Language Glossary - Arabic

Classical Arabic, Fusha, was the language of pre-Islamic Arabs (back in Al-Jahilyyah, the period of ignorance) and the 7th-century Qur’an. Its complex rules of grammar were not derived until the Umayyad period, when the Islamic Empire rapidly expanded to include peoples of non-Arab origin (i.e., Turks and Persians). Today, both the rigid grammar of the classical tongue is preserved mainly in the collective memory of Arabic and religion teachers and writers. Though television and radio broadcasts, newspapers, political and other speeches, and religious sermons are all delivered in classical Arabic, rules are thrown to the wind. In daily life, on the other hand, Colloquial Arabic, ‘Amtya, is used.

Arabic uses several sounds that are unfamiliar to speakers in English. Kh is like the German or Scottish ch; h or just h (as in Muhammad) is somewhere between kh and plain English h; gh is similar to a Freeh r. In addition, vowels and consonants can be either long or short. You linger an instant more on the vowel in salaam (peace) than you do in baram (pyramid). Furthermore, a doubled consonant can mean the difference between ham-mam (toilets) and hamam (pigeons).
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Near Aqaba: Wadi Rum

Those who most appreciate the majestic grandeur of Wadi Rum revel in its inaccessibility. Few buses and no service come here, and most Jordanians have never been to this area located nearly 300km south of Amman. Buses and service along the Desert Highway can drop you off 25km north of Aqaba at the turn-off marked “Rum-30km.” From there many people hitch a ride east and south to the Desert Police Headquarters within Wadi Rum.

Hitching, always dangerous, is not a feasible option in the summer due to the lack of traffic in the area. Do not attempt it. A far wiser option is to form a group and either hire a taxi in Aqaba to transport you to and from Wadi Rum (JD15 per taxi) or rent a car on your own. Some of the more expensive Aqaba hotels organize their own trips; ask in advance. The journey is 90 minutes from Aqaba; the entrance fee, which includes tea or coffee in a Bedouin tent, isJDl. The Jordanian government has decided to push Wadi Rum as a tourist attraction—Douglas Scott climbed it in 1975 and they feel it’s in your best interest to do the same.

Sights

Yemenieh Reef, just south of the Marine Research Center beyond the port, ranks among die world’s best for scoping fish, if that’s what you go tor. The new Royal Diving Center (tef. 31 75 30) in the Yemenieh area rents out snorkeling and diving equipment. Most luxury hotels also rent out equipment and organize outings. With a mask, snorkel, and pair of fins you can wander off on your own to some of the more isolated spots near the Saudi border, where the fish run on super-octane. See Underwater Adventures in Sinai for important information on snorkeling and scuba diving; for emergency medical help call 3141 11.

The Seastar Watersports Center (tel. 31 41 31/2, fax 31 41 33), located in the Al-Cazar Hotel, conducts dives daily at 9am and 2pm (arrive !4hr. early). Equipment rental for divers is US$ 15 for multiple dives, JD5 per half-day for snorkelers, including transportation. Try-out dives are also possible for beginners. If you have five days and are serious about submerging, you might want to take the official (American) PCEI scuba diving training course (US$330 including equipment and supplies). If you plan to spend more than a few days snorkeling, you could invest in your own equipment and go solo. The Yamani Bookstore across from the post office has the biggest selection of masks (JD8-12) and fins GDI 2-20).

Food

Aqaba’s fare is only fair. Fresh fish, the obvious staple of a sea-side town, is actually a rarity here. Because of the low plankton content in the clear northern waters of the Gulf of Aqaba, there are few edible sea creatures afloat. Jordanians are not permitted to fish richer Saudi waters and the Egyptian export tax is outlandish. There is a market just up from Allah Sq. where you can fill up on fresh fruit, bread, and cheese, though your snout may be overwhelmed on windless summer days. Shops on the streets surrounding the square sell delicacies from fried sloth to ice cream, mostly at high prices.

AM Baba Restaurant (tel. 31 39 01), on the corner north of the Hussein ibn Ali Mosque, downhill from Ata Ali. Aqaba’s hip hangout, specializing in fresh fish (entrees JD5 and up) and Lebanese hors d’oeuvres (220-770fils). Service gives lots of time to admire campy fish fountain dedicated to King Hussein and the 40 thieves. Open daily Sam-midnight.

