Amman and the Dead Sea
Trip Start
Mar 02, 2008
1
2
7
Trip End
Mar 26, 2008
Amman,
Jordan
Thursday, March 6, 2008
The Dead Sea, a special place
1300 feet below sea level,
Now slowly dropping more as
Israel, Jordan take more from the Jordan River.
So we walk farther down the "beach" to find water,
No sand, the gravel whitened by salt crystals.
Mud, precious mud, waiting to slather on,
It cures every ill they say, can anything so ugly be good?
Finally in the Sea, floating up high,
We may be deep in the Rift Valley
The salt keeps us floating high,
Don't swim, don't try to push down, just float.
Keep the salt out of my eyes, my mouth;
Luckily no cuts or sores to sting,
No cracked toes to burn, smear on the mud,
Wash it off in clean, fresh water.
Amman: minarets on every mosque,
Calls to prayer spread over the hills,
Sounds of reverence, unfamiliar to our Western ears,
Spill across a crowded city with a past.
Named for Ammonites, its rulers in 1200 BC.
Amman had already been settled in 2000 BC bronze age.
Then Greek / Egyptian Ptolemys and Romans added their history.
Finally mosque over Byzantine church over Roman temple.
A jumble of history, a clutter of past,
A nightmare for the archaeologist making neat chronologies.
Think of my peaceful Grand Island, with only:
500 years native Americans, 200 years US settlers; period.
