Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site III~ Machaerus

Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site I~ Tell Al'Umeiri
Bibilical Archaeology in a Day, Site II~ Ataroth

Leaving Ataroth and heading south on the eastern ridge of the Dead Sea, we rounded a bend revealing this view of the ruins of the palace of Machaerus, Herod the Great's palace/fortress overlooking the Dead Sea.

(map photo courtesy of holylandphotos.org)

First fortified by the Jewish Hasmoneon leader in the first centrury B.C. the hilltop fortress was later fortified by Herod the Great (37-4 B.C.) and, upon his death, passed to his son, Herod Antipas. According to the gospel writers (Matt 14:1–12; Mark 6:21-29; Luke 9:7–9) it was Herod Antipas was who was rebuked by the prophet John the Baptist for marrying Herodias, his brother Philip's wife:

"... and though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter (Salome) of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother she said, 'Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.' And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took the body and buried it and they went and told Jesus." Mark 14: 5-12, ESV Bible

Although the gospels do not mention the palace of Machearus by name, the historian Josepheus (who our guide reminded us got many things right but a few things wrong) names Machearus as the location of John the Baptist's imprisonment and execution.

Some of us ascended the fortress by the "gentle" slope...

while others took the more direct route, straight up the side.

A view of the top (the columns have be reconstructed but the capital is original)...

...and from the top.

Tradition holds that John's body is buried in a cave near the foot of the fortress.

Echinops polyceras

Zygophyllum(I think)

This picture is a little blurry but I'm including it as it was truly a highlight of our morning to see this desert owl perched on a rock overlooking the valley (overheard from the backseat of the car: "I've never seen a real live owl before!") As I hurriedly shot some pictures with the telephoto lens, through the windshield of the car, the owl turned and looked at us before flying off over the valley.

At Machaerus we were surrounded by stillness and the desolation of the desert, yet at the same time I sensed the presence of life quietly moving all around as birds sailed and swooped, large butterflies flitted and silent lizards darted. I am developing a new appreciation and awe of the desert.

Biblical Archaeology in a Day, Site II~Ataroth

Heading south, our second stop was the ruins of Ataroth, the ancient city of Northern Moab established by the Gadites and Reubenites who, seeing that it was a good place to raise livestock, were happy to settle in the area east of the Jordan Valley rather than cross into the promised land (Numbers 32). The Numbers account agrees with the only extra-Biblical artifact to mention Atoroth, the Mesha Stone, also know as the Moabite stone. More on the Mesha stone when we arrive in Diban, about 17 km southeast of Ataroth, home of the Mobite king, Mesha, in the mid-ninth century B.C.

The entire section of the Mesha stone dealing with Atoroth reads as follows:

And the men of from of old, and the king of Israel built Ataroth for himself, but I fought against the town and took it, and I slew all the people: the town belonged to Chemosh and to Moab. And I brought thence the altar-hearth of his Beloved, and I dragged it before Chemosh in Kerioth my town. And I settled in it the men of Sharon and the men of Maharath (lines 10-14).

The vertical stone on the right was some sort of worship stone.

We headed down into a cave which was probably used for livestock, though we all agreed that it would have made a pretty nice dwelling; it was a cool reprieve from the midday heat.

Sunlight streaming in through a hole in the "roof" created an other-worldly beam for the the kids to play in.

Peganum harmala L.

Biblical Archaeology in a Day

Last week a dear friend extended to us a serendipitous invitation to join them and some friends on a one day whirlwind tour of ten archaeological sites in southern Jordan. Our answer, in one word (and a punctuation mark): Yes! And yesterday was the day. By the end of our whirlwind tour we were hot, dusty, and in the words of our illustrious guide, suffering from rock fatigue. And so to spare you from rock fatigue, I will blog about one site at a time. But remember, we visited all these sites in ONE day. One amazing day.

The first site we visited, Tell Al Umeiri, is located just 6 km south of Amman. Dated from the Early-Middle Bronze period (per our guide though I've also read Late Bronze to Early Iron) or nearly 4000 years ago, this four room dwelling is the best preserved Ammonite house in all of Jordan/Palestine/Israel.

