My trip to Jordan

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Kurben

Kurben

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DiO'Bolic said:
Great pictures Kurben. I would be tempted to go wandering off and do some discovering with a metal detector and trowel. Guess it's a good thing I stay away from sites of antiquity. :)
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I tend to stand more in awe of the magnificense of the whole thing. We passed a few archaeologists that were working. Petra is not close to being digged trough yet. The estimate is that perhaps 25% has been found. Probably most of the big stuff because they are easiest to find but several areas are not excavated properly. Who knows what may lie beneath the sand? We need at least a couple of more decades to have a better view depending on how big the excavations are. I only saw two archaologists digging. But Petra is Big. I didn't have time to see everything. You need at least two day, more likely three to see it all. =D
 
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What an amazing experience, Kurben ! I wish the world was a safer place for Americans/women to travel as there are so many places I would love to go if I had the time/money but even if I did, I don't feel I can without putting myself in danger. I can visit this one vicariously through your posts and photos. :smile2:
 
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Kurben

Kurben

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OK. Next installment. To enter Petra you have to go through a rather narrow gap in the rock that is easy to miss. It is about a km long and in it are several altars with depictions of rather diffuse gods. There are altars to many gods here. All that came to Petra could raise an altar to their god if they wanted. It makes sense. Make them like being in Petra and they will trade more. No gain in being intolerant towards other gods.
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this is a picture of how the passage windles its way through the rock, not in a straight line but it bends all the time. The rock is sandstone, some Granite and some Limestone. What you you see on the lefthand side in the rock is a channel where water used to flow. It is carved into the rock to catch the water and distribute it so it could be used.
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The Nabateans took influences from their surroundings. When the Greek invented the theatre the Nabateans built a theatre in Petra. 2000 people can sit there. The guy at the right is our local guide Saleh. A very funny guy. But he knows alot too.
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This is another royal tomb. They became very important to the nabateans because they expressed their status for all to see. To reach this one you actually have to go by some very old stone stairs. One of these tombs were in later times remade as a bysantian church with an altar and everything but then the Nabateans were gone. Most of them you can enter but there is nothing left. You see some paintings that are badly kept because they were much more exposed than for example the egyptians paintings.
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This is a relative of Clyde i met there. You can if you want to ride one, or a donkey but we were not encouraged to do so because according to our guide they werent treated very well. If you want to ride on a camel go to the Beduins where they treat them right. As you see the camel has two knees which explains why he goes up and down in that strange way and also why he can carry so much without bothering about it. Also, you can't help liking an animal that smiles all the time. You know he cant do anything else but still.
Jordanien 15 147 - Kopia.JPG
And so goodbye to Petra. I know i look a bit nutty here but i didn't take this one. Next time we will going to the dead sea
 
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Kurben

Kurben

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Moderator said:
What an amazing experience, Kurben ! I wish the world was a safer place for Americans/women to travel as there are so many places I would love to go if I had the time/money but even if I did, I don't feel I can without putting myself in danger. I can visit this one vicariously through your posts and photos. :smile2:
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You know, that is probably true in every other land in the area but Jordan. It is oriented towards the west even though it is a muslim country. They encourage tourists so if you chose a hotel with its own beach, as many including the one i was at, have you can swim as you like. Bikini is OK but no topless is the rules. If it is a public beach the rules get a little stricter but an ordinary onepiece bathing suit is OK. The Muslims follow their own code and bathe in something called a burhkini but noone expect a western woman to use that. Jordan have the principle that woman has as much right to educate themselfes as men. The government encourages women to go to university and get educated. They get the same pay as men. If you go 5 km from where i was you would be in saudarabia and there it is totally different. Also in every other country in the area.
This is because their latest two Rulers First Hussein and now his son Abdalluh II were educated in england and has taken influences. If you want to shop it is not the place to go but the hotels are good. Every jordan male i talked to were insistent that this rigid division between men/woman that other countries do has no basis in the Koran. Interesting isn't it?
 
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Kurben said:
You know, that is probably true in every other land in the area but Jordan. It is oriented towards the west even though it is a muslim country. They encourage tourists so if you chose a hotel with its own beach, as many including the one i was at, have you can swim as you like. Bikini is OK but no topless is the rules. If it is a public beach the rules get a little stricter but an ordinary onepiece bathing suit is OK. The Muslims follow their own code and bathe in something called a burhkini but noone expect a western woman to use that. Jordan have the principle that woman has as much right to educate themselfes as men. The government encourages women to go to university and get educated. They get the same pay as men. If you go 5 km from where i was you would be in saudarabia and there it is totally different. Also in every other country in the area.
This is because their latest two Rulers First Hussein and now his son Abdalluh II were educated in england and has taken influences. If you want to shop it is not the place to go but the hotels are good. Every jordan male i talked to were insistent that this rigid division between men/woman that other countries do has no basis in the Koran. Interesting isn't it?
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If only more countries in that area would follow their lead! It might have also helped to have the input from Queen Noor (nee Lisa Halaby), widow of King Hussein, who was an American.
 
