Day 11
Bosra Amman April 27, 2010 Tuesday
The settlement was first mentioned in the documents of Tutmose III and Akhenaton (14th century BC). Bosra was the first Nabatean city in the 2nd century BC. The Nabatean Kingdom was conquered by Cornelius Palma, a general of Trajan, in 106.Under the Roman Empire, Bosra was renamed Nova Trajana Bostra, and was the residence of the legio III Cyrenaica and capital of the Roman province Arabia Petraea. The city flourished and became a major metropolis at the juncture of several trade routes, including the Roman road to the Red Sea.
The two Councils of Arabia were held at Bostra in 246 and 247 AD. The city was
conquered by the Sassanid Persians in the early 7th century, and, after a
short Byzantine reconquest, was finally captured by the forces of the Rashidun
Caliphate under Khalid ibn Walid in the Battle of Bosra (634). Thereafter it was
an Islamic possession.
Bosra played an important part in the early life of the Prophet of Islam,
Mohammed as described in the entry for the Christian Monk, Bahira. Bahira was
witnessing to Muhammad in the prophethood. Today, Bosra is a major
archaeological site, containing ruins from Roman, Byzantine, and Muslim times,
its main feature being the well preserved Roman theatre. Every year there is a
national music festival hosted in the main theater.
The most impressive thing in Bosra was to see that the people were actually living in the Roman buildings. In other words the houses of the villagers were at least 1800 years old.
Bosra
was the last stop in Syria. Our impression of Syria was that the Syrians well
reflected the accumulation of civilizations that Syria had housed for thousands
of years. the people were polite, very hospitable. We felt welcomed in this
country. the food was excellent. the sites were superb.
The group suggested that we could add two more days to the tour. We loved Syria. Now we are ready to see what Jordan will offer us.
Jordan
Jordan
, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, shares control of the
Dead Sea with Israel and the Palestinan Authority. Jordan's only port is at its
southern tip, at the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba, which it shares with Israel,
Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Much of Jordan is covered by the Arabian Desert.
However, the north-western part of Jordan is part of the Ancient Fertile
Crescent. The capital city is Amman.
During its history, Jordan has seen numerous civilizations, including such ancient eastern ones as the Canaanite and later other Semitic peoples such as the Edomites, and the Moabites. Other civilizations possessing political sovereignty and influence in Jordan were: Akkadian, Assyrian, Judean, Babylonian, and Persian empires. Jordan was for a time part of Pharaonic Egypt, the Hasmonean Dynasty of the Maccabees, and also spawned the native Nabatean civilization which left rich archaeological remains at Petra, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World
At the border we saw lines and lines of taxis and cars loaded with vegetables, peas, garlic driving to Jordan. It did not take us long to realize that Jordan was not as lucky as Syria in terms of water and fertile lands.
The border crossing was smooth and fast. After half an hour ride we stopped to visit another breath taking ancient site ; Jerash
Jerash is known for the ruins of the Greco-Roman city of
Gerasa, also referred to as Antioch on the Golden River. It is
sometimes misleadingly referred to as the "Pompeii of the Middle East or Asia",
referring to its size, extent of excavation and level of preservation (though
Jerash was never buried by a volcano). Jerash is considered one of the most
important and best preserved Roman cities in the Near East.
Jerash was the home of Nicomachus of Gerasa who is known
for his works Introduction to Arithmetic , The Manual of Harmonics and The
Theology of Numbers. In Boethius Latin translation, this book remained the
standard mathematics textbook for the Latin European Middle Ages.
As
the sun set behind the hills of Jerash, the moon was rising above the palm
trees.
We drived to Amman and settled in our hotel for a very early departure the next
morning.