A 1984 excavation led to the discovery of a seal impression which read: “Belonging to Milkom’or the servant of Ba’alyassa.” This fits with a reference to an Ammonite king mentioned in Jeremiah 39:14: "...'Do you know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?'"

And though the delicate spring wildflowers have faded, growing in their place were the hardier, drought resistant flowers of early summer.

The Euphorbia provided a beautiful chartreuse accent to area.

The ubiquitous purple thistle was the flower of the day, appearing at nearly all the sites we visited. Jordan's grazing sheep and goats just don't like those thorns!

Sigh (of relief)

We made it through the packed-full-of-activities month of May and now we are breathing a little easier. Baseball is all but finished with only this week's all-star game and closing ceremony remaining, school work is nearly completed (for most) and I need only write one final exam, going-away parties have taken place and dear friends have departed, and Oldest Daughter's concerts were lovely.

In line with a bit of wisdom shared by my friend at A Circle of Quiet via yet another blogger, "live first, blog later", I hope to do a little retroactive blogging so as to share some of the highlights of our month. It was a good one, but I certainly couldn't have kept up that pace of living for much longer!

Butterfly-spotting

Red Admiral Butterfly

A few days ago as I was hanging laundry I noticed this butterfly flitting around the scented geranium bush. It took quite a few snaps of the shutter to get a clear photo of this beauty, but I was helped by the fact that it really liked the scented geranium--it kept returning to the same bush for nearly two hours. Today, Younger Son found a picture of a Red Admiral Butterfly in one of his nature books--a perfect match. We have officially identified our first butterfly.

Congratulations

to the Whitman Academy class of 2007! This evening, in a beautiful Jordanian desert setting which overlooks the Dead Sea, Whitman Academy graduated 13 graduates, it's largest class ever. Though I had no family involved in the ceremony (except Oldest Daughter who arranged a string trio to play at the graduation) it seemed very much a family affair as we have known many of the graduates and many of the families in attendence since our earliest days in Jordan.

The venue, a newly developed panoramic viewpoint overlooking the Dead Sea was perfect:

The breeze, cool,

the sunset beautiful as always,

and the sky clear enough that we could make out the skyline of downtown Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives on the other side of the sea.

May God bless you, Whitman Academy Class of 2007, as you step forward into the next chapter of your lives.

The nectar of the salvia in my garden must be very sweet this morning as this butterfly keeps returning for more, even when bothered by my lurking and picture taking. And, there must be something about the flower of the salvia which makes it easier to extract nectar from if the butterfly is positioned side-ways or upside-down on the flower as this butterfly was unwilling to pose for me in the upright position.

Our urban locale does not encourage a large or varied population of butterflies, but I have done what I can to attract butterflies by planting flowers that butterflies like; the lantana, lavender and Jupiter's beard are blooming and the buddelia and bee balm will soon follow.

May Blitz and thoughts about community

It happens every May. Thus, I am no longer surprised when our family schedule goes into overdrive for the month of May (and, really, April as well). Besides trying to finish the school year well, we are enjoying baseball, music exams, spring recitals and plays for our own children and the children of friends, graduations, swing dance parties, birthday parties, going away parties, welcome back dinners, picnics with friends before the hot summer weather sets in, and ..."can't we get together with ______--it will be the last time that we see them before they travel!"

And while I do miss the slower pace of a quieter life ( I have had to crawl in bed on an afternoon or two and pull the covers up over my head for a survival nap) I realized this week why the temporary busyness was necessary and, even desirable and enjoyable: community. In the fullness of our daily schedule it is easy for me to view extra trips out of the home as merely added spring activity, however the reality is that each of these "activities" is connected with relationships that are dear to us and/or relationships that we are building in the community. How I thank God for his faithfulness to our children and to the children of friends when I see them receive the honor of Eagle Scout or graduate from high school. What a joy it is to visit with friends, old and new, at the ball-field on Fridays. We truly have much to be thankful for as we enjoy the communities of people in which God has placed us.

