Correction: World's Tallest Flagpole

I find it necessary to send out a correction regarding an earlier post. (This Post)

While doing research for my upcoming trips to Petra and Aqaba I discovered that the world's tallest free-standing flagpole is actually located in Aqaba, Jordan.

The prime contractor of the flagpole, Trident Support Corp., is responsible for erecting the world's 3 tallest free-standing flagpoles. The pole in Aqaba is 426 ft. (130 m) tall. The second tallest free-standing flagpole is the one in Amman (126 m) and the third is in Abu Dhabi (123.1 m).

The flagpole in Aqaba can be seen from 4 countries: Jordan, Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Here is a picture from Wikipedia.

I hope you will accept my apology.

It's Good to Be the King Vol. I - The King's Cars

King Hussein was an avid car enthusiast, racer, and collector. Cars played a major role in his life, and one of them in particular - a 1968 Mercedes-Benz SEL 6.3 - is where he survived two assassination attempts. After King Hussein's death in 1999, King Abdullah II established the Royal Automobile Museum in honor of his father. Housed within the massive building are dozens of rare and beautiful cars and motorcycles.

This museum was a sight to see. I left with mixed feelings. On one hand, the collection was incredible and so was the history that went along with it. The place was simply "cool". On the other hand, in a country where nearly 15% of the people are living below the poverty line, and many many more are living just above it, it was a bit hard to see millions of dollars of beautiful cars just sitting under a museum roof. My friend described the museum as: "Hey poor Jordanians... In your face!". But then again, its good to be the king.

If you like cars I recommend checking out the slide-show (HERE).

And here are just a few of my favorites:

1952 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Sedanca de Ville

1956 Mercedes-Benz 300 SC Roadster

1948 Packard Super Eight Convertible Victoria

1940 Packard Super Eight Convertible Coupe

Holy Moses! - Mt. Nebo

“Get thee up into this mountain (range) of Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession; and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people.”

--Deuteronomy (Devarim) 32:49-50

I have floated down the Nile River. I have wondered through the Sinai Desert and climbed atop the Holy Mountain there. Now, finally, I have completed my Moses tour with an ascent of Mt. Nebo. And unlike Moses, I live to tell about it.

Mt. Nebo is the single most important religious site in Jordan for Muslims, Christians and Jews. After leading the Israelites on a punishing journey of the Sinai Desert for 40 years, it was from Mt. Nebo that Moses finally viewed the holy land that G-d had set aside for his chosen people. Moses was also commanded to die here at the age of 120. Joshua would complete the Israelites march into Israel.

Christian and Jewish tradition proclaims that Moses was buried in an undisclosed location atop the mountain. However, Muslims who also regard Moses as a prophet, believe that he was carried across the Jordan River and buried in a tomb outside of the city Jericho.

On a clear day you can see as far as Jerusalem. I think the desert winds kicked up enough dust today to prevent me from achieving that view. The Dead Sea and Jordan Valley were certainly easy to see. It was sad for me to see just how much the Dead Sea has receded since I first saw it 12 years ago. It is, unfortunately, starting to look more like the Dead Puddle.

Here is a short video of the panorama. (Click Here)

Unfortunately, the Moses Memorial Church was closed to visitors. This church, which by the year 394 A.D. had become a triapsidal structure floored with mosaics, was visited by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000. Although the church was closed, some of its ancient mosaics were moved temporarily to the exterior for viewing. These particular mosaics date to the year 587 A.D..

Maybe it was the 104 degree heat, but it was really hard not be caught up in the history and spirituality of the place. I was flooded with memories of my religious studies, and I said the mourner's prayer for my mother. It was amazing to see what Moses had been commanded to see from this vantage point – The Promised Land.

Turkish Bath - Amman Style

I have never been this clean in my life.

The guys and I decided to treat ourself to spa-day today, and oh-boy, was it worth it.

Welcome to Al-Pasha: http://www.pashaturkishbath.com/index.htm

This was my first Turkish bath experience and because a genuine Turk went with me, I have validation that it was genuine. I wouldn't dare bring a camera into the "bathing" area so I hope you will trust my description of the event. Allow me to break it down into phases.