Chicken Tikka, An-Nahda St. (tel. 31 36 33), 100m west of the Aquamarina II Hotel on your right. Red and white modern decor. Slim menu but best fries in Jordan. Try the Tikka Special—2 pieces of spicy chicken, fries, and burri (puffy bread) JD1.800. Open daily 11 am-midnight.
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Accommodations

A question has long circulated among budget travelers (or at least among budget travelers trying to impress other budget travelers): which is higher in Aqaba—temperatures, tan lines, or prices? Sleeping near the beach or in an air-conditioned room will set you back several dinars. Several cheap hotels occupy the streets near Ailah Sq.—shop around before you decide.

Al-Shula Hotel, Raghadan St. (tel. 31 51 55, fax 31 51 54), behind the Hussein ibn Ali Mosque. Color TV, refrigerators, bidets, balconies, and a charming view of Eilat. Red curtains cast a gory pall over the rooms on sunny afternoons. Singles JD14. Doubles JD21. Breakfast included.

Nairoukh Hotel 2 (tel. and fax 31 29 80/1), down the street from the mosque. New and clean. Comparable to Al-Shula in terms of amenities and prices. Knowledgeable staff. Singles JD10. Doubles JD16.

Practical Information

Aqaba’s overheated atmosphere has a discernible effect on human behavior. People drive like idiots here, even more so than in the rest of the country; there are (ignored) road signs telling drivers to lay off their horns. Aqaba is also far more lax about morality than the rest of Jordan. Hotels and most restaurants are licensed for drinking, and both men and women can wear shorts in and around the city. Finally, women should be especially careful about unwanted advances.

Visitors Center: (tel. 31 33 63 or 31 37 31), on the grounds of the new Islamic Museum between Salah ad-Dins fort and the southern waterfront. Helpful to campers. Officially open 8am-2pm, but staff is often inclined to close around 1:30pm.

Egyptian Consulate: Al-Istiqlal St. (tel. 31 61 71); turn right along the curve about 800m northwest of the Aquamarina II Hotel. Look for an empty guard booth in front. Egyptian visas can be obtained in 1 day. Bring your passport, a photo and JD12. Open daily 9am-l:30pm.

Orientation

Extending from King Hussein’s villa on the Israeli border to the huge, fenced-in port facilities 4km down the arching corniche to the southeast, Aqaba is one elongated beach. Luxury hotels and military complexes have gobbled up a good part of the beach near town. Four countries come together in the small northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba: Egypt meets Israel near the conspicuous resort hotels at Taba, Israel’s Eilat faces Jordan’s Aqaba across a quiet buffer zone, and Saudi Arabia looms on the southeast horizon.

Assorted shops line the streets of central Aqaba that branch from Ailah Square. South of the port and 10km from central Aqaba, the ferry dock handles the thousands of Egyptian workers and occasional foreign travelers who cross the Gulf of Aqaba to Nuweiba in Egypt (see Ferries to Egypt below). One kilometer past the ferry port you’ll come to the Marine Research Center building, just past which you’ll find Aqaba’s finest coral reefs and a sandy beach that stretches south to a factory and the Saudi border.
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Aqaba

Set in a natural amphitheater beneath a curtain of rugged hills, Aqaba is land-locked Jordan’s sole toe-hold on the Red Sea. A more spectacular scene than the reddish mountains, however, lurks under the sea: legions of brilliantly colored creatures flit through a surreal universe of coral. Aqaba is an important trade and military center, and as a swinging resort, it has become the darling of the Arab elite in need of a periodic escape from dry cityscapes. More conservative and relaxed than its Israeli counterpart from across the bay, Eilat, Aqaba offers the exotica of bikini-clad Europeans drinking beer at the same bar with berobed Saudis. Allegedly, it also has Jordan’s largest gay population.

At first, backpackers may hyperventilate at the expensive accommodations and restaurants. Highfalutin’ travelers from Germany might very well demand you leave “their” beach chairs; although you may have paid for it here, they paid for it back in Munich and still have first dibs. Careful scrutiny, however, shows that Aqaba has not completely overlooked the budget traveler.
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Al-Madras and Al-Barid

The region around Petra harbors a wealth of minor archeological pleasures, but only those within walking or donkey-riding distance are accessible. All roads in this isolated area lead back to the Kings” Highway, not to outlying sites. The peripheral location of the sites is a blessing; outside Petra, imported commercialism has neither altered the Bedouin lifestyle nor chased away wildlife.