Of course, we couldn't possibly keep up this pace all year round, but we will enjoy it for now. As for June, I do look forward to some quieter days. In my house. Maybe with the shutters closed--just for a day or two.

Acanthus~A flower immortalized in stone

Acanthus spinosus and a Corinthian capital at the ancient decapolis city of Gadara

Upon visiting the ruins of the ancient decapolis cities of Jerash or Gadara, one can not help but admire the stately Roman columns, many of them still intact and upright, and the delicately carved Corinthian capitals which they boast. The flowering plant immortalized in these stone capitals is Acanthus spinosus, or Spiny Acanthus.

Botanist Lytton Musselman explains, "The origin of the leafy capitals of Corinthian columns apparently goes back to an acanthus growing by a vase for offerings on a tomb in Corinth. It inspired the 5th century BC sculptor Callimachus, famed for the perfection and technique of his art, who reproduced its leaves in stone on Corinthian capitals. The genral shape links the column and what it supports and, because it presents the same shape from all aspects, its use has been widespread. The Romans were so fond of the beauty and symmetry of the leaves that virtually any Roman ruin in the country will have them." (from Jordan in Bloom)

Salsa by the Gallon

This recipe might not be of much interest to my U.S. friends who live in the land of salsa plenty, but for the salsa lovers of Amman, where a 16 oz. jar of Pace salsa costs a cool five dollars this recipe might be helpful: 2.25 gallons of salsa at a cost of about fifteen dollars--or--9.5 litres for about JD 11. Quite a savings.

Our family likes salsa. Loves salsa. I used to make it from scratch and from all fresh ingredients when the children were young. I seeded all the hot peppers by hand and will never forget how I learned the hard way how important it is to wear rubber gloves when working with hot peppers. Those were the days when the children were playing at my feet. Now, they are playing at the ballfield and the conservatory so there is no time to peel 10 Kilograms of tomatoes or seed hot peppers. Thus, I've cut some time corners by using now available canned chopped tomatoes and jalepeno peppers. The cilantro/kuzbara, garlic, onion, and lemon juice are still fresh.

The Recipe~

Combine in a large stock pot:

3 large cans of cooked chopped tomatoes, in juice. These cans were labled at 2.550 K and I purchased them at Carrefour in the bulk section. They looked to be the same size as the cans available at Costco in the States.
1 cup fresh lemon juice
3 bunches of cilantro Take the leaves off the stems and chop them in the food processor. Three Amman size bunches yielded a large salad bowl/mixing bowl of leaves after they were removed from the stems. Maybe about 12-15 cups of loose leaves, not packed down.
4 large onions, chopped in the food processor
40 cloves of garlic, chopped in the food processor
5 canned jalepeno peppers, choppped in the food processor. Adjust the amount of this ingredient according to taste.
3 Tablespoons salt

Bring all the ingredients to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. The salsa can now be canned (20 minute hot water bath) or frozen. No time for canning right now so this batch goes into the freezer. My discriminating tasters say that the quality of the salsa was not compromised by the use of some prepared ingredients. Now, if we could just find someone to import tortilla chips for less than nine dollars a family-size bag!

Spring Baseball~A Family Affair

It's hard to believe that we are nearly half-way through our short spring baseball season. Active Son pointed out that I am only blogging about flowers and, well, other important things take place during spring--like baseball! Not that I could forget, as the beginning of this year's baseball season was truly an all consuming family affair.

Dear Husband, whose name should be changed to Coach Husband, though that doesn't sound quite right, was reluctant to give up his beloved coaching to take on the mantle of Baseball Commissioner. But, help was needed and he was the man for the job, so step up he did. And he needn't have worried about giving up coaching as the league was short a coach in the Senior division, thus, he is coaching Active Son's team as well as Commish-ing. He loves it--except for all the administrative details, so I am helping with some of those.

Active Son is pitching in the Senior division, Younger Son is pitching in the Kid Pitch division and "Tayta" donned a baseball uniform for the first time and is participating in the Coach Pitch division. I was skeptical as Tata is not known for her physical prowess, but dad taught her how to swing a bat and she is actually hitting the ball and getting on base!

