Jerusalem Seminar Journal

                       Overlooking the Grand Canyon of the Middle East

Our plane landed in Amman, Jordan, at approximately 4pm on Tuesday, January 6. All people and luggage arrived safely. We still are struggling a bit with jet lag. We met our tour guide, Sammy, and had a delicious Jordanian buffet for supper. Amman is a big city, and noises could be heard through the night–particularly by those who did not sleep all through the night.

This morning we had an orientation immediately after breakfast led by Patty and Doug. Then we were off for Madaba where we saw the oldest map of Jerusalem (and other biblical locations) in existence: a mosaic in the floor of a Christian church. Next we traveled to Mt. Nebo where Moses gazed into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 34). We also saw a composite cross and pole with a snake, symbolic of Jesus Christ lifted up for our sins (John 3:14-16). The weather was beautiful; we could see the north part of the Dead Sea, the city of Jericho, and part of the Jordan River.

We visited a shop where modern mosaics are made, a very tedious process. Our next stop was Karak and a tour of a 12th-century crusader castle–huge! (and the one used in the movie, Kingdom of Heaven). We arrived at our hotel in Petra this evening. We will walk into the ancient Nabatean realm of Petra tomorrow.