A trail branches to your left just past the Obelisk Tomb and just before the entrance to the sic/. The route leads to Al-Madras, an ancient Petran suburb with almost as many monuments as Petra itself. On the way, watch for the short-eared desert hare and a full spectrum of long lanky lizards—purple, fuchsia, and iridescent blue. Come with plenty of water, a snack, and a guide. The round-trip takes four to eight hours.past the Tomb of Sextus Florentinus and the Mughar an-Nasara (Caves of the -Christians), a trail chisels into the rock leading to the northern suburb of Al-Barid.
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The High Place

One of the most popular hikes is the circular route to the High Place on Jabal al-Madbah, a place of sacrifice with a full view of Petra. A staircase sliced in the rock leads to the left just as the Roman Theater comes into view. Follow the right prong when the trail levels and forks at the top of the stairs. On the left, Obelisk Ridge presents one obelisk to Dushara and another to ARlzza. On the peak to the right, the Great High Place supports a string of grisly sights: two neatly cut altars, an ablution cistern, gutters for draining away sacrificial blood, and cliff-hewn bleachers for a delightfully unobstructed view of the slaughter.

To mollify frazzled nerves, head downhill past the Pepsi stand, leaving the obelisks behind you, and backtrack under the western face of the Great High Place. If you hunt around you’ll find a staircase leading down to a sculptured Lion Fountain. The first grotto complex beyond it is the Garden Tomb. Below it is the Tomb of the Roman Soldier and across from it a rock triclinium (teast hall), which has the only decorated interior in Petra. The trail then leads into Wadi Farasa by the Katute site, the dwelling of a merchant apparently driven away by the Romans’ nearby waste disposal site. You’ll leave the trail near the Penis. The circle, followed either way, takes about an hour and a half.

Jabal Harun and Jabal Umm al-Biyara

SJLJ The third climb begins just to the right of Jabal Habis below the museum. A sign points to Ad-Deir (the Monastery) and leads northwest across Wadi Siyah, past the Forum Restaurant to Wadi Deir and its fragrant oleander. As you squeeze through the narrowing canyon you will confront a human-shaped hole in the facade of the Lion’s Tomb. A hidden tomb awaits daredevils who try to climb the cleft to the right; less intrepid wanderers can backtrack to the right and find it a few minutes later. Again on the path, veer left, and eventually stone steps lead past a providential Pepsi stand to Petra’s largest monument.

Ad-Deir, 50m wide and 45m tall, was undertaken in the first century AD but never completed, and is less ornate than the Khazneh. On the left a lone tree popping through a crack in the rock marks more ancient steps, which continue all the way up to the rim of the urn atop the monastery. Straight across the wadi looms the highest peak in the area, Jabal Harun (Aaron’s Mountain or Mount Hor). On top of the mountain a white church reportedly houses the Tomb of Aaron. ‘lTie whole trip takes a couple of hours, a few more if you detour into Wadi Siyah and visit its seasonal waterfall on the way back.
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Hikes to Remote Sights

Up to this point, particularly if you’re visiting Petra during the peak spring and fall seasons, you’ll have shared this splendor with a drove of peregrinating shutterbugs. Many people, content with daytrip dosage, will go home raving about Petra’s first 10%. But it’s only the tip of an inverted iceberg: the magnificent rest of Petra is nestled in dozens of high places scattered over a vast area. At least two days are necessary for the following seven treks and another two or three days if you venture beyond Petra proper—assuming you don’t get indulgently lost at least a few times. The Bedouin say to appreciate Petra you must stay long enough to watch your nails grow long.