We had two early season injuries. Dear Husband's was actually a pre-season injury--a baseball to the right cheek during practice. He was, in his own words, trying to "multi-task" during a drill and balls started flying a little too quickly. He had a nice shiner on opening day;he looked kind of tough but I'm not sure it instilled confidence in the hearts of the mother's bringing their little T-ball players to the field for the first time. Active Son's foot/ankle was the second injury, as he landed the wrong way on first base heading back after a lead off. Thankfully, nothing was broken or sprained so he was only out for one game.





And, If you are interesting in more player photos and a few words from the Commish, check out the Amman Little League Baseball Blog.

Poppy~

After cyclamen, I think the poppy to be the most graceful Jordanian wildflower flower, particularly, Papaver subpiriforme, pictured left. Though their unopened buds droop softly, once opened, a crumpled crimson flower unfurls to stand erect upon a long and delicate stem.

Much mythology and lore surrounds the poppy, revered by the ancients and the medievals for its magical powers. Poppy remains have been found in Egyptian tombs over 3000 years old and there are many references to its magical and healing powers in Greek and Roman myths. The species Papaver Somniferus (not indigenious in Jordan) is named after the Roman God, Somnus, bringer of sleep. Demeter, the Greek Earth goddess also believed in the healing power of the poppy and from them she was relived of pain as she searched for her abducted daugher, Persephone. When Adonis died, poppies were said to have sprung from the tears of his beloved, Aphrodite, and based on this myth, poppies became a favorite love charm of the Middle Ages; the list of poppy association with myth, sleep, dreams, the underworld, healing, etc. is long.

Glaucium aleppicum

Besides Genus Papaver, Jordan boasts at least three species of poppies from genus Glaucium. The plant and the flowers are sturdier than those of genus Papaver and the buds are more elongated and often erect.

Glaucium grandiflorum

Romemeria hybrida

Papaver subpiriforme

I photographed these two poppies on our Easter walk. As the wind gently blew over them they appeared to be talking. Really! Even my dear husband noticed and he is not one to talk to flowers--even though he now knows a few by name.

Amman Symphony Orchestra

Presents

An Hour with Mendelssohn

Mohammad Sidiq , conductor

Nabih Bolos, solo violin

Wednesday, 18 April 2007-7:30 pm

Al Hussein Cultural Center – Ras Al Ain

The concert program will include:

The Italian Symphony

Violin concerto in E minor

Ticket price J D5

Tickets available at:

Al Qaser Howard Johnson Hotel, tel. 5666140

Music Box, tel.5815745

Extra Music, tel.5861885

Romero Restaurant, tel. 4644228/7

Cozmo, tel.5501240

Café Moka, tel. 5926285

The Good Book shop, tel.4613939

Al Hussein Cultural Center, tel. 4735187

National Music Conservatory, tel. 5687620/1 -5605772

Spring Reading Challenge Update~My Apologia

The longed for contemplative life has eluded me the past three or four weeks and I have come to understand the phrase "Spring Reading Challenge" in a new way; it has been a challenge to find any time to read. The last half of March and April have been a whirlwind of camping, baseball games and administration, houseguests, etc., etc.. All good and necessary things in this season of life but I do find myself longing for more time to read and think. Not to mention, write. And though I've not made the progress I had hoped for, I am yet optimistic and am thankful for the plan and structure that the reading challenge has provided.

The meager update:

I had never read anything by John Donne until last month and was stunned by the beauty of his poetry and prose. Hopefully another blog post on Donne will follow.

My teenagers have finished Paradise Lost, though mom still has two books (of twelve) to go. I'm reading this poem outloud, all 300+ pages of it. Milton's verse is that hard for me to follow. We all agreed that book IX (of XII) is the obvious climax--the fall of Adam and Eve. Milton's amplification of the temptations and predispositions which led Eve, and then Adam to eat the forbidden fruit provided fodder for an interesting discussion of the distinctions between man and woman. If my children remember even ten percent of this discussion they will be so, so much farther along in their understanding than I was when I first married!

