Itinerary

1. 

   Travel to Jordan

   Royal Jordanian flight RJ112 departs London Heathrow airport at 1705 hours, arriving Amman at 0010. 4 night stay at the Amman Intercontinental Hotel.

2. 

   Jordan Museum, Jarash

   After a gentle start to the day, we visit the excellent new Jordan Museum for an introduction to the country’s rich history.

   Continue to Jarash for lunch at the Lebanese House. Spend the afternoon visiting ancient Gerasa, a major Decapolis city and one of the loveliest and best preserved Roman sites, with its hippodrome, colonnaded Cardo and oval piazza, impressive temples of Zeus and Artemis, two theatres and several early churches.   Dinner in the hotel

3. 

   Desert Castles

   An all-day excursion to some early complexes in the eastern desert, first visiting Qasr al-Kharaneh, an early 8th-century Umayyad building that looks like a caravanserai; then the black basalt Azraq castle, Roman in origin, rebuilt in the 13th century, and used as a base by TE Lawrence in 1917-18. Lunch at Azraq Lodge, a 1940s British military field hospital, now a resthouse of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature.

   On our return to Amman we visit the mid-8th-century Umayyad hunting lodge of Qusayr Amra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, whose audience hall and bath house are decorated with unique wall paintings, contemporary with the building, superbly restored in 2010-15 by the World Monuments Fund.   Our first lecture followed by dinner in the Sofra Restaurant.

4. 

   Umm Qays, ACOR

   Drive to the north-west corner of Jordan to Umm Qays, ancient Gadara, the most spectacularly sited of the Decapolis cities, with wide views over the Sea of Galilee and the southern Golan Heights. We walk along the colonnaded street and see the impressive remains of a black basalt theatre, a market place, some finely carved tombs and several early churches. The museum is in one of the handsome houses of the late 19th-century village that was built inside the ancient site.

   Lunch at Romero’s restaurant inside the site. On our return to Amman we visit the American Center of Oriental Research for a private viewing of 6th-century papyrus scrolls, found in Petra 1993.

5. 

   Amman Citadel, Umm ar-Rasas, Karak

   Morning visit to Amman’s citadel, the heart of the ancient city, with its Roman Temple, Umayyad palace and Archaeological Museum.

   Heading south, we stop first at Umm ar-Rasas, another UNESCO World Heritage site, to see the Roman castrum and some exceptional 8th-century church mosaics.

   Picnic lunch at the Visitors’ Centre, before driving via Wadi Mujib to see Karak’s impressive Crusader castle, with some fine Mamluk additions. Drive on to Petra. Dinner and 4-night stay at the Petra Marriott Hotel.

6. 

   Petra

   We spend the whole day in Petra, the iconic capital of the ancient Nabataeans, walking in through the Siq, an atmospheric gorge with a complex hydraulic system and many relief carvings. Our visits in the centre of Petra will include lunch and the Khazneh (Treasury), theatre, High Place of Sacrifice (optional), Wadi Farasa, Colonnaded Street, Byzantine church and mosaics, and Nabataean temples.   Second lecture before dinner at the hotel.

7. 

   Petra

   We drive to Bayda, a short distance north of Petra and visit the Nabataean sanctuary site of Little Petra. We continue on foot with a bedouin guide, walking through some beautiful wadis to reach the heart of Petra. After lunch we visit more sites, including an optional climb to see the spectacular ad-Deir (Monastery). Dinner independently.

8. 

   Wadi Rum

   We drive to Wadi Rum, recently inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list for both cultural and environmental importance. Here we transfer to 4x4 pickups to drive deep into the wadi system, looking at rock drawings and inscriptions, natural rock arches, canyons and red sand dunes. Traditional bedouin lunch in the desert before returning to Petra for last night. Dinner independently.

9. 

   The Dead Sea

   We drive northwards, then down the spectacular Tafilah-Feifah route to the southern end of the Dead Sea, and on northwards to Suwaymeh at its northern end.

   Lunch in the hotel. Optional afternoon visit to the Baptism Site at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where it is believed Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Our third lecture . Independent dinner. 3 night stay at the Dead Sea Movenpick hotel.

10. 

    Mount Nebo, Madaba

    Morning drive to Mount Nebo to see the newly restored Memorial of Moses with its spectacular 6th- and 7th-century mosaics. Here, it is said, Moses viewed the Promised Land, and here he died and was buried.

    We continue to Madaba to see the church and mosaics of the Archaeological Park; we walk to the Church of St George to see the unique 6th-century mosaic map of the Levant. Lunch at nearby Haret Jdudna restaurant. On our return to the Dead Sea, we divert to see the mid-6th-century Church of SS Lot and Procopius with an exceptionally beautiful mosaic floor. Dinner independently.

11. 

    Machaerus

    Morning at leisure. In the afternoon we drive to Machaerus, the hilltop palace-fortress overlooking the Dead Sea, originally built by Alexander Jannaeus, rebuilt by Herod the Great and inherited by Herod Antipas. Here John the Baptist was imprisoned and executed. It was destroyed by the Romans in AD 71. Farewell dinner at hotel.

12. 

    Return flight

    0900 Departure from hotel. Royal Jordanian flight RJ111 departs Amman at 1200 arriving Heathrow at 1525.

13. Your Tour Leader

    Jane Taylor studied Mediaeval History at St Andrews University, after which she has worked as a teacher, television producer, writer and photographer. She lived in Jordan for 27 years. Her books include Testament to the Bushmen (with Laurens van der Post); Imperial Istanbul; Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans; Jordan Images from the Air; and Beyond the Jordan.

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