The shortest and easiest of the hikes leads down the wadi to the left of and behind the Temple of the Winged lions. Fifteen minutes of strolling down the road that runs through the rich green gardens of Wadi Turktmaniya guide you to the only tomb at Petra with a Nabatean inscription. The lengthy invocation above the entrance beseeches the god Dushara to safeguard the tomb and to protect its contents from violation. Unfortunately, Dushara took an interminable sabbatical and the chamber has been stripped bare.
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Sights

Aside from a number of revered monarchs, the Nabateans worshipped only two deities: Dushara, the god of strength, symbolized by hard, sculptured rock, and Al-Uzza (or Atargatis), the goddess of water and fertility. Still, the number of temples and tombs in Petra seems infinite. Despite cars now occasionally squeezing through the siq, a little climbing allows you to escape the tour groups that crowd the Kliazneh and inner valley. A few of the spectacular monuments are close enough to be viewed in a one-day junket, but the majority require sweaty exploration. Be sure to bring plenty of water—Bedouin selling bottled water will take advantage of your desperation.

Even before the siq, caves stare from distant mountain faces and large djinn monuments (ghost tombs) woo you. (An unsettling thought: some archeologists theorize they might be sacrificial altars.) On the left, built high into the cliff, stands the Obelisk Tomb. Closer to the entrance of the siq, rock-cut channels once cradled ceramic pipes which brought Ein Musa’s waters to the inner city as well as to the surrounding farm country. A nearby dam burst in 1963 and the resulting flash flood killed 28 tourists in the siq. While designing a new dam, excavators uncovered the ancient Nabatean dam and used it as a model for the new one.

Accommodations And Food

Budget accommodations have become more plentiful in Wadi Musa and near Petra. In the past year, three hotels opened their newly painted doors to backpackers and students, as well as wealthier travelers. Competition is fierce (especially off-season); shop around before you decide.

Musa Spring Hotel, Restaurant, and Student House, Wadi Musa Gate (tel. 83 310). The first hotel you encounter upon entering Wadi Musa. Friendly management. Lawrence of Arabia and Indiana Jones movies played outside on the terrace at night. Free transportation to and from Petra at regular intervals. Roof JD1. Singles ID3. Doubles JD5. Breakfast JD1, lunch or dinner JD2.

Al-Anbai Hotel and Student House, Wadi Musa (tel. 83 265, fax 83 888). Next to Musa Spring Hotel, closer to Petra. A smidgen larger and affords an incredible view of the valley. Hospitable management. Hot showers included. Van and pickup available for transport to and from Petra. Bed JD2.500, with bath JD5. Camping facilities with showers JD 1.500.

Practical Information

The tourist police munch on cigar ends at the Petra Visitors Center (tel. 83 060; open Sat.-Thurs. 7:30am-7pm, Fri. 7:3Oam-lpm), where you can hire an official guide for a “low tour'’ of the city center

t0 form a group of your own. The various guidebooks available at the visitors center ” are helpful, but there’s no substitute for the expertise of an official guide for trips to the more remote sites of Al-Barid or Al-Madras. On the other side of the visitors center are the Rest House and the swinging gate marking the beginning of the trail down to the siq. You can rent a horse for the short ride (JD4.5O0, price expected to increase to JD7.500 in Oct. 1993), but it’s more interesting to walk, admiring the tower cliffs of Jabal Khubtha to the right, Jabal Madras to the left, and the monuments you come upon every few meters.

Getting There

Petra is located in the rocky wilderness near the southern extreme of the Kings’ Highway about 280km from Amman, or 260km via the Desert Highway. Air-conditioned JETT coaches leave Amman daily at 6:30am (arriving about 3W hrs. later and returning at 4pm from Petra; one way JD5, round-trip JD10; complete tour including (unch, guide, and horse JD30). Reservations should be made at JETT stations well ahead of time, especially during the busy fall and spring seasons. You’ll be dropped off at the visitors center in Petra.

Service to Petra from Wahadat Station takes about five hours, plus a wait in Ma’an (JD2, JD1.65O if you take the bus that goes directly from Amman to Wadi Musa, but not to Petra). Drivers will drop you off at either the Af-Anbat or the Wadi Musa Hotels; from Wadi Musa you could walk for 5km or take a private taxi (JD 1) to Petra. Some hitch. From Aqaba, the two-hour trip costs JD2 by minibus. Start early in the morning to make any of these connections. Leaving Petra, you can catch minibuses or service to Aqaba (JD1.500), Ma’an (400fils), or Amman (JD2) at the center of Wadi Musa, near the post office, between 5:30am and 6am. A local bus to Ma’an leaves at 6am, returns at 2pm, and costs 400nls one way.
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Petra

