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...

After pretty much traversing Jordan’s width and breadth – from Aqaba in the south to five miles from the Syrian border in the north and the Dead Sea in the west to As-Safawi in the east – there’s one place we keep returning to again and again: Shobak (sometimes spelled Shabak or Shawbak). Yes, the Dead Sea Highway is quite unique, the Eastern Desert magical, and Wadi Rum vast. But Shobak is...well...different. Kind of a high plains desert that captures all my favorite components of each major physiographic province in Jordan.  Shobak is about a two-hour drive from Amman, along the Desert Highway and en route to Petra. The town itself is best known for its castle . Built along the caravan/pilgrimage route between the Gulf of Aqaba and Syria by King Baldwin I in 1115 AD, it stood for several decades and repelled Saladin’s forces for two years later in that century. It’s also out of the way – you can’t see it from any main by-pass road as you can with other castles like Karak, Az...

After a good night’s sleep, we had a leisurely morning and then headed out to the Eastern Desert for a quick castle loop. While there are a bunch of castles east of the north-south-running Desert Highway, we focused on three main ones, all along Highway 40: Kharana , Amra  (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and Azraq . When you purchase an entrance ticket for 4JD, it also covers entrance to several other castles on the loop (Highways 40 and 30), so it’s quite the sight-seeing deal. The lesser-known & less-touristed desert castles are the focus of my personal research while here as a Fulbright Scholar, and I’ll post more about those explorations as they occur. Side note on the Eastern Desert Highways: Roadside mileage sign along Highway 40. Azraq (see below) is actually just 50 kilometers from the Saudi Arabian border. It's, umm...quite  exhilarating  to see a sign like this! The Eastern Desert Highways exist mainly for truckers transporting ...