King's Highway Tour, Chunk #1

Information overload characterizes the bus tour we took yesterday. Photo captions should help explain what we saw and I've kept them in order. Start with the blurry shot of Ken, Justin & Graeme boarding the Jett bus and you're good to go.

We toured the site of a monastery on Mount Nebo, viewed Wadi Musa where the spring still flows that biblical accounts attribute to Moses' speaking to the rock, stopped at a mosaic workshop that trains disabled people in the ancient art then sells their wares along with other local crafts in an adjoining store. I went a little crazy here because of all the color. Especially interesting - mosaic "tattoo" onto ostrich eggs. The naturally occurring colors of the limestone allow for vivid and stunning detail when the stone is used for traditional mosaic work or ground to a powder and then applied by special needle to a shell surface. The ultra-fine work requires two- to over three hundreds of work, depending on the design.

Continuing south, we stopped in the city of Madaba, historically considered a Christian settlement. Currently about 25% of the population are Christians. Many Byzantine churches dot the city. Of special interest to us, The Greek Orthodox Church of St. George built over a stunning mosaic map originally part of a Byzantine church from about 570 AD. Because of our tour schedule, we didn't have time to browse the many shops along the walking tour of the numerous church sites. We saved shopping for a return trip on Sunday.

Driving through the land of Moab, a featured location for the biblical story of Ruth, we passed fields still planted in grain but harvested in more modern ways. We hiked a craggy limestone trail or paved path (depending on preference and energy level) to the top of Herod's Fortress with a spectacular vista of the Dead Sea and a constant breeze. This is where Salome danced with such skill that Herod promised her half his kingdom. She asked for the head of John the Baptist and it is likely that he was held at this fortress before his death. Pictures taken after this are on another camera. Stay tuned for Chunk #2.