Qasr Al Azraq - Desert Castle (Jordan). Little is know about the history of this castle and there's been relatively little excavation and renovation. It is most famous because TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and Sharif Hussein bin Ali based themselves here in the winter of 1917-18 during the Arab Revolt against the Turks.
Qasr Al Azraq - Desert Castle (Jordan)
Quseir Amra - Desert Castle (Jordan). This is one of the best preserved desert buildings. The fascinating and still vibrant 8th centruy frescos are the highlight of this little castle.
Quseir Amra - Desert Castle (Jordan)
Qasr Al Kharaneh - Desert Castle (Jordan). This "castle" is believed to have been built sometime before the early 8th century. Historians are still divided on it's purpose. The building's internal arrangement does not suggest a fortress, and slits in its wall could not have been designed as arrow slits. It could have been a resting place for traders, but lacks the water source such buildings usually had close by and is not on any major trade routes. The most recent supposition is that it was a meeting room for Umayyad rulers and local Bedouin.
Qasr Al Kharaneh - Desert Castle (Jordan)
Amman Roman Theater (Jordan). The Roman Theatre is an ancient theater built by the Roman Empire when it included the land of Jordan. The Theatre was built during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (169-177 AD) and the large and steeply raked theatre could seat about 6,000 people. It is built into the hillside, and oriented north to keep the sun off the spectators.
Amman Roman Theater (Jordan)
Amman (Jordan). The huge Jordanian flag on the flagpole is said to be the world's largest free-standing flagpole. It stands 127m high.
Amman Citadel (Jordan). The Hill of the Citadel (Jabal al-Qal'a) in the middle of Amman was occupied as early as the Neolithic period, and fortified during the Bronze Age (1800 BC). The ruins on the hill today are Roman through early Islamic.
Amman Citadel (Jordan)
Amman Al-Hussein Mosque (Jordan). Built by King Abdullah I in 1924, this mosque is in the heart of downtown on the site of a mosque build in AD 640 by 'Umar, the second caliph of Islam.
Amman (Jordan)
Amman Tea Break (Jordan)
MOVIE. Amman Al-Hussein Mosque (Jordan). Listen to the call to prayer at sundown.
Madaba Mosaic (Jordan). The Madaba Mosaic Map is an index map of the region, dating from the 6th century AD, preserved in the floor of the Greek Orthodox Basilica of Saint George. With two million pieces of colored stone, the map depicts all major biblical sites of the Middle East.
Madaba Mosaic (Jordan)
Madaba Mosaic Church (Jordan). Christine's not praying!!! She's actually counting money!!!!
Mount Nebo Lookout (Jordan). Mount Nebo is an elevated ridge that is approximately 817 meters (2680 feet) above sea level, in what is now western Jordan. 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. According to the final chapter of Deuteronomy, Mount Nebo is where the Hebrew prophet Moses was given a view of the promised land that God was giving to the Jews. "And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho." (Deuteronomy 34:1). According to Jewish and Christian tradition, Moses was buried on this mountain by God Himself, and his final resting place is unknown.
Mount Nebo Lookout. View of the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Jericho and the Jordan River. (Jordan)
Mount Nebo Lookout (Jordan)
Driving to the Dead Sea (Jordan)
Dead Sea (Jordan). It is 422 metres (1,385 ft) below sea level, and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of Earth on dry land. The Dead Sea is 378 m (1,240 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7% salinity. It is 8 times saltier then the ocean. This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals and plants cannot flourish, hence its name.
Floating in the Dead Sea (Jordan)
Dead Sea Mud Scrub (Jordan). Many people believe that the mud of the Dead Sea has special healing and cosmetic uses: improves blood circulation and natural skin generation, cleanses the skin and remove any dirt particles, impurities and toxins, proven to provide effective relief for skin disorders such as psoriasis, eczema, acne and wrinkles, moisturizes your skin and helps natural skin hydration and gently peels away dead skin cells to reveal more youthful, healthier skin layer. All we know is that it left our skin smooth!!!!
