crops.The ancient Roman city enjoyed great wealth and importance largely due to the area’s fertile lands and year-round fresh water supply. An earthquake hit the region in 749AD destroying huge areas of the city and leaving the ruins buried in soil for hundreds of years. It was in 1806 that German explorer Ulrich Jasper Seetzen discovered them while searching for Oriental artifacts as part of a private research commission.  And the amazing thing about that fact is that I am RELATED on my father's side to Ulrich Jasper Seetzen!  Wow!

Mount Nebo (Arabic: جبل نيبو‎ Jabal Nībū; Hebrew: הַר נְבוֹ‬ Har Nevo) is an elevated ridge in Jordan, approximately 710 metres (2,330 ft) above sea level, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land. The view from the summit provides a panorama of the Holy Land and, to the north, a more limited one of the valley of the River Jordan. The West Bank city of Jericho is usually visible from the summit, as is Jerusalem on a very clear day.

 On the highest point of the mountain, Syagha,^[7] the remains of a Byzantine church^[8] and monastery were discovered in 1933.^[9] The church was first constructed in the second half of the 4th century to commemorate the place of Moses' death. The Moses Memorial that houses the Byzantine mosaics has been closed for renovation from 2007 to 2016. It reopened on 15 October 2016.^[10][11][12]

According to the final chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses ascended Mount Nebo to view theLand of Canaan, which God had said he would not enter, and to die there; he was buried in an unknown valley location in Moab.^[1]

 

A serpentine cross sculpture (the Brazen Serpent Monument) atop Mount Nebo was created by Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni. It is symbolic of the bronze serpent created by Moses in the wilderness (Numbers 21:4–9) and the cross upon which Jesus was crucified (John 3:14).

After spending time at Mount Nebo we went to an art store.  It was very interesting.

Have a great week.  Next time is Petra!

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk