Backing it up to our first day of that trip.
A friend and colleague of mine from Abu Dhabi had visited Jordan with her husband. Through their Jordan guide (who has since moved abroad), we found Fadi Wishahi, who does personalized tours of Jordan. (Thanks Kim!) If you are ever planning a trip to Jordan, talk to me ... Fadi is terrific, and I'll give you his contact information.
Fadi met us as the Amman, Jordan airport. Our first stop was a small Greek Orthodox church in Madaba, St. George's, known for the mosaic map on its floor. When being constructed in the 1800's, it was discovered that there was originally a Byzantine church on the site. According to the Lonely Planet guide (2012), this map "represents the oldest map of Palestine in existence." That same guide shares: "Crafted in AD 560, the map has 157 captions (in Greek) depicting all the major biblical sites of the Middle East from Egypt to Palestine. It was originally around 15m to 25m long and 6m wide, and once contained more than two million pieces."
Outside of the church, there is a painting of the map, letting you know the different cities and countries represented, with English and Arabic translations.
The church had traditional Greek Orthodox paintings, as well as mosaics on the wall.
Streets of Madaba, outside of St. George's.
Our next stop was Mt. Nebo. Mt. Nebo is the place where Moses stood and saw the Promised Land. They are restoring a large church on the site (Moses Memorial Church), and have artifacts and preserved mosaics.
Behind me is that Promised Land. (It was a bit hazy toward Israel and Palestine.) We had limited time in Jordan (4 nights and 5 full days), so did not opt for a trip to Jerusalem. Still cool to be that close (about 45km).
And here is a visual guide to show where the different cities are, such as Jericho, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Hebron:
Madaba is known for its exquisite mosaics. After Mt. Nebo, we visited a mosaic workshop and store. This particular workshop supports artisans from the community, and trains and employs community members including orphans and the developmentally disabled. Our guide was a lovely young woman who was born and raised in Ohio. When her parents passed away when she was a teenager, she and her younger brothers were taken in by her aunt in Amman, Jordan. Can you imagine, losing your parents and being uprooted and moved to a new home half way around the world? And needing to help support your younger brothers, and needing to learn Arabic after landing in your new life? An impressive young woman with her positive outlook and maturity.
Here are some art pieces in the making. This is the rough side. After being done, the side facing the cloth is the art you'll see and display.
The original rocks that get broken down into those teeny tiny pieces.
Painted ceramics are another specialty:
The store also held hand-painted ostrich eggs (big!), jewelry, and carved and inlaid wood boxes. Some of the (larger) finished pieces for sale. They do ship :-) And talk about heavy! All beautiful, with a variety of designs and colors.
Tim is loading oodles of photos from our Jordan trip on tmgimagery.com
No comments:
Post a Comment