I awoke this morning to the sounds of the Muslim call to prayer. Strains of Arabic I could not understand crept into my sleep and drew me into the new day with something somewhere between a chant and a wail. I continue to be amazed by the faithfulness of a people who so willingly rise for prayer at 0500 each morning. Having hiked through Petra yesterday and not yet recovered from the long day of travel, I wasn’t even ready for coffee and a shower! But there was a full day of adventure before us so, after a wonderful breakfast buffet from which I chose fresh bread and cheese, olives, hummus, and dates – with a much coffee as I could consume before the appointed time to board the bus – we were off!
Our first stop was Mount Nebo. Rising from the Transjordanian plateau, Mount Nebo is about 4 miles west of Madaba and rises 800 meters above the plateau. A chapel at the peak and beautiful gardens maintained by Franciscan monks mark the place where Moses looked out upon the Promised Land. Christians converted an older building into a church in the 4th century and adorned it with mosaics and other art, some of which still exists in beautiful condition today. Reading the translation of a 4th century caption created in mosaic, I was struck by the continuity often offered by human history. It offered thanks and prayers for blessing for the benefactor who provided the furnishings for the church – apparently Christian churches have been putting name plates on chairs for a very long time!!
From the top of Mount Nebo it is possible to see the Valley of the Jordan with the mountains of Judea and Samaira, Jebel Osha and southern slopes of the Wadi Zerqa. The hills of Amman are visible in one direction and, in the other, Bethlehem, including the Herodium, and the towers of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. The Dead Sea provided a beautiful backdrop as we stood above the Valley of the Jordan and looked toward Qumran, our next stop after crossing the border in to Israel. On most any other day I would have wanted nothing more than to wade into the Dead Sea to bob like a cork in its high salt content; however, my dismay with the agenda omission was tempered as we were bundled up in coats against the cool morning temperatures.
Leaving Mount Nebo, we stopped at a mosaic factory and learned about the program that employs 80+ people, many with disabilities, in making the beautiful mosaics. Of course, there was an opportunity to shop and nany of us found at least something small that we "just had to have." From there we drove through the Jordanian countryside toward its border with Israel and navigated the crossing without difficulty. The four stop process seemed a little overboard, but appears to work to assure both sides that the autonomy of the “dead zone” is intact. We
By way of comic relief, we had a great laugh enroute courtesy of Tammy. Over the two days we have been with Michele he has repeatedly referred to “Japanese Camels” and we thought everyone was in on the joke…turns out Tammy missed something along the way. We drove by a Bedouin camp with a herd of “regular” camels and one “Japanese” camel – looking right at four-legged camels and oblivious to the well-used Toyota truck parked in their midst, Tammy asked Michele (in all seriousness and in front of the whole bus) how to tell one kind of camel from the other. The silence was palpable as everyone tried to keep a straight face…until we erupted in laughter. The good news is Tammy is a great sport!
We were sad to say farewell to Michele and leave him at the first border crossing to continue with only our bus driver into Israel where we met our new tour guide. Mike is an Arab Christian and an Israeli citizen as his Palestinian family resided in Jerusalem prior to the 1967 demarcation point that the Israeli government established following a whole lot of fighting, political and otherwise, that is all far too involved to try to explain with integrity in a blog. Mike has a big job before him following Michele, but we have a good feeling about him! His first offering: Qumran.
At Qumran National Park on the north-western shore of the Dead Sea, we viewed a film that explained the community of the Essenes, a break-away sect of Jews, who lived and studied there for two centuries beginning at the end of the Hashmonean period and continuing through the revolt of the Jews against the Romans. The Essenes left their writings hidden within clay jars in caves surrounding Qumran when they fled the area. In 1947 a Bedouin shepherd found seven of the ancient scrolls in a cave and the search began – today we know the writings as the Dead Sea Scrolls. From Qumran, the view of the Dead Sea is amazing and with the temperature climbing as the day progressed, I was tempted to run for the water! Qumran is a barren, but beautiful place and I can only begin to imagine what the lives of the Essenes must have been like. Great place…lots to learn!
From Qumran, we headed to Jericho through the checkpoint into Israeli occupied, Palestinian territory. Jericho is a complex place, citrus and vegetables flooding the market stands produced by fertile ground and plentiful irrigation, and wilderness surrounding the oasis. The struggle of the Palestinian people is evident but they are friendly and hospitable – tempered only by the frustrations of a few street vendors disappointed that we did not purchase their wares. We saw a sycamore tree (billed as the one from which Zaccheus encountered Jesus) that is at least old, if not biblical; ate lunch at the local tourist stop, and saw the ruins of the excavated wall that marks Jericho as the “oldest city on earth.”
When the Bible speaks of Jerusalem, it is always in the context of “going up” to the city and the geography of the land explains why. As our bus moved up to toward the golden city, Mike had wonderful piece of music for us to hear as we came into Jerusalem. He timed the crescendo to coincide with our first glimpse of the city and that would have worked very well had there not been a wreck in the tunnel that shut down traffic and forced us to turn back and take another route. Oh, well…what can you do??
The Olive Tree Hotel looks just like it did four years ago and that is not a bad thing. Our rooms are nice – clean with comfortable beds and plenty of common space for gathering with others. It’s been a great day and I’m looking forward to what tomorrow has to offer: Bethlehem!
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