Strange Lands: Jordan and Petra

WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2008

We left the safety of Israel today, crossing the border into strange territory. From the city of Eilat where we stayed last night, we arose early in the morning to cross into the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. This strikes me as so strange – I can remember when Jordan was the enemy, when Jordanian snipers were regularly firing into the Jewish section of Jerusalem from the walls of the Old City. The Six Day War changed that and even more profoundly was the peace treaty signed with Jordan. Not the cold peace that Israel has with Egypt but a warm, lively and trading peace between the neighboring countries of Israel and Jordan. A peace that is good for everyone. What a model this can be!

Crossing into Jordan from Eilat was no more difficult than crossing from Texas into Mexico. After some passport control (I am always a bit of a challenge since I carry an Israeli and US passport – my father was born in Israel and I accepted citizenship on my first trip as a child), we were met on the Jordanian side by our guide Kaliq.

Kaliq was warm, friendly and very knowledgeable. He is a US Citizen and much of his family is in Miami. Kaliq spoke with obvious pride about the successes his country has had and the ways in which it stands out in the Muslim world, particularly in its (nearly?) equal status of women. We found all the Jordanians we met to be very friendly.

Jordan, he told us, is a country of 6 million, 90% Muslim and 10% Christian. It has a very young population and English is ubiquitous, thanks in part to British colonialism, a British former queen and an American current queen.

We drove for a few hours from the port city of Aqaba into a desert rather different than the Israeli desert. Most striking were large rock formations standing out like islands in a sea of sand.

We stopped at for a bit of coffee and shopping. Many from our group purchased Qaffias, the traditional Arab headdress, which turned out to be quite cool during our long walks in the desert heat.

After several hours drive we came to the city of Petra in which the famous excavations reside. As we approached, Kaliq pointed out the mountain known as Jabba el Aaron, the “Mountain of Aaron” where tradition has it that Moses brother Aaron died and is buried. At the entrance to the town there is a large rock with water flowing through it, known as Wadi Mousa, the “Spring of Moses.” Tradition has it that this is the rock Moses struck with gave water to the Children of Israel, but because Moses disobeyed God by striking and not speaking to the rock, he was punished by not being allowed into the land of Israel. It is striking to hear these biblical stories of our people recounted here.

From there we came to the ancient city of Petra. Made famous by the third Indiana Jones Movie, Petra is an amazing, large and diverse archeological site. The Nabetians, ancient traders along the spice and silk roads (same road alternate directions) created the initial sites some 2500 years ago, which subsequently had Greek and Roman influence. The name Petra is Greed for “Red Rock” perhaps a reference to the Edomites. Kaliq explained the various layers and histories of the site as we walked through valleys of tremendous rock, with carved niches for various deities along the way. The Siq is a central valley which, like a Wadi, carried flash floods at times, water that need to be collected to preserve any human presence there. Kaliq told us about a tour he had given some time ago, where they were trapped by a flash flood down the central valley which had risen to 3 meters and held them in place for 6 hours.

Petra is a UNESCO Heritage site and in 2007 was been declared one of the new Wonders of the World. When you arrive at the central structure, the so-called “Treasury” you understand why. A most magnificent Nabatian structure, the “Treasury” stands unbelievablely tall. It has many Roman influences, as our guide pointed out, but still stands as a unique monument to a dead culture. Kaliq tells how some of the site was destroyed when it was rediscovered by grave robbers and army personnel who believed the tales of this being a literal treasury. The army shot at the structure hoping that vast amounts of money would fall out. All they accomplished was a destroyed heritage site.

The rest of the site was a mixture of stunning geological formations and remarkable human engineering efforts – some of which was not so easy to distinguish from each other.

We were fortunate to be at the site of Treasury as a “Bollywood” movie was being filmed. It was fun to watch them work in this remarkable site, and watch the beautiful young stars acting their roles in the very roadway that led to India and to lucrative spices.

We were given two hours to wander the space on our own. Some shopped the ever-present Bedouin stands, some hiked up hidden trails. Some took slow, or carriage driven, paths back to the visitor’s center where we reconvened.

Exhausted from the heat and the sheer monument of our what we had seen, we stopped for lunch and then a few hours of rest as we drove back to the boarder at Aqaba.

Our guide gave us a brief tour through the new city of Aqaba, which has become quite revitalized since the peace agreement with Israel. Aqaba has become a major port and importer of a variety of goods, including fuel for Iraq.

Returning to the border with Eilat we said farewell to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It was good to return to Israeli authority. However, I was shocked to see how Eilat has changed over the years. It is not a town with a vibrant night life virtually indistinguishable from say Miami Beach or any of a number of youth oriented beach towns. Although some in our group lamented the changes in the sleepy town of Eilat, there is something to be said for the fulfillment of the Zionist dream that calls for all the extremes of human life, including the hedonistic Eilat, under the banner of a Jewish homeland. Although I most appreciate the quiet splendor of Jerusalem, there is something to be said for the joyfulness of Jewish life without being enveloped in the desires of the self.