The once-lost city of Petra is now easy to find, but ease of access hardly lessens its magnificence. Nothing could. After hiking about 2.5m through a natural 3m-wide fissure, one approaches a towering sculpture, raw mountains fashioned by human hands into impossibly delicate structures. This is Khazneh, the so-called “treasury,” Petra’s finest monument to the vigilant gods of the dead. Petra, meaning “stone” in ancient Greek, is perhaps the most astounding ancient city left to the modern world—and certainly the biggest must-see in Jordan. It’s worth changing your travel plans just to explore this insane Nabatean city built to rival the imposing proportions of the surrounding mountains.

For 700 years, Petra was lost to all but the few hundred members of the Bedouin tribe who guarded their treasure from outsiders. In the 19th century, the Swiss explorer Johann Burkhardt heard Bedouin speaking of the “lost city” and vowed to find it. Initially he was unable to find a guide, but he knew that if this were the Petra of legend, the biblical Sela, then it must be close to Mount Hor, the site of Aaron’s tomb. Impersonating a pilgrim, Burkhardt found a guide and, on August 22, 1812, walked between the cliffs of Petra’s si’q (the rift which is the only entrance to Petra). Awed and driven to sketch the monuments and record his thoughts, this pragmatic pilgrim aroused the suspicion of his Bedouin guide.

Shobak

As the desert becomes more desolate and Petra’s small brook more resonant from only a half-hour drive south, the village of Shobak (NijU-Shobak) emerges. From the marked turn-off at the northern edge of town, travel 4km to Shobak Castle, the first of seven castles built by the Crusader King Baldwin I in 1115 to control the triangular trade route between Syria, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

It didn’t work: the castle fell to Salah ad-Din in 1189- Although most of the castle is gone, the view from the approach road across the natural moat is inspiring, with colossal white stones silhouetted against desert brush and a cobalt sky. Villagers who lived inside the castle walls and depended upon the water from the rock-hewn well, 375 steps deep, have recently abandoned the area, leaving a secluded spot for free camping.
Shobak town can possibly be reached in a shared minibus from Karak and Wadi Musa (near Petra), although much of the traffic between those towns takes the Desert Highway. If you hire a taxi, make sure the driver will not gouge you for waiting while you investigate.

Near Karak

Highway 49/80 (for added confusion, maps may say 50) west from Karak drops from the Kings’ Highway for 20km until it reaches the Dead Sea “port” of Mazra’ah and the Al-Lisan (tongue) Peninsula. About 5km before reaching Mazra’ah and the Wadi Araba Highway to Aqaba, Highway 80 passes Bab ad-Dhira. The cemeteries at this ancient site contain some 20.000 shaft tombs enshrining 500,000 bodies (an unfortunate body-per-tomb ratio) and over 3 million pottery vessels. The length of the bones indicates that the average height in Bab ad-Dhira was a sturdy 2m.

Hitchers report that there is very little traffic between here and Karak. Stop in at the Mazra’ah Police Post, 5km north of the junction, if you need assistance. The Wadi Araba highway, running right beside Israel, is sometimes closed to civilian travel; hitchhiking there is always prohibited.
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Practical Information, Accommodations, and Food From the Karak Castle, walk downhill and take your first right. Above the Castle Hotel is a genial but useless tourist office (open Sat.-Thurs. 8am-2pm). The police station is located down the street and on the right, next to the huge radio tower. The post office (open Sat.-Thurs. 7:30am-7pm, Fri. 8am-l :30pm) is across the street from the Castle Hotel. Karak’s Italian Hospital (tel. 35 10 45 or 35 11 45), is downhill from the turn-off up to the Castle, next to the public park. The Housing Bank, located uphill from the Italian Hospital, will change traveler’s checks and cash (open Sat-Thurs. 8am-12:30pm). The telephone code for Karak is 03.

