Summer 2012 Trip to Jordan

This semester's Jordan trip was from June 25 to June 28.  In the past I have made a separate page for the Jordan trips: here are the links for the Fall 2011 trip and the Winter 2012 trip.  This semester I am posting four separate entries, one for each day, after-the fact.  Because they will include minimal background, look at the earlier Jordan pages for more detail.

Many of the first sites that we visit in Jordan are connected to Old Testament events and scriptures, particularly from Numbers and, to a lesser extent, from the history of Israel as found in 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings.  New Testament points of contact are found in Jerash, which was a city of the Decapolis mentioned in the gospels, and of course the baptismal site of Jesus on the Jordan River, as well as the place of John the Baptist's imprisonment and execution.  Most of the these sites were originally marked by Byzantine (early Christian) churches.  

Here is a summary of places visited each day, each of which is linked to the corresponding blog entry:

• Day 1: Mount Nebo, Madaba, and Machaerus
• Day 2: Petra and Shoubak Castle  LOTS of great pictures at this link, and a video link to me and Elaine riding camels!
• Day 3: Amman Citadel, Jabbok River, and Jerash
• Day 4: Amman Theater and Odeon, the Baptismal Site

This trip was different for me than the previous because Elaine accompanied me, so many of the pictures will feature my wife!

Eric and Elaine at Machaerus, the site of the Herodian palace east of the Dead Sea where John the Baptist was killed