Tourism
Besides Amman, northern Jordan is home to other ancient cities of the
Decapolis. These include Jarash (Gerasa), Umm Qays (Gadara), Tabaqat
Fahl or Fihil (Pella), Bayt Ras (Capitolias), and Quwayliba (Abila).
Jarash, straddling one of the ancient
world's key trade routes, offers extensive and breathtaking ruins of
colonnaded streets, arches, temples, and baths in a remarkable state of
preservation and completeness.
Tabaqat Fahl, in the northern valley, has
yielded an impressive display of archaeological evidence revealing human
presence from early Neolithic times to the present. These include the
remains of a Bronze Age fort, a 1C AD theatre, a 100,000 gallon
Byzantine cistern, along with churches, houses, and shops from various
periods.
Umm Qays offers fascinating ruins; a
stunning black basalt theatre, a colonnaded main street, a city gate and
a museum in a restored Ottoman house, among others. Besides these ruins,
Umm Qays offers a spectacular view of the Jordan Valley, the Sea of
Galilee, and the Golan Heights.
Moreover, Jordan contains many religious
sites. The country is part of the Holy land that gave birth to three of
the world's great monotheistic religions.
Many tombs of Prophets and Sahabas
(companions) of Islam are found in the country, along with shrines.
Jordan has a special place in the history of Islam, as it was the first
territory to which Islam spread outside of the Arabian Peninsula. It was
also the site of the first contact between Islam and the non-Arab world.
To mention just two of the Prophet's
companions buried in Jordan: Zeid ibn al-Haritha (the Prophet's adopted
son and the only companion mentioned by name in the Qur'an) and Ja'far
bin Abi Talib (cousin of the Prophet and elder brother of Ali, who was
the husband of the Prophet's daughter Fatima and the father of al-Hassan
and al-Hussein).
Madaba is an archaeological park, and an
ancient city of mosaics; it has the oldest preserved ancient mosaic map
of the holy land. To the west is Mount Nebo, traditionally believed to
be the burial place of Prophet Moses.
East of the River Jordan, is Wadi Kharrar,
where Jesus withdrew when the crowds in Jerusalem threatened him. South
of Wadi Kharrar is the biblical Bethany Beyond the Jordan, the place
where John the Baptist lived, Jesus Christ was baptized, and Elijah
ascended to heaven.
Pope John Paul
II visited the site during his March 2000 pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Around 4,000 to 6,000 tourists visited this site per month since the
beginning of 2002 (data released in June 2002).
Jordan is also very popular with its Red
Rose city of Petra. This 2000-year-old Nabatean city, carved into
rose-colored stone and hidden from view by mountains, was lost to the
world for over 1000 years, but was rediscovered in 1812 AD.
Petra is entered only through one passage
or what is known as the siq, a narrow crevice in the rock. Petra offers
onlookers al Khazna (treasury), which is carved out of solid rock, the
High Place of Sacrifice above the city, a theatre seating up to 8000
people, and the Dayr (monastery), which is found at the top of the
hills.
In addition to the ruins in Petra, Jabal al-Bayda is one of the oldest
sites in the Middle East showing evidence of habitation by Pre-Pottery
Neolithic humans. Excavations indicate that these early people were
herders who were beginning to experiment with a semi-settled
agricultural existence.
Jordan offers other unique experiences.
Wadi Rum's (Ramm) beautiful mountains are one of hikers and campers
favorite destinations. Campers marvel nights under brilliant stars
surrounded by rugged mountains and desert.
Jordan also has six nature reserves that
include some of the country's most beautiful landscapes. To mention just
a few; Mahmiyyat al Mujib, which surrounds al Mujib, a deep, majestic
canyon, the natural treasures of Wadi Dana, which offer intriguing
archaeological ruins, and Mahmiyyat Zubya located in the highlands of
Ajlun.
Jordan is very popular for having the lowest spot on earth, the Dead
Sea, which is also appropriately named, as its high mineral content
allows nothing to live in its waters.
The shoreline of the Dead Sea stands at
1300 feet below sea level, water does not drain from this lake and its
salinity ranges from 26-35 percent.
And Jordan's only outlet to sea is Aqaba,
which enjoys a spectacular Red Sea setting of purple colored mountains
and sandy beaches.
Aqaba offers visitors pleasures such as
scuba diving, snorkeling, and a full range of other water sports.
Several archaeological sites are being excavated in Aqaba, such as the
ancient Ayla, which is marked by a walled early Islamic city, a crusader
island fortress and a medieval Arab fort.
Besides its natural treasures, the
country offers its tourists the experience of true Jordanian
hospitality.
However, tourism in Jordan is
unfortunately associated with the continuing volatile situation in the
Palestinian Territories. The September 11th attacks on the U.S. also had
an impact on tourism not only on the Kingdom but also worldwide.
According to the World Tourism
Organization (WTO), reservations on a global scale dropped some 12-15
percent compared to 2001. The WTO report showed Jordan as one of the few
countries in the Middle East to have recorded growth of nearly four
percent in tourism in 2001.
Although arrivals from the United States
and Europe plunged by nearly 50 percent in the last quarter of 2001,
Arab arrivals to the Kingdom went up by nearly 25 percent that year as
both private and public sector tourism developers channeled their
resources towards the Gulf and Arab markets.
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