Dead Sea Mud Scrub (Jordan)
Kerak Castle (Jordan). This fortified castle was a place of legend in the battles between the Crusaders and the Islamic armies of Saladin.
Kerak Castle (Jordan)
Petra By Night (Jordan). We walked through The Siq to The Treasury which were lit up by candle light
Petra By Night (Jordan)
MOVIE. Petra - The Siq (Jordan). Petra is known for its rock-cut architecture. It is also one of the new wonders of the world. The Nabateans constructed it as their capital city around 100 BC. The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced to the West by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. It was famously described as "a rose-red city half as old as time".
Petra - The Siq (Jordan). The Siq is the impressive eastern entrance that leads steeply down through a dark, narrow gorge (in places only 3–4 metres wide), a natural geological feature formed from a deep split in the sandstone rocks and serving as a waterway flowing into Wadi Musa.
Petra - The Siq (Jordan)
Petra - The Siq with the first view of The Treasury (Jordan)
Petra - The Treasury (Jordan). The estimated date of the Treasury's construction ranges from 100 BC to AD 200. It is 43m (141ft) high and about 30m (98ft) wide. Although carved out of the solid iron-laden sandstone to serve as a tomb for the Nabataean king Aretas III, the Treasury gets it's name from the story that the Egyptian Pharaoh hid his treasure here (in the urn in the middle of the second level) while pursuing the Israelites. Some locals believed the tale because the 3.5m (11ft) high urn is pockmarked by rifle shots, the results of vain attempts to break open the solid-rock urn.
Petra - The Treasury (Jordan)
Petra - Climb to The High Place of Sacrifice (Jordan)
Petra - The High Place of Sacrifice (Jordan)
Petra - Tombs (Jordan)
Petra - Roman Theater (Jordan)
Petra - Climb to above The Treasury (Jordan)
Petra - Above The Treasury (Jordan)
Petra - Boy Selling Rocks (Jordan)
Petra (Jordan)
Petra - The Monastary (Jordan). Similar in design to the Treasury, the Monastery is far bigger (50m/164ft wide and 45m/147ft high). Built in the 3rd centruy BC as a Nabataean tomb, the Monestary gets its name from the crosses carved on its inside walls, suggesting that the building was used as a church in Byzantine times.
Petra - The Monastary (Jordan)
Petra - The Monastary Viewpoint (Jordan)
Petra - Walking Back Through The Siq (Jordan)
Wadi Araba Viewpoint (Jordan)
Wadi Rum Seven Pillars of Wisdom (Jordan). Wadi Rum is best known for its connection with British officer T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), who based his operations here during the Arab Revolt of 1917–18. The area has been used as a background setting for the film Lawrence of Arabia.
Wadi Rum (Jordan)
Wadi Rum Siq Um Tawaqi (Jordan)
Wadi Rum Umm Fruth Rock Bridge (Jordan). These rock bridges were naturally formed by the wind.
Wadi Rum Burdah Rock Bridge (Jordan). This Rock Bridge is one of several rock bridges in Wadi Rum. We climbed up a vertical rock wall to get to the top at 80m (262ft)
Wadi Rum Burdah Rock Bridge (Jordan)
Wadi Rum Burdah Rock Bridge (Jordan). To get down we had to scoot down on our butts!
Wadi Rum Red Sand Dunes (Jordan)
MOVIE. Christine On Wadi Rum Red Sand Dunes (Jordan).
MOVIE. Satcha On Wadi Rum Red Sand Dunes (Jordan)
Wadi Rum Sunset (Jordan)
Aqaba Diving in the Red Sea (Jordan)
Christine - Aqaba Diving in the Red Sea (Jordan)
Christine - Aqaba Diving in the Red Sea. We're in an air pocket of a sunken ship (Jordan)
Satcha - Aqaba Diving in the Red Sea (Jordan)
MOVIE. Aqaba Diving in the Red Sea (Jordan)
Aqaba Beach (Jordan). The women wore their head scarves and clothes while swimming. No one except a few men had swimsuits.