Occasional minibuses make the trip to Karak from Wadi Musa (near Petra) for a few hundred fils. Service (JD 1.070) and buses (750fils) from Wahadat Station in Amman are more reliable but less scenic—they run directly to Karak via the Desert Highway, skirting the gorgeous wadis north of Karak. There are several ways to get from Karak to Petra: Continue down the Kings’ Highway to Tafllah by bus and see more evocative scenery (76km, 480111s), or catch a faster bus to Ma’in via the Desert Highway (JD1.100) and a service from there to Petra. If you’re going as far as Aqaba, you can take the Wadi Araba Highway (bus from Karak leaves at 2:30pm, 3.5hr., JD2.360). You must receive permission to use the highway from the police in Karak by presenting your passport (if you’re driving it’s done while you wait). No hitching is allowed in Wadi Araba.
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Karak

The ancient capital of Moab, Karak now humbles itself in the shadow of Karak Castle, the largest of the mountaintop Crusader castles, which stretch from Turkey to southern Jordan. In 1132 AD, Baldwin I built the castle midway between Shobak and Jerusalem. Although the fortress wall has mostly collapsed, its building blocks remain large enough to inspire awe. Inside, the vaulted stone ceilings span only a few meters, resulting in a network of long narrow audience halls and barracks. You can still see the bolt holes for mammotf] stone doors that have since turned to dust or, worse, souvenirs.

The castle is riddled with secret passageways and hidden rooms. To the west across the moat you can see battlements from which the charming Renauld de Chatillon cast prisoners to their deaths (with wooden boxes attached to their heads to preserve their consciousness). The tower in the northwest corner is a 13th-century addition. Below, a 50m tunnel leads out of the town through an arched gateway (open daily 8am-7pm). To the right of the castle entrance, a stone staircase descends to the Archeological Museum. It holds Nabatean and Roman coins, Mamluk pottery, insipid descriptions of the incredible archeological site at Bab ad-Dhira and of the biblical cities of Buseirah and Rabbah, and a plaster copy of Dhiban’s Mesha Stele, too. (Open Wed.-Mon. 9am-5pm. Admission to castle and museum 150fils.)

South of Madaba

The Kings’ Highway from Madaba to Karak chugs over plateaus and wadis. Forty km south of Madaba the road descends into the vast Wadi Mujib, 4km wide and 1100m deep. On one escarpment lies the Biblical Dhiban where the Mesha Stele was found in 1868. (The original tablet, engraved by King Mesha with the earliest Hebrew script found up to that time, now resides in the Louvre. Copies may be seen in both the Karak and Madaba Museums.) An ancient Roman mile marker is on the road approaching the modern town of Dhiban and the wondrous Wadi Mujib unfurls after the town disappears from view.

Few buses run direcdy from Madaba to Karak along the highway. The easiest way to go is to hitch or catch a minibus to Al-Qasr, which features a ruined Roman temple (c. 350 AD) and a bus to Karak (200fils).

Near Madaba: Mount Nebo and Zarqa Ma’in

No wonder Moses’s last request to God was for a view from Mount Nebo. On a clear day you can see across the Jordan Valley to the glistening Dead Sea and beyond to Jericho. The Bible says “no man knows the place of his burial to this day” (Deuteronomy 34:6), but Moses’s grave is rumored to be in a secret cave somewhere along the Ain Musa. There are only a few tombs on Nebo itself, but on the higher Mount Siyagha stands an enigmatic serpentine cross next to the Memorial of Moses. The memorial houses the baptismal fonts and well-preserved “Mosaic” mosaics of a Byzantine church dedicated to Moses. It also contains restored mosaic panels unearthed by an Italian archeological team and Franciscan monks, whose mountaintop excavations have uncovered monasteries dating back to the 3rd century AD. The buildings close at 6pm, but walk beyond them for an evening view of the Dead Sea.

Hitchers find traffic too light for convenient travel from Madaba to the mountain-top. Take a taxi round-trip, including about a half-hour to look around (price negotiable). Just beyond Feisalieh, a small town near Mount Nebo, a marked turn-off leads to Khirbet al-Mukheiyat. If you’ve yet to deem mosaics prosaic, you may want to make the one-hour detour (round-trip) to see secular scenes of fishing, hunting, and wine-making that decorate another finely preserved Byzantine church floor. Cigarettes are the preferred baksheesh for the Bedouin gatekeeper who lives next to the mosaic on the hill at the end of the paved road. (Open as late as the gatekeeper is willing, usually dusk.)
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Sights

The prominent, yellow-brick Greek Orthodox Church of St. George stands in the center of town, right off the town square. Inside, parts of the 6th-cen-tury Map of Palestine, originally composed of 2.3 million tiles, remain intact. The map includes the Palestinian cities of Byzantium, most notably Nablus, Hebron, and Jericho. At one time the map depicted the entire Middle East, as shown by the few remaining tiles of Turkey, Lebanon, and Egypt. A map of Jerusalem, with representations of the buildings existing in the 6th century, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, is the most interesting and renowned section.