Phase I: After changing into your bathing suit (locker room nudity does not occur in Jordan - privacy during this phase of the event is of utmost importance) you enter the lavish bathing complex. First you enter a steam room. This room is all stone and the ceiling is embedded with colorful globular-glass lights. There is a steam mist that fills the room and it is hot. Very hot. Once seated on the stone benches inside you are brought a glass of water and prune juice. Both are consumed immediately. After 15 minutes you move out of this room, and after a quick shower you move into Phase II.

Phase II: Hot tub. Nothing out of the ordinary here. 15 minutes of soaking and Phase III begins.

Phase III: You now lay face down on a large stone tablet, and in my case, a 250 pound Syrian man rubs your entire body with a rough glove for a full-body exfoliation. And I mean full body. The large Syrian man then shows you the skin he has removed from your body. Soon he changes to a somewhat softer glove and rubs you again with a warm soapy mixture. You are then asked to stand and bowls of water are poured over your head until the soap is no more. Another shower and onto Phase IV.

Phase IV: This was my favorite. Another large Arab man lays you down on another stone tablet. You are then rubbed, thoroughly...

Lets pause and explain "thoroughly" - Every part of your body where skin meets skin, is separated with a hand, and you are slathered with olive oil from head to toe. Then you are massaged and stretched.

Phase V: This phase is what makes the Turkish bath "Jordanian Style". This is where you get a full body mud-masque with mud from the Dead Sea. After the mud is applied to your entire body you sit on a stone chair for 10 minutes while you rub the mud into your skin.

Phase VI: Now covered in mud, you return to the first 250-pound Syrian man who pours more bowls of water over your head to wash most of the mud off. This is followed by yet another shower.

Phase VII: Sauna. Hot Sauna. Followed by shower. Followed by application of huge towel tied toga-style around your body.

Phase VIII: Change, tea, complete relaxation...

Ramallah Underground

How did you spend your 4th of July?

I spent mine at a Palestinian quasi-militant hip-hop concert in Amman, Jordan. No fireworks, apple pie, and hamburgers for me this year.


The concert featured Ramallah Underground, an electronica hip-hop collaborative that is based in Ramallah (West Bank, aka Palestine, aka the Occupied Palestinian Territories). According to the band, their group "was born from the immediacy of musical experimentation and the need to give voice to a generation of Palestinians and Arabs who face a turbulent and uncertain political landscape."

Their lyrics and music are "an expression of anguish and defiance, ultimately remaining a defiant voice of the colonized against the colonizer. They continue to play a big role in the Arab Underground cultural scene while slowly gaining wide global and local popularity."

This was the first concert that I've been to where the artist was introduced as, "the group that waited for 6 hours behind a checkpoint to get here...". This fact is true, sad, and a reality of the security situation faced by Israel. And while I do not subscribe to the band's politics, I am really happy that I had this experience. Musically, I found the group to be very talented.

I would like to briefly describe the scene at the concert. I estimate that there were about 200 people in attendance, maybe more. The venue was Books@Cafe, one of my favorite places that I have found so far in Amman. It is a bookstore located in one of the city's oldest neighborhoods. It has a bar/cafe roof deck that has a beautiful view overlooking the southern end of the city.

I believe the crowd was about 60% Jordanian and 40% foreigner. There were a number of Europeans and a lot of students from Jordan University. The Jordanians at the concert were not the Palestinian-militant type. They were instead the upper middle class "hip" type. I imagine that the 10 JD ticket charge is not in the budget of the average displaced Palestinian-Jordanian. The Arabs that were there where very excited, and many knew the band's lyrics. I counted about 30 Yassir Arafat-style black and white checkered kaffiyahs.

There was also a group of six not-too-undercover Mukhabarrat (Jordanian Secret Police). I assume that they were there to monitor the show to make sure there wasn't too much anti-Jordanian government rabble rousing, or instigation of violence.

I am choosing not to blog my personal feelings about the songs, or my impressions of how the other "Westerners" in the audience reacted to the band's message. I'm happy to discuss this off-line if anyone is interested. Here is another blogger's recent interview with the band if you'd like to read more (click here).

I am happy, however, to share some pictures and a video from the concert.

Here is a video I took on my little camera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEMZGXvUVyE




UPDATE: This article was recently posted in the Jordanian Times regarding the group and their Amman concert - http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=9221

Jebel al-Qal'a, Philadelphia, and the Martyr's Memorial

In about 1800 B.C., the hill known as Jebel al-Qal'a was fortified for the first time.