I began Christianity for Modern Pagans; Pascal's Pensees, today and I can already tell that I am going to love this book. Though, it's really not a proper book, but rather Pascal's thoughts/fragments, organized and explained ("festooned") by the very readable Peter Kreeft. I read only 43 pages today but have already come up with a full page of discussion questions for us to work through on Tuesday. I am thinking that I will slow down the schedule for this book if the rest of it is as profitable for thought and discussion as the first 43 pages. Ah, I feel the contemplative life coming back to me!

All the other books on my list continue to be read, bit by bit. The Art of Teaching is nearly finished and I think I'll have to postpone Poetic Knowledge until a later date. Life is just too full right now. I did add one new book to my list and I finished about half of it before life errupted with unrelenting activity:


Uncle Tungsten, Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, by Oliver Sacks.

This is a fascinating book which will be part of oldest daughter's summer intensive chemisty course, just one of two or three books we will read as I attempt to add an element of poetic knowledge to the study of chemistry. Beautifully written. More when I finish.

And the challenge continues...

Resurrection Sunday

On Sunday morning, just after the sun came up, we gathered with brothers and sisters of many nationalities on a forested hilltop to worship God through the hearing of his Word, prayer, and song. Beginning our worship in cloudy and windy weather, we finished by singing praises to our risen Lord as the sun broke through the clouds.

Afterward, we enjoyed a picnic breakfast and a time of warm fellowship, sharing colored eggs, cinnamon rolls and Moravian Easter cake. The sheep strolled in to enjoy the grass and wildflowers.


After nearly everyone had packed up and began heading back to Amman, dear husband suggested to the husband of the remaining family that we seize the opportunity to take a hike through the countryside on such a beautiful morning. Truly, there won't be many more spring days like this one.


This picture, of the kids racing/walking ahead of the adults, who enjoyed lingering along the trail to enjoy the beauty of the day and the scenery, reminded of the the passage we'd heard earlier that morning, Luke 24, and of the disciples walking with the un-recognized Jesus on the road to Emmaus:

"'Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?' And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself."

As the brother who taught the Word that morning remarked, "That would be one great Bible Study to be in on!"

"The flowers appear on the earth,

The time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance."

Song of Solomon 2:12-13

The clouds parted at about 11:30 this morning so I grabbed the camera and the youngers and I headed south, towards the Jordan Valley, just about 25 minutes from our home and the habitat of some of the most diverse flora in the world. What a riot of color greeted us! God has graciously let the rain fall in abundance this past winter and now we are enjoying an exquisite spring.

My youngers are pretty good sports about receiving impromptu botany lessons ad naueseum. I have to admit, I do get a little loopy about wildflowers when they are this beautiful and profuse. Younger son was happy to find a scorpion under a rock and enjoyed chasing a couple of lizards. He also saved the day when he rescued my lens cap which had fallen into a rocky crevice.



These pictures are especially for Lori, who specifically requested pictures of "fields of flowers". I wish you could have been with us today, Lori. I'll post some individual "portraits" later on.

A Case of Mistaken Identity

This crimson flower beautifies many a Jordanian hill and field in the early weeks of spring. Often referred to as a poppy, it is, in fact, a crown anemone (pronounced "an'a mo nee" or "a ne'mo nee"--I use the first pronunciation for the flower and the second for the sea creature of the same name), a member of the Ranunculaceae family.

Though the blooming time of the anemone and the poppy overlap I have found that in many places, the anemone blooms first, the poppy, later. There are other ways the casual observer can distinguish between the anemone and the poppy: the leaf of the anemone is divided, giving it a more feathery appearance. Secondly,

the petals of both flowers are arranged differently; if one observes the bud of of an anemone one notices that the petals are layered in an orderly fashion, however the petals of a poppy appear as crumpled red tissue, wadded inside the poppy pod. Also, poppies contain a milky juice not found in anemones. Less noticeable differences include the fact that anemones are perennials, poppies, annuals, and poppies can be found in drier habitats than anemones.

Family~ Ranunculaceae
Anemone coronaria

Two more common members of the showy Ranunculaceae family:

Adonis aestivalis

Buttercups