4/11/13
Today
we crossed the border, going from Israel to Jordan. The whole process seemed a little bit quirky
to me. It was sort of like passing
through airport security, only instead of getting on an airplane and experiencing
a couple hours of flight time, we got on a bus and took a 50 second ride over
the border and stepped out on to Jordanian soil shortly afterwards. I suppose it is a very normal process, but
seeing as this is my first trip outside of the United States (this semester
abroad) it left me with a funny impression.
Before
we got off the bus, Dr. Wright made a joke in passing about going to the
restroom if we needed to in a nearby building and having our first real culture
shock of the Jordan trip. I thought
maybe he was referencing the quality of the building or maybe the cleanliness
of the bathrooms. After I had my
passport examined and stamped in Jordan I went into the bathroom and
immediately noticed the difference in the cleanliness of the restroom. However, I was curious, after using the small
shoddy urinals, to see the stalls. I
cannot explain why I felt that bit of curiosity, but when I looked into the
stall, to my surprise, I saw that there weren’t any toilets! There was only a hole in the ground and two
tread marks beside it in order to keep from slipping while squatting. At that very moment, in the bathroom of all
places, I came to the realization that this weekend was going to be
interesting.
The
drive from the border to the first site took quite a while. When we arrived at Deir Alla, I kept thinking
that there was something really significant about the site, but I couldn’t
remember. I looked in my handbook and
saw the page discussing the site and was reminded of the text found at the
site. It was interesting to read it and
consider the language, as I could imagine it being a bit complex since it was a
very old form of Semitic poetry. After
the lecture on the tell, I tried to look around for something interesting, as
there were a lot of pottery sherds scattered all over the floor and in the
walls of tell, but alas, I found nothing of interest.
We
were running short on time so we had to skip the stop at Pella, which was
unfortunate. It was another long drive
to the next spot, but when we arrived for lunch, I discovered that the wait had
been well worth it. We had lunch on top
of the site of Gedara, looking out over the beautiful landscape. After lunch we explored the site and talked
about some of the possible historical connections with the site. There was a byzantine church and some ornate
Roman architecture. I particularly
enjoyed the Roman theatre with the black basalt seats; one row had backs on the
seats that were surprisingly very comfortable.
The
last stop of the day was at Ramoth Gilead.
I tried to look over the maps a bit on the way there, since it was
another long ride between the sites, in order to become more familiar with the
region and the layout of the land. We
discussed the efforts of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to expand to this point
under the reign of King Ahab and his subsequent failure and death. Overall, these few tells that we visited were
very strategic and important. I really
enjoyed seeing a little bit of the land on this side of the Jordan, as well as
how things on both sides of the Jordan connected via the important routes of
the land between.
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