The church is best known by some devout and imaginative local Christians and Muslims for hosting the Virgin Mary in 1980. A small shrine in the crypt pictures Mary as she purportedly appeared, with a third arm and blue “healing hand,” which were supernaturally imprinted on the icon during the Madonna’s visit. (Open Mon.-Thurs. and Sat- 7am-lpm and 3-6pm or 7pm, Fri. and Sun. after 1 lam; ask around for the caretaker. Free, but a donation box requests money for the poor.)

Madaba’s ramshackle museum features an extensive collection of mosaics, including a well-preserved depiction of the Garden of Eden, traditional dresses representative of the different regions in Jordan, and jewelry and pottery dating back to various ages. Divided into three sections—the Old House of Madaba, a Folklore Museum, and an Archeological Museum—the museum sits in the southern part of town. Ask for directions at the tourist office. (Open Wed.-Mon. 9am-lpm and 2-5pm, Fri. and holidays lOam-lpm and 2-4pm. Admission 25Ofils.) The Apostles’ Church on the left, at the second right uphill from the museum, houses the town’s largest intact mosaic.
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Practical Information and Food

The tourist office (tel. 54 33 76) across from St. George’s church, deals with Madaba as well as Mt. Nebo and nearby sights. (Open Sat.-Thurs. 8am-2pm.) The central post office (open Sat.-Thurs. 8am-7pm, Fri. 8am-l:30pm) is located on King Abdallah St. around the corner from the tourist office. The Housing Bank (open Sat.-Thurs. 8am-12:30pm) is on the other side of King Abdallah St. but not directly opposite the post office. Madaba also has a police station. The nearest hospital, lkm from Madaba, is Nadim Hospital (tel. 54 40 08). Madaba’s telephone code is 08.

Service (330fils) and buses (175fils) run back and forth between Madaba and Wahadat Station in southern Amman regularly until 6pm or 7pm.

The Rest House (tel. 54 40 69) next door to the tourist office serves a full meal of seven mezze dishes (hummus, mutabal, etc.), and traditional Jordanian dishes such as mensaf or maqlouba for only JD3.000. (Open daily 7:30am-9pm.)

Madaba

Madaba is located on a plateau of orange groves overlooking the Jordan Valley. The scanty Roman columns next to the government Rest House hardly evoke visions of a flourishing trade center that once was the size of Jerash. Yet the elaborate mosaics scattered throughout the town are a testament to Madaba’s importance as a Byzantine ecclesiastical center. Leveled by an earthquake in the 8th century AD, Madaba lay untouched for nearly 1100 years until Christian clans from Karak reinhabited the city in the late 1800s.

Southern Jordan - Along Kings’ Highway (Al-Mujib)

Three roads link Amman and Aqaba: the Wadi Araba (Jordan Valley) Highway, the Desert Highway, and the Kings’ Highway. The Wadi Araba Highway hugs the Dead Sea Coast. Owing to its proximity to Israel, the highway serves as a military road; a permit from the police is required for civilian use. By contrast, enormous trucks rumble impassively along the Desert Highway, the artery that ties the cities of the north to AqabaTs port. Since the Iran-Iraq War, the Desert Highway has become the chief link from Europe and Turkey to the Persian (Arabian) Gulf.

Major new road construction is supposedly in the planning to make the highway smooth and swift, but the government can do little about the scenery—three hours of unchanging desert to Petra, five hours of the same to Aqaba. Only the antics of deranged drivers playfully bumping the narrow shoulders or squeezing between oncoming cars break the monotony. Gas and phones along the way are scarce. Many travelers find hitching easy on the Desert Highway.

Unless you are rushing from Amman to Aqaba or want to spend every one of your three days in Jordan at Petra, the Kings’ Highway (Wadi Mujib Road in Arabic) is the