Amman, Jordan

After ten days in Egypt, we flew to Amman to begin our tour of Jordan. We left The Four Seasons in Cairo and moved to the one in Amman. I've gotta say - they know how to set up a spectacular floral display in the reception area.

We spent the afternoon checking out a bit of Amman, including an ancient Roman theatre and citadel located there in the capital. 

The citadel sits high on a hill with a good view down to the theatre.

I don't know why I found the theatre drain holes so charming. Maybe because they were completely utilitarian, yet decorative. These are just two of the drain hole designs I spotted. 

Up at the citadel, there is archaeological evidence of occupation since the Neolithic period (end of the stone age). There are ruins and remains from the Ammonites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Ptolemies, Seleucids, Romans and Ummayads, which totals about 1100 years. 

Below is one of the early Bronze Age cave tombs that dates to the 23rd century BC. This cave housed a series of rock cut tombs. It was modified for communal burial during the Middle Bronze Age about 4000 years ago. 

There is also a nice little archaeological museum on site. Several pictures relate to burials and funerary art. My family and good friends know that I'm fascinated by these artifacts from a historical standpoint rather than creepy one.

Above is a decorated hand carved coffin for a small child. Below are anthropoid ceramic coffins that date from about the 12th century BC. 

Above is a funerary carving of a woman, one who must have been noble and of very high status at the time in history when she died. Below is an infant burial. It's hard to tell, but it was common practice at one point in the past to bury infants in jars. You can see a bit of the remaining pottery on the far right/bottom end of the skeleton.

There were several shelves of ancient oil lamps in the museum. And this was just a little sample of some fabulous mosaics we would see while touring in Jordan.

Tear bottle display below - read the description.

I also saw this fossil in the museum. That was the REALLY old stuff, by far!