Damascus (Syria). The capital and largest city of Syria.
Damascus Souq Entrance (Syria). The souq is covered by corrugated- roofing iron. Light beams are let through this ceiling by bullet holes from the machine-gun fire from the French planes during the nationalist rebellion of 1925.
Damascus Souq (Syria)
Damascus Umayyad Mosque (Syria). Women have to be fully covered and be wearing a dress-like-piece of clothing (no pants) to enter the mosque, whereas men can where anything. Women, the majority tourists, are given these robes to wear while they're in the mosque.
Damascus Umayyad Mosque (Syria). This mosque is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. The mosque holds a shrine which is said to contain the head of John the Baptist, honored as a prophet by Muslims and Christians. The head was supposedly found during the excavations for the building of the mosque. There is also the tomb of Saladin, which stands in a small garden adjoining the north wall of the mosque.
Damascus Umayyad Mosque (Syria)
Damascus Umayyad Mosque (Syria). This is the men's side for praying.
Damascus Umayyad Mosque (Syria). This is the women's side. They have to stay behind the ropes because the area in front is only for men.
Damascus Old City Eating Arabic Sweets!!! YUMMY!!!! (Syria)
Damascus Old City (Syria)
Damascus Christian Quarter (Syria)
Damascus Backgammon Game (Syria)
Krak des Chevaliers (Syria). A Crusader fortress in Syria and one of the most important preserved medieval military castles in the world. It is one of many fortresses that were part of a defensive network along the border of the old Crusader states. TE Lawrence called it the 'finest castle in the world'.
Krak des Chevaliers (Syria)
Ugarit (Syria). Ugarit was an ancient cosmopolitan port city where clay tablets with writing were found. These writings in Ugaritic are one of the world's earliest alphablets. They gave rise to the alphabetic orders of the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin alphabets on the one hand, and of the Ge'ez alphabet on the other.
Ugarit (Syria)
Qala'at Salah ad-Din (Syria). The castle was built in ancient times, possibly during the Phoenician period. The Phoenicians are said to have surrendered it to Alexander the Great about 334 BC. It fell into the hands of the Crusaders at around the beginning of the 12th century. The Crusader walls were breached by the armies of Muslim leader Saladin in July 1188, and it is from this victory that the castle takes its present name.
Qala'at Salah ad-Din (Syria)
Aphamea (Syria). This city was founded early in the 3rd centruy BC by Seleucus I, a former general in the army of Alexander the Great. It is named after his Persian wife Afamia.
Aphamea (Syria)
Hama Norias (Syria). Hama is known for its 17 norias (water wheels) in the Orontes River used for watering the gardens, which - it is claimed - date back to 1100 BC.
Hama Norias (Syria)
MOVIE. Hama Norias (Syria). The noise that these water wheels make is incredible. They are so loud!!!
Al-Bara Dead City (Syria). This settlement was established in the 4th centruy. Due to good location and excellent conditions to produce wine and olive oil it flourished in the 5th and 6th centuries. In 1098 it was conquered by crusaders (from here they later set off to the infamous cannibalistic massacre of Ma'arat al-Numan). In 1123 the town was reconquered by Muslims who built a small fortress. Later in the 12th century, after a severe earthquake, the town was abandoned.
Al-Bara Dead City (Syria). One of the 2 pyramidal tombs.
Serjilla Dead City (Syria). One of the best preserved Dead Cities. The settlement arose in a natural basin and prospered from cultivating of grapes and olives. Like most other of the Dead Cities, Serjilla was abandoned in the 7th century when the Arabs conquered the region and discontinued the merchant routes.
Serjilla Dead City (Syria)
Ebla (Syria). Ebla was one of the most powerful city-states in Syria in the late 3rd millennium BC.
Ebla (Syria)
Drinking Tea (Syria). As we left the Ebla ruins Naym (our driver) and the ticket collector were sitting in this tent drinking tea. They invited us to join them and they started to teach us Arabic. Naym was teaching me how to count 1 to 10!!!
