a Geographer's Place

Ruins. One word that always seems to make me giddy. I’ve always liked ruins – especially the ones you can climb on/around/over/under/in and explore. That’s how it’s been ever since I was a little kid and my parents took my brother and me to Mesa Verde’s Anasazi ruins. Jordan has lots of ruins. Like a lot a lot. People have been inhabiting this region of the world for a long time, so the ruins span millennia. Yes, there are the well-known ruins like Petra and Jerash , and lesser-known places like Kerak and Umm Quaiys. But the Kingdom also hosts numerous others, some of which barely have a name, and others that are literally in the middle of nowhere. These forgotten fortresses have been a big component of my research here. Qasr az-Zahib . As I was taking pictures, a little Bedouin kid who was out herding sheep and goats came over with tea. We chatted a bit. He showed me a nearby cemetery, a still-functioning well, and another set of presumed Crusader ruins that I can't fin...

The day in Petra began like other days: walking through the siq in early morning light, coming out at the Treasury to find it devoid of people – only a couple camels, their owner, and a local “street sweeper” (one of the people who comes in before Petra opens to make sure the grounds are clean). Petra’s magnificence still almost overwhelms me every time. And even more so when the spirit of the Fulbright program occurs – that “...promotion of goodwill...” they mention . With only one day in Petra this time, our plan was to do what most single-day tourists do: wander through the main valley on the way to the Monastery, spend some time there, and then spend the rest of the day wandering around other various monuments in the valley. We stopped by our Bedouin friend’s tent in the valley to chat quickly, and let her know we’d be back later that afternoon to purchase items from her shop. She was super welcoming as always, and had tea ready for us – as if she expected us....

Last week a Fulbright colleague called and asked if we wanted to go to Petra. We have a project we wanted to do there anyway so…no brainer. The following day we headed south. He had made arrangements for us to stay at a Bedouin camp for the night. These can be kitschy, but we had the entire camp to ourselves. It is off season, after all.  After arriving, we wandered through Little Petra just outside the village of Bayda. We also took a little walk to a supposed Neolithic site. While not as grand as their neighbor, they were still interesting. One cave still had 2,000+ year-old partial frescoes in it! Entrance to Little Petra. The small wadi (canyon) contains a small cluster of Nabataean tombs. Just  before sunset, we drove up to a viewpoint. The view over  Wadi Araba as Earth was finishing its rotational period was gorgeous. As the sun crept lower in the sky I realized the Green Flash would probably be visible. It was. Except it wasn’t just a “spark” like I’ve s...