According to Genesis (the first book of the Old Testament, not the band fronted by Phil Collins) Jebel al-Qal'a was a hill inhabited by the near-mythical Ammonites, the descendants of the "drunken seduction" of Lot by his two daughters. By 1200 B.C., the Citadel on top of this hill was renamed Rabbath Amman, which was the capital of the region.

Later, in the year 1000 B.C., the book of Samuel reports that that the Israelite King David sent messengers to Rabbath with condolences for the death of the Ammonite king. These messengers, believed by the Ammonites to be Israelite spies, were sent back to Jerusalem minus their beards and fine clothing. Later, David would send his army to defeat the troublesome Ammonites. David himself joined the battle at its end and soon returned home to marry the widowed Bat-Sheba. Soon after this, the future King Solomon was born.

After Alexander the Great conquered the region in 332 B.C., his successor Ptolemy II Philadelphus rebuilt Rabbath and named it Philadelphia - the "City of Brotherly Love." After a series of wars and turmoil, the Romans rebuilt Philadelphia in 114 A.D.. They built impressive public buildings, among them a theater:

(click on the pictures to enlarge)



And a temple to Hercules:



In 635 A.D., Philadelphia was conquered by the Arabs and city's name was changed to Amman. The city was ruled by the Damascus-based Umayyad dynasty. Amman became the capital of the area and the Umayyads quickly expanded on the Roman-developed city by building an expansive palatial complex which was quickly destroyed by an earthquake in 749. The remains of this city remain in the same place where they fell today.

This is the partially-reconstructed Umayyad Palace:

And some additional views of the ruins:





When the Abbasids took power away from the Ummayds, the center of power in the region shifted from Amman to Baghdad. Over the next centuries Amman became desolate - it was mearly a stop-over area for pilgrims to Mecca. The town barely changed until the Ottomans settled Circassian refugees in the area in the 1870s. Still, it remained nothing more than a farming villiage with some impressive Roman/Ummayd ruins until Emir Abdullah chose Amman as his capital after the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I.

Of course, the next important milestone was Robert Marcus' visit to Jebel al-Qal'a this morning.

Today I also visited the Jordanian War Martyr's Memorial.

Like the Egyptian, Israeli, and American military museums I have visited, this one contained its fair share of propaganda. Of course, Jordan has never lost a war. Much of the museum is dedicated to the Great Arab Revolt. The rest is dedicated to Jordan's wars against Israel, its current-day peace keeping missions as part of the United Nations, and the late King Hussein's military paraphernalia.






And I will leave you with another panorama of Amman taken from atop Jebel al-Qal'a (note the return to the blog of the world's tallest flagpole on the far right):

Israel – Wiped Off the Map

King Abdullah of Jordan is as progressive a Middle East leader as you can find. He is working hard to modernize Jordan, and outside of President Mubarak of Egypt, he is the only regional Arab leader to publicly strive towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. Ok, the Saudis and the Arab League have made bold gestures, but I have my qualms about their sincerity. [Note: Queen Rania of Jordan is also very active in Israeli-Palestinian peace projects.]

In fact, last week the King reiterated his positions in a thorough interview with the Washington Post. Sadly, the King’s “progressiveness” is not shared by the majority of Jordanians from my experience. After all, it is estimated that between 60-70% of the Jordanian population consists of Palestinian "refugees". I put refugees in quotes because this is a very controversial issue. Of course, the vast vast vast majority of those classified as refugees were not born in Israel or the West Bank - they were born in Jordan. More on that issue in future posts.

Still, I was a bit surprised today when I took a closer look at the map of the world that hangs on the wall outside of my classroom.

The title of the map is “The World (Political)”. Here it is:

And now a closer look at the Middle East region (sorry about the poor quality of the photo):

Because the photo is poor, and I assume that the majority of my readers cannot translate the Arabic, let me point something out - Israel is not on the map. First of all, this map was published in 2005. Secondly, the purple country that is the State of Israel is labeled “Palestine”. The Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights are not pictured or labeled as unique territories, and while the West Bank is painted a different color, it is not labeled as a separate territory.

Of course, despite the peace treaty with Israel, I know that the Jordanian monarchy feels in its heart of hearts that the West Bank will always be part of Jordan.

Please note, the University of Jordan is the most modern university in this country. And the government is not shy about bragging about this fact. That is why I am intrigued by this map. I guess today I felt the need to dish up some some food-for-thought that wasn't hummus.