Deir Samaan (Syria). This is a well preserved church that dates back to the 5th century. It is built on the site of the pillar of St. Simeon Stylites, a famed hermit monk. St. Simeon was born in 386 AD in a village in the Amanus Mountains. He joined a monastery in this area, but soon decided to seek the religious life alone as a hermit monk. After living in an cave for a little while, he relocated to the top of a pillar eventually reaching 15 meters high to achieve greater seclusion. He soon attracted even greater crowds who came from far and near to hear him preach twice a day and ask him questions. He refused to speak to women and not even his mother was allowed near the column.
Deir Samaan (Syria)
Aleppo Souq (Syria)
Aleppo Citadel (Syria). Aleppo is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. There has been human settlement since the 11th millennium BC. The citadel is a large medieval fortified palace in the centre of the old city of Aleppo. It is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. Usage of the Citadel hill dates back at least to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC.
Aleppo Citadel (Syria)
Aleppo Citadel Theater (Syria)
Aleppo Great Mosque (Syria). This mosque is the largest and oldest mosque in the city of Aleppo. It dates from the 13th century Mamluk period. It is located in Aleppo's Old City and is said to entomb the remains of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist.
Aleppo Great Mosque (Syria)
Aleppo Tea Seller (Syria). Men walked around with large tea pots on their backs or on bikes and sold tea to people on the street.
Aleppo New City Mosque (Syria)
Qala'at Ja'abar Lake Al-Assad (Syria). In 1973 Syria completed construction of the Tabaqah Dam on the Euphrates River. The dam created a reservoir named Lake Assad, a body of beautiful turquoise water about 80km long and averaging 8km in width.
Rasafa (Syria). This site dates back to the 9th century BC, when a military camp was built by the Assyrians. During Roman times it was a desert outpost fortified to defend against the Sassanids.
Rasafa (Syria)
Halabiyya (Syria)
Halabiyya Euphrates River (Syria)
Deir ez-Zur Suspension Bridge over the Euphrates River (Syria)
Bedouin Boys (Syria)
Camel Crossing (Syria)
Camels During Drive To Palmyra (Syria). As we were driving to Palmyra we saw a large pack of camels with their 2 Bedouin owners. There were more than 200 camels!!!
Camels During Drive To Palmyra (Syria)
MOVIE. Christine Rides A Camel part 1/3 (Syria). Naym asked the 2 Bedouins if Christine could ride one of their camels and they said YES!!!
MOVIE. Christine Rides A Camel part 2/3 (Syria)
MOVIE. Christine Rides A Camel part 3/3 (Syria)
Christine Rides A Camel (Syria)
Camel (Syria)
Palmyra Temple Of Bel (Syria). Palmyra ruins date largely to the 2nd centry AD. Bel is assumed to be the most important of the gods in the Palmyrene pantheon, the equivalent of the Greek Zeus or Roman Jupiter.
Palmyra Temple Of Bel (Syria). Christine's not just laying down and taking a nap!! There are drawings underneath this block!!!
Palmyra Temple Of Bel (Syria)
Palmyra (Syria)
Palmyra Theater (Syria)
Palmyra Citadel (Syria)
View of Palmyra From Citadel (Syria)
Palmyra Citadel Sunset (Syria)
Christine and Satcha Dressed In Typical Bedouin Clothing (Syria)
Bosra Theater And Citadel (Syria). This is one of Syrias best-preserved Roman theaters.
Bosra Theater And Citadel (Syria)
Jerash (Jordan). Jerash, an ancient walled city, rose to prominence from the time of Alexander the Great (333 BC). It had a population of 15000-20000 inhabitants and, although it wasn't on any major trade route, its citizens prospered from the good agricultural land that surrounded it.
Jerash (Jordan)
Jerash Temple of Artemis (Jordan). Artemis was the goddess of hunting and fertility (and daughter of Zeus).
