Tuesday, May 10, 2005

The Jordan Experience - Day 2

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10.00 am, Wadi al Moosa, Edom

After a sumptuous breakfast at Hotel Petra, the bus load of tourists were whisked away to the Valley of Moses, where according to Bible, Moses and Aaron and all Israelites had camped.

Its become a monument and you can see me drinking from that font below. According to the Bible, when moses struck this rock, water gushed out and the angry and thirsty israelites were able to finally quench their thirst ( See Exodus 17 :1-7) . So, this is where, we are now, maybe it was just a rock in the wilderness at that time. But now its become a small part of a monument that got constructed around it. Water still keeps coming out of it and no one seems to know the source. And the place around is still called 'Meriba'.

I am showing with this, an artist's picture of what must have happened many centuries ago, and how the building is contructed today around it.

as drawn as what must have happened...and today.

The journey from Edom to the other places was very interesting. We travelled along on our way to a destination that we had all been waiting for. The mountain on which Moses died. It was 'Mount Nebo' in Madaba (Madaba area was called Moab in old testament times). Ahmed, our well-informed guide told us that the Capital city of Jordan, Amman, was actually Ammon (Ammon, in the old testament times). For those with interest, its a strange story of Moab and Ammon who are actually brothers, born to Lot and his daughters (Genesis 19 : 31-38). Infact it was Lot who decides to choose these beautiful green valleys and lands beyond the river.


from his uncle Abraham.

3.00 pm, Mount Nebo, Madaba,

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