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Kurben

Kurben

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If only more countries in that area would follow their lead! It might have also helped to have the input from Queen Noor (nee Lisa Halaby), widow of King Hussein, who was an American.
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Yes, thats true. He was married four times that man. The Present Queen Rania is also important, a Palestinian woman, she is very active with campaigns against such things as honor murders and argues that it should be treated as ordinary murder. That it has no place in Islam. Active on social media with that message. Also active in the education for women drive.
 
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FlakeNoir

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Kurben said:
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Great photo... and, you still look like Leonard from The Big Bang Theory. :biggrin2:

leonard-hofstadter-profile.jpg



images
 
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asoul

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Kurben said:
The big omes are tombs or "treasure chambers but there are a lot of holes in the cliffs that are not ornamented and they were probably dwelling places. The guys who lived here, the nabateans, were from the beginning nomads. Petra is basically a trading station that became a city. From the beginning they didn't live here but they became very rich through trade. They weresmack in the middle of the big caravan route from the east (India and all their spices and things) The ships went from india to Arabia and then by camel to Petra were the trade to Big countries like Egypt, Greece, Rome and Persia were made.
There are no chimneys and the fireplaces that are found are outside. They made their food often in pits in the ground just like the Beduins do today. They had water channels that collected the water so they had always water. They were not really fighters. Petra was a place to trade. If they were attacked they often left and come back later for armies can't stay long in a desert. And one camel backs at least 400 kg of things. They could take the valuables with them in the knowledge that thearmy would be gone in a week or so. And to live in the desert was like a vacation for them.
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Thank you, Kurben. You are a very good narrator.
 
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asoul

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Kurben said:
I tend to stand more in awe of the magnificense of the whole thing. We passed a few archaeologists that were working. Petra is not close to being digged trough yet. The estimate is that perhaps 25% has been found. Probably most of the big stuff because they are easiest to find but several areas are not excavated properly. Who knows what may lie beneath the sand? We need at least a couple of more decades to have a better view depending on how big the excavations are. I only saw two archaologists digging. But Petra is Big. I didn't have time to see everything. You need at least two day, more likely three to see it all. =D
Click to expand...

I have heard there are much sanded pits in this region. And not very far is located Timna with its famous King Solomon's Mines. So findings might be very interesting... From ancient skeletons to great emeralds... :smile2:
 
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Kurben

Kurben

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asoul said:
I have heard there are much sanded pits in this region. And not very far is located Timna with its famous King Solomon's Mines. So findings might be very interesting... From ancient skeletons to great emeralds... :smile2:
Click to expand...
Well, people do like to exxagerate. Timna, in Israel, do has ancient copper mines but it is unlikely that they have anything to do with Salomon but of course people like to think so. Thay have been used as a source for copper since ca 500-600 bc but Solomon lived around 950 bc. Earlier than that there is no trace of them being used. At least according to archaeological findings. So the search for his mines go on.
 
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Haunted

Haunted

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Kurben said:
You know, that is probably true in every other land in the area but Jordan. It is oriented towards the west even though it is a muslim country. They encourage tourists so if you chose a hotel with its own beach, as many including the one i was at, have you can swim as you like. Bikini is OK but no topless is the rules. If it is a public beach the rules get a little stricter but an ordinary onepiece bathing suit is OK. The Muslims follow their own code and bathe in something called a burhkini but noone expect a western woman to use that. Jordan have the principle that woman has as much right to educate themselfes as men. The government encourages women to go to university and get educated. They get the same pay as men. If you go 5 km from where i was you would be in saudarabia and there it is totally different. Also in every other country in the area.
This is because their latest two Rulers First Hussein and now his son Abdalluh II were educated in england and has taken influences. If you want to shop it is not the place to go but the hotels are good. Every jordan male i talked to were insistent that this rigid division between men/woman that other countries do has no basis in the Koran. Interesting isn't it?
Click to expand...
THANK YOU THANK YOU for sharing these beautiful pictures and telling us of your travels.
 
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